You’ve likely developed a keen understanding of business fundamentals at this point in your career. If you spend enough time in a professional environment, you develop a natural sense of how to keep things running daily. This is true in virtually any industry, given enough time.
But at a certain point, this base level of knowledge can only take you so far. If you want to further your abilities and improve, you need to buy into the idea of continuous improvement. That is to say, you need to honestly believe that you could always do better. You could always learn more. You can always improve upon that which you were capable of the day before. Getting to this point requires you to go deeper than just those core fundamentals. There are several key strategies that you can use to propel yourself to that position (and beyond).
Embrace the Non-Traditional Approach to an Industry
One of the best ways to truly go beyond the basics in your profession is to push yourself outside your comfort zone. That is, lean into the more non-traditional elements of your job whenever the opportunity arises.
For example, if you’re in real estate, there’s always something to be learned from every transaction you engage in. But at a certain point, you’ll have essentially developed all the skills you need for most scenarios. Each transaction is different, but you’re still just talking about purchasing or selling a piece of property.
If you wanted to venture into wholesale real estate, on the other hand, you could really learn a new perspective on everything. Here, you’re not just engaged in a single transaction. You’re a part of two. You need to locate a property you like that has investment potential, regardless of its current condition or how distressed it might be. You then need to get the seller to agree to one price, at which point you can find a buyer to agree to another price. Whatever the difference is between those two amounts is what you get to take home for your effort.
It’s a great way to approach things from a fresh perspective because now you have two sets of needs that must be met. If your goal is to compromise, you may need to determine how to do it twice and still secure the best possible deal for yourself.
It’s like flexing an entirely different set of muscles, and it’s a chance that would only be available to you if you were willing to embrace the more non-traditional elements of your field.
Marketing in More Ways Than One
Another pivotal way to go beyond the basics is through marketing, although not necessarily in the way you might think.
Regardless of the industry you’re working in, you have to be a marketer to a certain degree. You must be able to sell the value of whatever product or service you offer clients. But at the same time, you also need to market yourself. This is where you’ll go beyond the basics and learn how to expand your own abilities.
Any solid marketing campaign begins with a bit of competitor research. A company will look at its closest competitors to examine what they’re doing well, what they’re not doing well, and what gaps exist in the market that can be exploited. Professionally, you need to do the same thing.
Consider what would make you the most competitive candidate possible if you were looking for a job today. What do new people on the job market have that you don’t? Try to fill in those gaps. What do you have that they don’t? Try to play up those strengths.
Learning how to highlight what makes you unique and ensuring that you have your own personal value proposition is a great way to identify the business knowledge you need to arm yourself for success.
It’s Not About Knowledge. It’s About Industry-Specific Knowledge
Finally, understand that your quest to go beyond the basics isn’t necessarily as broad as you think. You don’t just want to acquire knowledge in a general sense. You need to dive into the weeds and gain as much industry-specific insight and expertise as you can.
If you’re in real estate, focus on real estate. If you’re in the legal profession, focus on that world. Embrace the “niche” of it all. Make an effort to stay up-to-date on all the latest industry trends and best practices. Assume that they will change regularly and be prepared to adapt accordingly. If you want to be at the cutting edge of your field, you need to be proactive about it.
Attend local industry-specific conferences and network with as many people as you can. You never know what you might learn – and who you might learn it from.
In the end, building a business knowledge arsenal for success means going beyond the basics in more ways than one. Every day, we’re surrounded by learning opportunities in our professional lives. Some help us gain the insight we need to thrive in the short term. They help us tackle those challenges or accomplish those goals that are right in front of us.
However, the larger lessons may not have immediate payoffs, arguably making them more important. These are the ones that allow us to hone our skills in terms of marketing, finance, and even negotiation. They’re the ones that help us become more valuable employees on a daily basis. Critically, they’re also the lessons that allow us to continue to improve and better ourselves.
You should wake up every day and be a little better as an employee or entrepreneur than you were the day before. As the old saying goes, the arc of progress is slow but steady. So long as you remain receptive to going beyond the basics, there’s no limit to how you’ll be able to expand over time. At that point, you’ll be able to make the most informed decisions possible and thrive in the business world, regardless of what shape it takes. No matter what industry you’re in, that is an exciting position to be in.
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