I struggle with this question all the time. There’s some cool webinar or course being offered. Should I take it or are there better things to do like move the ball forward? I expect many of you have the same struggle. “I’d really love to learn more about SEO but I have work that’s overdue.”
So, is it worth the time and money or not? I’m going to do the following:
Professional development costs both time and money. Money is precious and time is even more precious. Let’s look at the pros and cons.
As a solopreneur, it's important to continually develop and improve your skills in order to stay competitive in the market and provide the best possible service to your clients. Investing in professional development can help you learn new skills, stay up-to-date with industry trends, and network with other professionals in your field. This can ultimately lead to increased expertise, improved efficiency, and greater success in your business. So yes, solopreneurs should prioritize professional development.
There are several reasons why someone might not want to invest in professional development, including:
Ultimately, the decision to invest in professional development is a personal one and will depend on an individual's circumstances and priorities.
Which one did you agree with?
Guess what, it doesn’t matter.
And this is what will melt your brain.
Whether you felt the pros were more convincing or the cons, I didn’t write them. And neither did anyone else. They were both written by an AI called ChatGPT.
I changed nothing.*
So, the answer to whether you should prioritize professional development is an unequivocal “yes”!
Why? Because AI is coming for your job. I don’t care what you do, things that you currently think require a human will start to be done by machines. And you need to stay ahead of the curve or you could be replaced by a machine.
“But Joe, I don’t write for a living, I’m a…”
You’re a what?
My point is simple. The world is changing… fast! And you need to keep ahead of the change.
During the 2010s, my partner Bill Dakai and I were running a company called Trade Area Systems that we had started in 2003. We produced enterprise software for retail real estate, mainly retailers and shopping center owner/developers.
But the world was changing fast.
We saw two options to respond to these challenges:
We ended up successful and sold the company in 2020.
Doing all these things required us to develop new skills and knowledge. Since we had employees, this process was spread out over various people. As a solopreneur, you don’t always have the option of finding someone else, especially when it’s your core business. You will need to grow regardless of how you choose to respond to AI.
If we stick with our content writing example from ChatGBT, our two options for addressing this might be:
In the end, how you respond to the coming AI challenges is a function of who you are and what business you are in (or will pivot to).
You have lots of choices and options. But not improving isn’t one of them.
As a busy solopreneur, you don't have time to figure out the entrepreneur journey on your own. Let us help! Be sure to check out The Solopreneur Success Cycle to insure you're heading in the right direction.