A/E Online Courses >> Start Your Own Business
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Starting a business is something that all of us have thought about at one time or another. Everyone wants to be their own boss. Yet statistics show that most businesses fail within the first five years. This course provides insight into the characteristics, knowledge and skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur. At the end of this course, you will be able to identify the abilities required of successful entrepreneurs and how to acquire them, develop goals to help establish your business, develop an outline for your plan, and take home techniques to successfully manage your new business. Agenda Unit 1 What is an Entrepreneur? Checklist For Going Into Business Are You A Potential Entrepreneur? Success, Self-Esteem and Goals Brainstorming Business Ideas Unit 2 As You Start Your Business Selecting A Legal Structure Licensing And Registrations Planning Your Business Unit 3 Using Technology The Essential Eleven Computer Skills Marketing Strategies Internet Opportunities Unit 4 Managing Your Business Financial Statements Record Keeping And Taxes Grants And Government Programs

Finance is key to entrepreneurial success. The lack of financial knowledge about business and business start-ups is also one of the leading causes of failure for entrepreneurial ventures. As an entrepreneur, you have limited time, and you certainly have limited resources. So knowing where to put your valuable time, and your limited resources, is critical to the success of your new venture. You will start by gaining a deeper knowledge of the financial concepts and accounting processes used in most businesses. You will take back practical techniques that will increase your effectiveness and entrepreneurial success. And you will get an understanding of the seven steps in the accounting cycle and how to use financial information in decision making. You will come away with the knowledge to analyze resource allocation and evaluate financial performance. Then discover the keys to managing cash. Cash is arguably the most important factor in new business success. Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) reports 90% of all small business failures are due to poor cash flow. As an entrepreneur, you will find out how to maximize cash flow, learn the importance of cash and find out your role in cash flow success. Finally, you will explore potential debt and equity sources of funds to help support your entrepreneurial work and create a financially successful venture. Find out where business start-up money comes from, and ways to get it. After successfully completing the Entrepreneurial Finance Certificate, you will have exponentially increased your knowledge about entrepreneurial finance, and how to maximize the chances of success and minimize the risks for your new venture. Three one-month online courses

To succeed in today''s marketplace, entrepreneurs must know how to effectively market their product or service. This course offers you a step by step approach to attract and keep customers, all within a realistic budget. With an emphasis on customer-driven marketing decisions, you will learn how to build a strong brand, analyze which tactics to use, and implement your marketing plan. Whether you are starting a business or growing an existing one, you will take away practical marketing tips and tools that you can use to improve your marketing efforts. Agenda Unit 1 The Customer as the Driver - Marketing Decisions Framework - Positioning Your Product or Service - Marketing Strategies and Goals Unit 2 Communicating Value to Customers - Key Selling Messages - Creating Emotional Connections - Personal Selling - Networking: Your 30-Second Introduction Unit 3 Creating a Strong Brand - Managing the Marketing Mix - Marketing on a Shoestring Budget - Your Marketing Calendar - Implementing Your Plan Unit 4 Building Customer Relationships - Tools to Meet Your Strategic Goals - Online Opportunities and Social Media Checklist - Generating Buzz: Word-of-Mouth Marketing - Measuring Effectiveness

Boost your chances of success for your new or small business and reduce your risks. Get the latest on planning your business, brainstorming business ideas and a checklist for going into business. Then learn how to create a business plan, including assessing business feasibility and prepare the management and financial plans. Then take home a step-by-step approach to attract and keep customers, with an emphasis on customer-driven marketing decisions and building a strong brand. At the end of this certificate, you will be able to identify the abilities required of successful entrepreneurs and how to acquire them, develop goals to help establish your business, develop an outline for your plan, and take home techniques to successfully manage and market your new business.

Whether starting a business or growing the one you have, a business plan serves as a roadmap and can help secure needed funding. In this course, you evaluate the many aspects and potential hurdles of the business and build the Business Plan, one step at a time. This practical, hands-on approach encourages you to immerse yourself in the vision and planning aspects of your business. Focusing on the most critical components of the Business Plan enables you to uncover hidden risks and assess the business from a marketing, management, and financial vantage point. Agenda Unit 1 Getting Started—Refine your concept and begin your plan. • Prepare your concept statement—What, Who, Why, When, and How. • Identify product/service features and benefits. • Identify limitation, liabilities, and regulations. • Write your Business Description and evaluate it against a Business Description checklist. Unit 2 Prepare the Marketing Plan • Conduct an industry and competitive analysis. • Perform a market analysis and identify target markets and a market penetration strategy. • Identify your pricing strategy. • Write your Marketing Plan and evaluate it against a Marketing Plan checklist. Unit 3 Prepare the Management and Financial Plans • Identify key people and positions, duties and responsibilities. • Determine funding needs and sources. • Create sales and expense estimates. • Write your Management and Financial Plans and evaluate them against checklists. Unit 4 Complete the Business Plan and Assess Business Feasibility • Polish the plan and add final elements—Cover Page, Executive Summary, Table of Contents. • Evaluate business plan against checklist and identify items in need of additional work. • Assess business against feasibility checklist. • Identify next steps.