Small to medium enterprises – known as SMEs – are the backbone of an economy. From sole traders to small businesses employing a small number of staff, these are the businesses that rise and fall on their own merit – and can have the biggest impact on the economy, nationally and locally.

They often come into being as a result of a germ of an idea, the details of which have barely been worked through before the business takes off. SMES grow from often humble beginnings to thriving businesses within weeks or months.

There are, of course, pros and cons to this. When a business grows too fast, it can quickly outgrow the skill set of its founders. Too slow a growth and it can falter. There is a solution and that it to ensure that key people are trained in business management.

Managing a business
Taking on the heady responsibilities of managing a business is not for the fainthearted. It can mean long hours, time of impact and stress as well as times of sheer delight and exhilaration. There are also times when it seems complex, the solutions not evident or readily springing to mind.

Online business management courses can provide some of these solutions and ideas but, with pressure on every facet of the business, including time and budgetary constraints, business management training can seem like an optional task rather than essential.

But, there is no doubting that online business management courses offer incredible value to a business. And here’s why:

#1 Engage employees
Business and tasks associated with it can be bland and boring, interjected with tasks and activities that place employees outside of their comfort zone. In both cases, motivation in key and business management courses are one way of creating and harnessing motivation in employees.

#2 Essential up-skilling
Up-skilling is when someone acquires an additional set of skills that drives them on as employees but also drives the business on too. Investing in employees is investing in your business. Some skills may be common sense, but this leaves it too open and too variable from one person to another. Up-skilling enables a person to not only rise to a challenge but create their own.

the-importance-of-business-management-training-for-smes

There is no doubting that online business management courses offer incredible value to a business

#3 Creates a firm foundation
Anyone can run a business. Or can they?

Think about time you acquired a new skill, such as learning to drive. Were you given the keys to a car and told ‘drive’? The likelihood is not. You probably had lessons, interspersed with practice. There were times when everything went well, but there were probably many times when it was not a great experience – stalling at lights, being confused at junctions and dreading hill starts, etc.

Running a business is similar. On one hand, anyone could do it, technically speak. But doing it well, rising to challenges, having skills to negotiate around obstacles and so on – like the hill starts, the turns in the road, etc. – Come with learning and experience. And learning from others too.

Learning is key for any business. Thus, online business management courses offer everything you need – and more!

#4 The basics of good practice
There are ways of doing things – and there are better ways of doing things. In essence, a business management course can be the basis that you need to make changes to how things are done (and not done) within a business.

Just like Human Resources department have trained HR people to ensure everyone is employed on a fair contract and basis, to another department ensuring that the company is operating legally. All too often, in SMEs, these responsibilities fall on the shoulders of one person, or a small group of people at the most.

#5 Invest at all levels within a business
Big companies invest in training, but some companies will focus on investing in people ‘at the top’. SMEs need to invest in all levels of their business, from the bottom to the top (as do all businesses, in fact).

Poor management skills at any level are known to hamper SME growth, thus hurting the economy as well as the business itself.

Take the plunge!
There are all kinds of Business Management courses that can facilitate better understanding, improve skills and consolidate learning.

Some require regular attendance at a local college, but others can be completed online, in your own time and at a pace that suits you. These online courses have the same value as those facilitated in a classroom environment and all aid in helping SMEs grow in a way that they need to, at a rate that they need to.