How do you learn business skills?

"MBA's are s**t" is exactly what I heard someone say in a networking event one time, they actually said it to someone representing a University that offered world class MBA's. I am proud to have Birmingham as my home town, we have some fantastic Universities offering high class MBA's (Aston Uni & Warwick Business School to name two).

Now I didn't fully agree with that person however I did have a few thoughts around what that person said. Lets take a look at how this whole process unravelled in my mind, but also how it was one of many factors that led to the idea for Toppa.

Every year, millions of individuals determined to make a name for themselves have the following thought:

“I want to become a successful businessperson. Where should I get my MBA?”

As you read this, you may think that actually you may have also wondered the same thing at some point in your life. I had never aimed to go down a formal route to educate myself in business, I am not saying my way is the right way, nor am I saying an MBA is the right way. I do however sway more towards learning by doing. Yes it takes longer, years even, but it is one of the best ways to learn.

I am really passionate about learning, So I have five simple words that will save you years of effort and thousands of pounds:

Skip business school. Educate yourself.

There are roughly over 11,000 new business books published worldwide each year, adding to the millions of business books printed since the early 1900s. Amazon.com carries over 630,000 business-related titles, not counting audiobooks, e-books, or materials that are published without an ISBN.

During the start of my business journey I would read and learn as much as I could, but I started to wonder: how much of what’s out there—and there’s a lot out there—I really needed to know. How could I separate the valuable information from the rubbish? I only had so much time and energy, so I started searching for a filter: something that would direct me to the useful knowledge and keep me away from the chaff.

The more I searched, the more I realised it didn’t exist—so I decided to create it myself. 

For the Skeptics You wasted $150,000 on an education you could have got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library. —MATT DAMON AS WILL HUNTING, GOOD WILL HUNTING 

As Steve Case, a former CEO of AOL, put it, “The exciting part about living today is that anyone can be an entrepreneur.” We’re living in a world where information is not just readily available but, in many cases, overwhelming. Building a business from the ground up is not easy; that’s why my idea for Toppa was born, from both my personal experience of trying to filter through the quagmire of self proclaimed business mentors or entrepreneurs. I gained the majority of my knowledge from those that had truly been there and done it:

Toppa was founded to help you cut through some of the noise and provide some advice garnered from real life experts and business leaders.

whether your startup is just a thought in your head or a living, breathing entity. To increase your odds of success, Toppa will be sharing the unconventional tricks of the trade that will be available from many of the successful entrepreneurs and leaders on our platform.

This new environment requires new strategies, new mind-sets, and new tactics to shorten timelines, stand out, and win. That’s what Toppa is all about

Most business books, education apps or platforms such as Udemy, Lynda and Alison assume that the student already knows what businesses are, what they do, and how they work—as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It’s not.

Business is one of the most complex and multidisciplinary areas of human experience, and trying to understand how businesses work can be remarkably intimidating, even though they surround us every day. Businesses are so much a part of daily life that it’s easy to take the business world for granted. Day after day, businesses deliver what we want swiftly, efficiently, and with remarkably little fuss. Look around: almost every material good you’re surrounded by right now was created and delivered to you by some sort of business.

Here’s how I define a business:

Every successful business (1) creates or provides something of value that (2) other people want or need (3) at a price they’re willing to pay, in a way that (4) satisfies the purchaser’s needs and expectations and (5) provides the business sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation.

As I deconstructed each of those factors, I found additional universal requirements. Value can’t be created without understanding what people want (market research). Attracting customers first requires getting their attention, then making them interested (marketing). In order to close a sale, people must first trust your ability to deliver on what’s promised (value delivery and operations). Customer satisfaction depends on reliably exceeding the customer’s expectations (customer service). Profit sufficiency requires bringing in more money than is spent (finance). None of these functions is rocket science, but they’re always necessary, no matter who you are or what business you’re in. Do them well, and your business thrives. Do them poorly, and you won’t be in business very long.

Now although I strongly feel that you can do well in business without mortgaging your life to gain a formal qualification, I do think that MBA's have some great learner outcomes. So much so that Toppa is mapped to a Business MBA, However instead of learning the theory, you learn from experience over theory.

One of the beautiful things about learning any subject is the fact that you don’t need to know everything—you only need to understand a few critically important concepts that provide most of the value. Once you have a solid scaffold of core principles to work from, building upon your knowledge and making progress becomes much easier. Toppa enables you to learn a set of foundational business concepts you can use to get things done. Learning via Toppa will give you a firm foundation of business knowledge you can use to make things happen. Once you master the fundamentals, you can accomplish even the most challenging business goals with surprising ease.

Understanding these fundamental principles will give you the tools you can rely on to make good business decisions. If you invest the time and energy necessary to learn these concepts, you’ll easily be in the top 1 percent of the human population when it comes to knowing: How businesses actually work. How to start a new business. How to improve an existing business. How to use business-related skills to accomplish your personal goals.

Think of Toppa as a filter. Instead of trying to absorb all of the business information that’s out there—and there’s a lot out there—use Toppa to help you learn what matters most, so you can focus on what’s actually important: making things happen.

Have a great week everyone and feel free to pre-subscribe for early access to Toppa HERE and if you want to join us on our journey then you can invest via our crowdfunding campaign. To gain early access to our campaign visit www.toppa.io/seedrs and register your level of interest. You can have shares for as little as ￡10.00 up to any amount. Invest Aware, Capital at Risk

Regards

John Loveday - Founder Toppa App

[email protected]

Check out why Leisure Tycoon David Lloyd is excited to be backing Toppa