Training for small and medium business entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial Education: What Every New Entrepreneur Should Know. How to enroll in the program

If you are going to start your own business, you must first realize that this is a very difficult bread. It will not be possible to quickly earn money and then rest. Business is a continuous process that requires full dedication and great responsibility. Moreover, deep knowledge of business methods is required. And what kind of activity to devote oneself to, where and from whom to learn how to do business - this is a separate issue altogether.

You have to be crazy not to take advantage of the mass of useful information that the Internet provides. Video tutorials, forums, discussions, any webinar or online course today can be found on the global network in huge numbers. And another question arises: how to choose the most correct, most useful courses and, importantly, free business training? It is no secret that a novice entrepreneur does not always have the opportunity to spend money on purchasing these courses. We are happy to provide you with a list of online learning materials that will not cost you a dime. With one click, you can start learning the basics of marketing, finance, business management, website building, and more. These courses also provide their listeners with special tools to bring them to life. Perhaps this is the best chance for you, your team and your business to get back on their feet.

1. Fundamentals of entrepreneurship. University of California course

Business is an exciting but risky career move. To increase your chances of success, it would be wise to learn the basics of entrepreneurship by taking this effective and free course.

This interactive course contains from 4 to 8 hours of video lessons, as well as materials recommended for self-study. You will learn everything you need, get skills and tools, marketing strategies, business plan features and much more.

2. How is a startup built?

Those who are going to build a business from scratch will need some practical advice. The How to Build a Startup course is different from any traditional textbook offered by an academic institution, and focuses on teaching entrepreneurs how to quickly come up with ideas, test the market, and carve out a niche in it.

This course also requires the active participation of the student. During your studies, you can choose your own course of action, up to compiling your own exercises and projects. You don’t have to blindly rely on someone else’s idea, the course is aimed at creative people. You will be able to use this course to find out for sure how much your intended product will be marketed and how fast the return on business will be.

3. Business financing is a sore subject

Need funding but don't know where to start? The University of Maryland's Online Pro Course can teach you how to raise money for your business. Even if you do not have initial capital.

The course is presented in video lecture format, and each session runs for four weeks, with a frequency of 3 to 5 hours of lectures per week. Designed for both beginners and existing entrepreneurs. Upon completion, you will learn all about the capital structure of successful businesses, learn how to find investors.

4. Turn on your fantasy

No matter what business you are in, every business needs a creative approach. To awaken the hidden possibilities that are most likely dormant in you, to motivate you to give birth to new ideas, a free course called “Awaken Your Creativity” offered by the specialists of the State University of New York on coursera. You will realize that you are capable of more and learn how to use your inner reserves in both professional and personal life.

The course requires time from 3 to 4 hours a week and involves classes in the form of video lessons, expert assessments. The weekly discussions on the forum will also be very useful. In addition to learning how to recognize and use your own creativity, you will learn how to teach the same to other people who may be useful to you in the process of starting a business.

5. Business ethics in business and real life

It is important for an entrepreneur to understand the role of ethics in business. "Business Ethics for the Real World" is a free online course from the Santa Clara University School of the World Wide Web, and is focused on any kind of professional and entrepreneurial activity. This course will be very useful for both beginner businessmen or students, as well as experienced professionals.

The course does not impose its postulates, it allows participants to work at their own pace and aims to teach ethical theory that can be applied to real situations that often arise in business.

6. 21 important lessons for a businessman

Many people say that business is higher mathematics. In fact, there are so many difficulties, unpredictability and even traps for an ignorant beginner associated with it that it will be useful to learn from those who have already gone through all this on own experience. This is what the course “21 Important Lessons for Entrepreneurs” is about. 450 students have already rated it five stars, noting that it outlines the most important points of the initial stage of their business.

The duration of the course is two hours in total. It is divided into 23 online lectures.

7. Introduction to Marketing

What is the point of a business if your product is not being bought? The Introduction to Marketing course, a product of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, will teach you to "look down" and anticipate the needs of your customers.

The training takes place over four weeks and requires active training lasting approximately 5-6 hours per week. Learn everything you need to know about brand positioning and communication, learn how to accelerate your decision-making process, enter new markets, the marketing planning process, and proven marketing strategies.

8. Quick start on WordPress

Many beginners or working businessmen do not yet have a website, but they understand how important it is to manage their business online. This is important even if you plan to outsource the design and content of your website. You can start exploring all the features of the most popular web platform. Education is free.

This course offers 10 free videos that you can watch for an hour to learn how to create a simple WordPress one page step by step.

There is no need to delve into all the technical details of the webmaster's work. The course will lead you to the goal step by step. You will learn how to choose the best web host, provider, how to install and use WordPress dashboards, how to choose a design theme, how to create content, and much more.

9. Quick start with social networks

You probably have a Facebook page or a Twitter profile. Why not use it to promote your business? Place your business logo on your account. Now this will be the pages of your product or service. You won't believe how quickly your business will grow. You will have regular customers and buyers. Simple posts in cyberspace will help you sell your product successfully.

Of course, this path is also not the easiest, everywhere there are subtleties. How to promote your product on social media - this is taught by a special video course "Social Media 101". Training includes step by step instructions on marketing techniques on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, as well as on maintaining your own blog.

10. How to reason and argue?

The ability to express one's thoughts, to defend one's opinion, to talk about business is a necessary quality for an entrepreneur. Duke University offers a special course called "Think Again: How to Argue and Argue." How to discuss problems with business colleagues, how to learn to make decisions on your own, argue them, distinguish the important from the secondary - this course teaches all this. It is worth recalling that it is absolutely free. The 12-week course contains a cycle of video lectures and exercises.

11. Project planning and management

Among the listed courses in a special place - "Fundamentals of project planning and management (University of Virginia).

Poor project planning and clumsy execution will not bring success. If you want to develop as an entrepreneur, you need to learn the basics of project management. This course is four weeks long and requires you to spend 2 to 4 hours of your time per week to listen to video lectures and participate in practical exercises, discussions and quizzes.

You will learn exactly how to plan your business, understand what makes a project fail, learn to set clear goals for the project, prioritize goals.

12. Marketing in a digital world

Seasoned entrepreneurs know that the internet is playing an increasingly important role in marketing - even for small local businesses that operate mostly offline. Dive into the world of internet marketing with a course called "Marketing in the Digital World" offered by the University of Illinois.

For this course, you will need to spend 6 to 8 hours per week watching video lectures as well as attending training sessions for a total of 12 weeks. Each week, students are given a real company example that you will use to learn the basics of marketing and how it has shifted towards the digital world.

13. The better the leader, the richer the life.

An entrepreneur needs to brush up on their leadership qualities from time to time. This will come in handy when it comes time to hire more employees or keep the attention of a large audience. The free course offered by the University of Pennsylvania is called "The Better the Leader, the Richer the Life." Training in this system will help you develop the necessary leadership skills.

The course is 10 weeks long and will require 3 to 8 hours of your time each week, includes video lectures and weekly assignments, along with multiple exam options at the end. You will learn practical and proven leadership techniques that will help you identify your core values ​​and gain the trust of those around you.

14. Financial accounting

You can't afford to hire an accountant to run your business? Perhaps you should try to master accounting yourself and manage your financial affairs on your own? This knowledge is available for free with the Introduction to Financial Accounting course offered by the University of Pennsylvania Business School.

You will be required to complete a course of video lectures (6 to 8 hours per week), discussions and tests for a total of four weeks. The course includes information about the key principles, provides all the special vocabulary and terminology of accounting.

15. Operational management

Anyone who wants to effectively manage their own business needs to have some basic knowledge of production control. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania offers a free course "Introduction to Operations Management".

The course takes place over four weeks, with 5 to 7 hours of study time per week for video lectures, discussions and tests. By the end of the course, you will be able to identify bottlenecks in your business, fix problems that slow down productivity, and come up with new ways to improve business processes.

Being an entrepreneur isn't easy, and it's entirely possible that you'll feel pretty overwhelmed at times. But when you have the opportunity to learn, useful resources that offer academic and practical knowledge, and for free, you can be calm about your business.

How to get free and preferential staff training for SMEs?

In Moscow, there are several types of preferential education for SMEs:

1. Free training programs for SME employees and start-up entrepreneurs

The State Budgetary Institution "Small Business of Moscow" with the assistance of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship implements training programs for employees of small and medium-sized businesses. Participants can be beginners or experienced entrepreneurs who want to expand their knowledge in the chosen field, improve the skills of employees or acquire useful contacts in a professional environment.

Who can take part in the programs?

1. Managers and employees of small and medium-sized businesses.
2. Government civil servants of the city of Moscow responsible for supporting, developing and regulating the activities of SMEs.
3. Aspiring Entrepreneurs:

• retired servicemen and adult members of their families;
• student youth;
• women who have returned from parental leave, or persons who are on parental leave;
• persons with disabilities.

How much does it cost to join the program?

Education is free. All expenses are compensated by the Moscow Government. For some types of educational programs, training may be partially paid.

All educational programs are conducted by experienced teachers in courses designed specifically for entrepreneurs. All courses have a practical focus.

After completing the training, you will learn how to correctly draw up a business plan, how to attract customers for business development, how to properly manage a company and get other useful knowledge that every entrepreneur needs.

How to get trained in the program?

• select the program of interest on the portal mbm.ru in the section "Education";
• complete the registration process;
• enroll in a program of interest;
• get a link to download directions;
• send the necessary documents to the organization conducting the training;
• come with a printed referral to the educational institution offered by the Program.

After checking the correctness of the submitted documents, the representative educational organization will contact you and invite you to study.

2. Presidential Management Training Program

For residents of Moscow, a distance learning program "Modern Entrepreneur" was organized - advanced training courses in the areas of "Marketing" and "Entrepreneurship".

Participation in the program free, financed by the Government of Moscow. Muscovites who have and are receiving higher or secondary vocational education can participate.

The program lasts one month and does not imply a break from the main work. Upon completion, a certificate of advanced training of the state standard is issued.

The program is implemented by the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow, the State Budgetary Institution "Small Business of Moscow" and the Moscow State Industrial University.

Within the framework of the program, there are two types of advanced training - the courses "Entrepreneurship and business model building" and "Marketing to meet the needs."

The study consists of two parts - remote (virtual) from November 1 to November 16, and full-time (in the classroom) from November 22 to November 30.

In the remote form, there will be independent study of materials, watching video lectures in the amount of 6 academic hours (45 minutes each) per course and participation in webinars. All webinars will take place over the weekend. Participation in webinars is an important point, since the probability of passing to the second, full-time part of the training depends on it. Webinars for each listener - 21 academic hours per program.

Full-time training - one weekend (Saturday + Sunday). Upon successful completion, a certificate of advanced training in the relevant profile will be issued.

What you need to do to enroll in the program

1. Choose one of the two (or both) courses of the program:

2. Register for the program on the GBU MBM website:

a) Fill in all the fields of the opened form and click on the "REGISTER" button. You will receive an email notification of registration with further instructions.

Private entrepreneurship and small business are those areas of economic activity and economic attention that are now focused on by both the Government of the Russian Federation and individual people who want to improve their well-being in this area. To implement this activity, it is necessary to have certain knowledge and skills that can be learned by taking courses for small business entrepreneurs or by enrolling in seminars for small businesses, which are often held online. In these classes, you will learn about all the steps that you need to go through in order to be able to open your own business quickly and within the framework of current legislation. The trends of the current economic situation in the country are such that small business is becoming a fairly promising area. There are plenty of pitfalls when opening and registering a small business, and in order not to encounter them before this procedure, it is better to be trained by small business entrepreneurs from an experienced teacher who has experience in this activity.

"City Center for Continuing Professional Education" conducts practical training and vocational training for entrepreneurs. These training courses are designed for those who wish to open their own business, successfully run and develop it.

The curricula of the courses are designed for those who wish to engage in entrepreneurial activities without special education and any initial knowledge and experience in this field. will help students to gain the necessary knowledge, practical advice and sequence of actions for organizing, maintaining, controlling and developing their own business.

Training for start-up entrepreneurs is also carried out with the active study of the programs 1C: Salary and personnel management 8.3, 1C: Accounting 8.3, which will automate the work of maintaining accounting, tax and personnel records, as well as payroll accounting.

What will I get after completing the Entrepreneurship Course?

After completing the course, or after passing a seminar for small businesses, you will, firstly, feel confident in yourself and in your abilities, recharge with positive energy, which communication with an experienced teacher will help you discover in yourself. Secondly, you will have a clear picture of all your actions and movements that you need to make in order to open your small business. The checklist created in the lessons will help you with this, in which the basic rules and helpful tips for passing this or that step in your economic activity. Thirdly, most small business seminars in Moscow provide support in the most sensitive issues that a student may have after training during the implementation of practical actions. And of course, a diploma on completion of this entrepreneurship course will also help you, as a document certifying your competence.

What a New Entrepreneur Should Know

A novice entrepreneur, from the moment the idea of ​​​​a business appears and the decision to organize his own business, faces many questions. These questions can be answered in a variety of ways. You can read articles and books, watch tutorial videos, or participate in webinars. After all, it is possible to ask a question in a group and get answers from those who already have some experience. But, at the very beginning of the journey, it is difficult for a novice entrepreneur to decide on priorities. Because he still has no idea what knowledge will help him in the first place when organizing a business.

Here is a list of five models*/topics to understand if you decide to become an entrepreneur and start your own business.

A model is a simplified representation of reality in some form, designed to represent certain aspects of this reality and to provide answers to the questions being studied.

Five models that an entrepreneur should understand

1. Business idea and 4P

The business idea and the 4P concept are so closely related that they can be considered one model.

The business idea model is useful in that you can lay down the logic of marketing development in the enterprise at the beginning of the business and, if necessary, expand the elements of the business idea using marketing elements (4Ps) to the required level.

Questions answered by the business idea and marketing-mix elements corresponding to them.

If you are an entrepreneur or plan to become one, try to describe your future business according to the proposed scheme.

In what cases the acquired knowledge can be used:

• Description of your business when preparing the "Elevator Pitch", presentations for partners and investors, preparing an action plan for organizing a business.

What gives use?

• The ability to formulate an understanding of one's business. You can consider this the minimum necessary "Checklist" answers, the questions of which allow you to assess how much you understand your business and can formulate solutions for the main tasks of its development.

About the business idea on the Marketing for Practitioners website

Target Audience… Understanding the Concepts

• Description of target audiences for advertising.
• Preparation of proposals taking into account the characteristics of your target audiences.
• Conducting targeted advertising campaigns.

What gives use?

• The ability to highlight the main characteristics of your customers.
• Increasing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns - more responses for the same money.
• You will be able to pick up an argument that helps sales.
• The end result is an increase in sales.

An entrepreneur, even if he is a beginner, must be able to segment his market and determine target audiences to propose to them.

About segmentation on the Marketing for Practitioners website

Financial result of entrepreneurial activity

At a minimum, you need to be able to calculate the financial result, and for this you need to understand how marginal profit and profit before tax are formed:

You will understand more deeply in management accounting as your business develops, but you need to have minimal knowledge at least in order to assess the prospects for your business and set sales goals.

In what cases the acquired knowledge can be used:

• Building financial plans.
• Setting sales goals.
• Organization of management accounting from the beginning of activity.

What gives use?

• Ability to predict financial results under various scenarios.
• Risk assessment in case of deviation of actual sales from planned ones.
• Understanding your financial situation.

Management Accounting for Beginners

If you organize a business, then you expect to get a result. To achieve this result, you will have to go a long way and learn how to manage your business. You will manage even if you work alone, and even more so if you plan to work in a team.

You cannot do without knowledge of the basics of management. And the first thing you need to deal with is the control loop:

An entrepreneur must understand at least in general terms how management takes place, and what decisions he will have to make at each stage.

You also need to learn how to set goals. If a lot is said about achieving goals and motivation, then the need to know at least the principles of SMART for setting goals and the ability to build a tree of goals is not mentioned as often as we would like. But in order to achieve the goal, it is necessary to set it correctly, right?

In what cases the acquired knowledge can be used:

• Organization of activities.
• Setting goals and objectives
• Team management.

What gives use?

• Reasonable targeting.
• Ability to organize work.
• Reducing the risk of failure.

About management

1. Competitive analysis and positioning

To be successful you have to be better than others. It's hard to come up with something completely new these days. This means that your offer will be preferred if it differs from the offer of competitors for the better. And it's better if it's not a lower price.

Positioning

Therefore, the ability to compare yourself with competitors is indispensable. But comparison is not everything. The main thing to do is to find how you will differ from your competitors. That is, determine your positioning. Formulate how you want consumers to perceive you or your product, and how this perception will differ from that of competitors.

In what cases the acquired knowledge can be used:

• Positioning of your product or company.
• Competitive analysis.
• Marketing plan preparation.

What gives use?

• Understanding your strengths and weaknesses.
• Consumer preference for your product.

About positioning

In an article about the development strategy of online stores.

Entrepreneur, in conclusion

The proposed five models do not exhaust those questions. which the entrepreneur will have to deal with. But they provide a solid foundation that can be built upon as needed to develop entrepreneurial skills.

Good luck on the difficult path of entrepreneurship!