Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 1 January 2015 | Page 38

INVESTMENt SAVVY $ Investing in Your Business A new year marks the start of a clean slate, and a chance to reinvigorate morale and energy into your team. Identifying missing or unrefined skills of certain individuals in the team, or the business as a whole, is a great way to begin injecting positivity and drive. Not only will this improve the overall efficiency and competitiveness of your business, but individuals will also benefit from an enriched and progressive skillset… and those frightened by the thought of going back to school need not panic. Though an option, enhancing of a skillset doesn’t necessarily mean investing in higher education. Increasing one’s knowledge in a certain area and developing competencies need only take a few short hours per day during the course of the week. As one of the country’s most reputable institutions, The University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business offers a range of short courses for all types of businesses. Their ‘Maximising Value in Negotiation’ course, for example, focuses on negotiating in the context of ongoing relationships and is suitable for anyone from business owners and managers to customer service advisors, executives and sales personnel. Research shows that only a small proportion of business people have the inherent ability to 32 successfully balance negotiating deals which procure maximum value, while still maintaining well established business relationships. Using contemporary theory, cuttingedge research and practices, the 3-day course offers an exciting blend of teaching – from situational role plays to mediation practical’s and guarantees to facilitate students solve complex negotiation problems and yield maximum results. The next Maximising Value of Negotiating Course held by UCT Graduate School of Business School will be from 23 – 25 June 2015. Registration closes on 22 May 2015 and the course costs R13, 600. For more information, email [email protected]. For those baffled with accounting jargon and eager to minimise costs by limiting their outsourcing services, the ‘Finance for non-Finance Mangers’ course is the ideal programme. Stretching over four days, the course is suitable for anyone wanting to understand the key drivers of financial performance, with a particular focus on correctly reading financial statements and creating a succinct and viable financial plan as well as unpacking confusing accounting jargon. From entrepreneurs running their own businesses, managers responsible for meeting budgets and human resource managers struggling to contain costs, this course is open to all, and especially welcomes those who have no previous knowledge of accounting. There are two Finance for nonFinance Managers’ courses held by UCT Graduate School of Business School each year . The next one will be from 16 – 19 March 2015 and registration closes on 27 February 2015. The second course is held in October and each , course costs R16, 500. Address: 8 Portwood Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001 Telephone [phone] Email: [email protected] Website: http://bit.ly/2015courses Social media https:// www.facebook.com/UCTGSB https://twitter .com/UCTGSB J