Learn how to become a better business owner.
Going solo, freelancing, consulting, or working in the gig economy lures savvy technical and professional experts into a venture that is often a lot harder to sustain than it was to start. Your first clients are often former employers, family, friends, or warm leads that get you some quick traction. All too soon, the reality of prospecting, following up, and selling your services has your cash flows dwindling, your families wondering if you’ll ever make a go of it and your confidence tanks.
What triggered your move into self-employment? Was there a triggering event at work? Did you unexpectedly lose your job? Did you want more flexible working arrangements? Was there an opportunity you couldn’t say, “No” to?
Putting your practice on “project status” is a great way to lend structure, set milestones, and reflect on lessons learned. Who’s on your project team? Who’s the project sponsor? What milestone are you working on? Is it on track? Is there a change plan in the works? In this session, success strategist, Laura Bechard, outlines key decisions you must make in your practice to prospect, generate leads, sell your services, keep your clients, and make yourself indispensable to them. Being an expert in your craft/discipline is rarely a sustainable competitive advantage. Becoming a better business owner, knowing when to pivot, anticipating opportunities, buying customers as cheaply as possible, and keeping customers for the long term is critical to going solo and going big!
As a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) with years of experience working with associations, I am currently the Executive Director of the Institute for Performance and Learning or I4PL. Our purpose is to elevate the performance of the Canadian workforce.
This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.
If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.
