There are many ways to learn – books, blogs, classes, lectures, online videos, podcasts, and more. You can even learn by jumping in and trying something, though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the experiential method with brain surgery or alligator wrestling. In the face of all these options, it’s easy to forget the most basic learning tool: asking questions.

When you were a child, you probably learned a lot by asking questions, and you probably got pretty good at figuring out who was a good question answerer. These are skills that will serve you well as you seek to create streams of income as a microbusiness entrepreneur, so here are a few tips on whom to ask, plus three questions to start with.

Whom should you ask?

• Look for entrepreneurs who live out their gifts and values in the income streams they have created.
• Spend time with people who encourage and inspire you; not with those who leave you discouraged or pessimistic.
• Learn from microbusiness entrepreneurs who won’t tell you to do exactly what they did, but will help you figure out what fits your needs and gifts.
• Talk with people who are doing the kind of work you would like to do.
• Seek older businesspeople who have successfully run businesses of any size (SCORE is a good source for helpful, free advice from experienced business owners).
• Read business memoirs by people who run values-conscious businesses.

What to ask

There are a lot of things you can ask, but these three questions can be a good start.

1. What is the most important thing you’ve learned since you started your business?
2. If you could do it over, what would you do differently?
3. What is the best thing about having your own business?

The key to successful questioning is to know your own values, priorities, gifts, and needs, and accept what fits and leave the rest. Doing what matters and making it pay means that your streams of income will reflect what matters to you and be worked out through your interests, abilities, and talents, so learn to see past individual details to the basic principles that underlie the answers you receive, and you’ll grow in wisdom and discernment.