Do entrepreneurs have time to learn new skills?
I have an annoying motto:
learning is the price we pay to stay alive
Learning doesn't need to be hard and it doesn't need to be time consuming but it does have to be consistent.
Michael E Gerber in "E Myth" separates work into three categories: the technician, the manager and the entrepreneur. He goes so far as to suggest that if the entrepreneur does technical or managerial work, they are wasting their time and not doing the one thing that is vital: being an entrepreneur. I don't know if I entirely agree with him but I can see his point and it is a good one. Think Captain Kirk. It's his job to point the Enterprise in the right direction and do whatever is necessary to keep it moving towards its course and mission. Where I would differ with Mr Gerber is that what he calls entrepreneurship I would call marketing. Every successful business needs someone who knows what the market wants and how much they will part with to get it. Think Steve Jobs at Apple or Rupert Murdoch at Sky TV. Calling them marketers just makes their position and function within the business clearer.
So learning a new programming language - that's technical so it's a waste of time, outsource it.
Learning marketing and sales - yes that's the task of the entrepreneur because those are integral to the business. Businesses cannot succeed without correct marketing.
By practising these key skills daily, you will learn how to do them better.
Is it better to have "everything" but then lose it all, or to never get there and not know what you're missing out on?
Oh it’s best to have it and lose it because you won’t lose the most important: the knowledge of how to get it again.
How can I motivate myself to read more books rather than spending time on the Internet?
I was given a book gift voucher for my birthday some months back.