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3 Ways Investing In Online Education Could Be Helping Your Small Business

 

With Elearning booming across the globe, many businesses are exploring the benefits of utilizing it in their business. According to The Distance Education Enrollment Report, over 6 million Americans are pursuing an online education, and approximately 77 percent of companies have turned to online learning for employee development. For the 27 million Americans running new businesses, online learning can introduce a whole new realm of benefits, including increased networking opportunities, a greater chance of securing financing, and the option to be better equipped to run a successful business. So whether you're drawing up your business plan or you're a seasoned business looking to expand your presence online, here’s how online learning could be good for your business.

 

It Can Be A Flexible And Budget Friendly Professional Development Tool For Your Workforce

Investing in employee education is crucial if you're to achieve business success. In addition to the increased productivity it can produce, supporting employee education also helps to motivate and inspire employees. For your business, this results in higher job satisfaction, lower employee turnover, and fewer recruitment costs. For your employees, it means better self-esteem, higher job satisfaction, and potential for career advancement. For your brand, this means your business is promoted positively amongst the workforce and customers. Employees want to know that they have a future and potential to advance in their professional careers. Having an employer that supports this raises your business’ profile as an employer. 

Including online education in your employee development program could also be saving your business money. Distance learning courses cost less than in-person training, which means your business incurs fewer expenses to provide this training to your employees. Online learning programs are also very adaptable to employee schedules, which means employees can earn college credit online while continuing their work patterns and minimizing disruptions to company operations. For the employee, it could be an accelerated gateway to achievement of a degree and therefore, career progression. Lastly, there are indirect cost benefits like lower recruitment costs due to lower employee turnover. Some organizations, such as the Society of Human Resource Management, estimates it costs a business 6-9 months of salaried expenses to replace an employee. Others like CAP average the cost to be 16-20 percent of the employee’s annual salary and up to 213 percent of their annual salary for executive positions. 

 

Online Learning Helps You To Upskill When Needed - And Keep Your Business Relevant

Running a business can present new challenges and hurdles each day. However, the more you know and possess the relevant skills to address these challenges, the less you end up spending on outsourced services. Also, when launching a new business, you will likely fill more than one role e.g. recruiting, advertising, and day to day management. Each of these tasks will call for a specialized set of skills- which evolves over time.

Spending time improving your knowledge and professional know-how with the help of online education means you are not only able to spend less on outsourcing services, but you are in a position to make better management decisions. By staying in touch with current business trends, you can ensure that your business stays one step ahead of the competition.

 

Gain The Professional Training To Master The Role Of Jack Of All Trades As A New Entrepreneur 

An entrepreneur’s role is never a fixed one. Each day and each venture brings new demands and new challenges, and requires new skills. Even before launching your business, it may be necessary to perform tasks you are not familiar with. For instance, many banks, investors, and financing institutions prefer a business plan when considering applications for funding. Similarly, a marketing plan is needed when planning your business’ launch strategy and trying to build brand buzz before its launch. 

However, if you haven’t studied business in college, when you're preparing a business or marketing plan, the technical jargon and best practices may seem foreign to you. Online education can be the portal that provides you with the knowledge and skills you need to master these tasks - and get your business off to the right start.

Starting your own business is an exciting and demanding venture, one that calls for constant development and improvement. The flexibility and affordability of online education is a great solution to evolving your skills as a business owner, growing the abilities of your employees, and securing the success of your business.

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