4 Things Teaching Has Taught Me About Running a Business A commitment to teaching others has the inestimable benefit of being a continuous learning experience.
By Timothy Sykes Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I have created a successful career out of helping others learn about the stock market. I've been teaching for nearly a decade, and while I made the majority of my money from trading, my true passion from my career is teaching. I currently teach more than 5,000 students from 80 countries about the stock market and about how to trade. I trade small accounts now, so that my students know my priorities lie with them. Teaching has been such a rewarding experience for me. It has taught me a great deal not only about myself and about the stock market, but about business as well.
Here are four things that teaching has taught me about running a business:
1. Most people are lazy.
This is an unfortunate, harsh and true lesson that I have learned from teaching and it is one that I apply to my business all of the time. People, in general are lazy. Eighty percent of people who have gym memberships don't go to the gym, and the same holds true for those who watch my daily video lessons. Even if you give people specific instructions, they likely aren't going to follow them very closely. Keep this in mind and don't worry about over-sharing information when teaching others.
Related: 5 Signs That Your Competitors Are Lazy
2. It pays to give and give and give.
I work 14-16 hours per day teaching and I focus really hard on offering as much value as I possibly can. I give everything to my students and many have chastised me for giving too much information as a teacher. I have nothing to hide. I want my students to be as successful as me or even more successful than I have. I truly operate on a philosophy of give, give, give and as a result my education business has been booming.
Related: 4 Tips for Finding Open-Minded Investors
3. Be open minded.
I have learned through teaching that it is important to try different tactics but to be open minded on what strategies are going to work best. Most of my assumptions are usually wrong. However, with social media I found out that I am able to optimize and now utilize social media to my advanced. Once I find a strategy that works, even if it is only briefly or if it is something that is out of my normal wheelhouse, I try to be open-minded about it.
Related: 8 Tips to Grow Your Business Using Social Media
4. Utilize social media for every aspect of your business.
I have been able to reach so many more students on a more personal level thanks to social media. It is important for every business out there, not matter what industry you are in, to utilize social media to your advantage. In today's day and age there is no end to the way in which social media can help you and it gives you an opportunity to really connect with more people on a personal level, whether they are a customer, business associate or a student, this allows you to prove you're real.
It allows you to cut through all of the noise and the fakeness that can come with promoting a business and show your real self while highlighting happy customer testimonials.
