Competition for African and African American Female Entrepreneurs 7 of the Best Free Online Business Classes for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

7 of the Best Free Online Business Classes for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

By Je௺ Haden

Want to start a business but don't know where to start? A little education can go a long way, especially when it's free.

Here are seven great online classes for aspiring entrepreneurs--from some of the top business schools in the country (United States of America).

Becoming an Entrepreneur

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(www.edx.org/course/becoming-an-entrepreneur?source=a w&awc=6798_1595420600_33f03b14bdcda2cb6befb0740e5 818af&utm_source=aw&utm_medium=affiliate_partner&utm_ content=text-link&utm_term=78888_Skimlinks)

What will you learn?

• How to overcome the most common myths of entrepreneurship • How to defi ne your goals as an entrepreneur and a startup • How to identify business opportunities • How to conduct market research and choose your target customer • How to design and test your oႇ ering • How to pitch and sell to customers

Time involved: Six weeks, approximately one to three hours per week.

How to Start a Startup

Stanford (Sam Altman)

(http://startupclass.samaltman.com)

More a series of videos than a class, "How to Start a Startup" covers a wide range of topics-- and includes startup founders like Reid Hoႇ man (LinkedIn), Emmett Shear (Just.tv and Twitch), Marc Andreessen (Netscape), Aaron Levie (Box), and Paul Graham (Y Combinator.)

What will you learn?

• How to build a team • How to build a product and talk to users • How to raise money • How to build a great culture • How to build services that scale • How to manage, operate, and be a great founder

Time involved: 20 videos, approximately 50 minutes each.

Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans

Sloan School of Management (MIT)

(https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15- s21-nuts-and-bolts-of-business-plans-january-iap-2014)

Maybe you won't need a business plan--plenty of people argue you don't. Or that your business plan will start changing the fi rst week.

Even so, understanding the basics of a business plan will defi nitely help bring focus to your idea and your fi rst steps--so what better than the course that has been taken by every MIT MBA student for over two decades?

What will you learn?

• How to refi ne and present your idea • How to create marketing and sales plans • How to choose the right business model • How to develop fi nancial projections • How to plan for legal, accounting, copyright, etc. issues • How to execute your plan

Time involved: Six videos of approximately an hour each, plus extensive lecture notes and supplemental material (if you want more).

Launching Your Startup

Wharton (University of Pennsylvania)

www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-launching-startup?ran MID=40328&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HP StwNw-EtJx8PUisGioFF2KQyGwXQ&siteID=TnL5HPStw Nw-EtJx8PUisGioFF2KQyGwXQ&utm_content=10&utm_ medium=partners&utm_source=linkshare&utm_ campaign=TnL5HPStwNw)

Ideas are great...but execution is everything. A great idea and a solid plan is a given; the next step is to put it into action.

What will you learn?

• How to build a minimum viable product (MVP) • How to build a team • How to build a network: advisers, mentors, professional service providers, etc. • How to create a brand • How to bring your brand to market

Time involved: Self-paced, approximately eight hours.

Growth Strategies

Wharton (University of Pennsylvania)

(www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-launching-startup?ranM ID=40328&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPSt wNw-8hCqbMrI6w_ax49F7RKCgw&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw8hCqbMrI6w_ax49F7RKCgw&utm_content=10&utm_ medium=partners&utm_source=linkshare&utm_ campaign=TnL5HPStwNw)

Once you've launched, you'll need to grow- -especially if you're bootstrapping your way to success and fi nancing your startup with the revenue you generate.

What will you learn?

• How to land customers • How to use earned, paid, and owned marketing as eႈ ciently as possible • How to build cost and pricing structures • How to develop and track the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business • How to build a great culture--and maintain it as your startup grows

Time involved: Self-paced, approximately seven hours.

Financing and Profi tability

Wharton (University of Pennsylvania)

(www.coursera.org/learn/growth-strategy?ranMID=4 0328&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStw Nw-cddOoN9VYju3Q.yFJJyy0A&siteID=TnL5HPStwNwcddOoN9VYju3Q.yFJJyy0A&utm_content=10&utm_ medium=partners&utm_source=linkshare&utm_ campaign=TnL5HPStwNw)

How do you make a small fortune? Begin with a large fortune and start a (insert your favorite startup money pit here).

Because a business without (eventual) profi ts isn't really a business.

What will you learn?

• How to develop the right business models • How to keep your best customers • How to determine the right fi nancing for your business (even if "fi nancing" just means your savings) • How to calculate burn rate, break-even point, and other key fi nancial metrics and milestones • How to pitch investors • How to decide when the time is right, and under what terms, to exit.

Time involved: Self-paced, approximately six hours.

Professional Resilience: Building Skills to Thrive at Work

Deakin University

(www.futurelearn.com/courses/professional-resilience?utm_ source=RakutenMarketing&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_ campaign=2116208:Skimlinks.com&utm_content=10:1&utm_term =UKNetwork&ranMID=42801&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteI D=TnL5HPStwNw-U3ELyijeZiSgluKKF718wA)

You can learn business and entrepreneurial skills from a wide variety of sources. But who will teach you how to stay the course when times get tough, as times inevitably do? For starters, these folks.

What will you learn?

• How to follow a few simple steps to become more resilient • How to develop specifi c skills to deal with diႈ cult situations • How to perform a little self-care to recharge your resiliency batteries • How to apply resiliency frameworks to professional and personal situations

Time involved: Two weeks, approximately three hours per week.

www.inc.com/jeႇ -haden/7-of-best-free-onlinebusiness-classes-for-aspiring-entrepreneurs. html?utm_medium=40digest.7days3.20200721. carousel&utm_source=email&utm_content=&utm_ campaign=campaign Image credit: Times Higher Education