As an entrepreneur, you do it all, you work long hours, you sweat the details. Clients come first. Also investors, employees, family. There’s no “me” in “entrepreneur.”

That means professional development often takes a sideline to business development. Investing in skills seems selfish – a waste of resources better spent building the business. Until you realize that the most important business resource is the entrepreneur.

Denise Roberts provides painless entrepreneurial/professional development through her Painless Prospecting, ABC’s of Networking and Art of Networking programs – all excellent investments of time/mind.

Some are too busy to attend a Denise Roberts session. Others are too busy not to.

Denise calls her latest three-hour workshop, “How to Increase Your Sales & Grow Your Business.” I call it an entrepreneurial stamina workshop, with a heavy dose of networking training and public speaking, all delivered by this dynamo motivational grandma.

You can shovel harder/faster. Or you can reach for a bigger shovel. I invited a few dozen self-starters to Denise Roberts’ talk, and got a range of replies:

• Thanks for the invite but I will have to pass on this one. Its tough to subtract 3 hours from the work day. You will have to let me know how it goes!
• Alas, I have to work at the UM. Thanks for thinking of me.
• Love the Bi Bim Bap but unfortunately with the growing team – we’re at 9 ees now – the time away from the office won’t work for me at this time. Please keep me in mind for future events.
• Thanks, but I’ll use the three hours I save by not attending to actually increase my sales by typing yet more interminable tendentious bullshit, and put the $10 I saved towards beer.
• Thanks for sending this. Absolutely I’ll attend. In fact, the timing is perfect. As we prepare to ramp up, I’ve been digging up my formal training stuff, particularly the Miller Hymen and Solution Selling stuff. (I tend to lean more to Solution Selling, principally cause that’s what I’ve been most exposed to.) It will be great to have this extension / refresher. I’m also copying our lead sales exec and our marketing director. I know they’ll want to attend if they are in town.
• Interesting. Thanks. I should know by tomorrow if I’ll be in MI that day, and will attend if I am.
• I’m in. it’s on the calendar.
• Heck yeah, count me in!