As you start executing your goals and objectives for a successful New Year, did you also remember to take time to schedule in a training program? If you are looking to build a strong small business in 2013, you must make sure you have a development plan to work on yourself and your business. Doing this is vital in terms of laying the foundation for a promising year.

Small Business Training

Just like any other year, January comes around and you start dealing with the everyday issues confronting your small business. In other words, you get caught in the the daily grind and forget to take a step back and think about the big picture.

Execution of your plan starts and soon as the clock strikes twelve on the first day of the year. If you did not spend the last quarter of 2012, working on your 2013 training strategy then you are definitely starting at a disadvantage. The key is to make the time to go over and review the training and development opportunities you see for you and your team.

John Maxwell, one of the top selling authors on developing and training great leaders said, “The only thing worst than training people and losing them is not training people and keeping them.”

This shows the importance of not only training yourself but also the power of training your people. It can have your team questioning and or fully committing to the business strategy. Lack of sufficient training will lead to retention issues on all fronts.

Map out a quarterly developmental plan to get the training you need and do not take this lightly. Just look at your last year and determine a few things that would have been helpful to know that would have sparked business growth.

For example, what were three things you or your business could have learned that would have significantly increased your revenue? After coming up with these items, identify and attend a training course focused in these areas. Make sure you have an action plan with milestones and a timeline to keep track of your progress throughout the year. This will ultimately help your business grow.

Training is essential. Incorporate it into your short and long term thinking and success is sure to follow.

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