5 Excellent Online Courses for Entrepreneurs

5 Excellent Online Courses for Entrepreneurs

Whether you are contemplating starting a business for the first time or starting a new type of business, the most important tool you can have is knowledge. Here are 5 highly rated free online courses on various topics related to starting a business that provide a broad entrepreneurship education.

Note: Some of these courses are self-paced, while others have scheduled runs. On some platforms, even after a scheduled course has ended, you can still enroll and take the course at your own pace.

1. Essentials of Entrepreneurship: Thinking and Action

This course from the University of California, Irvine Continuing Education department introduces the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, including the entrepreneurial process and how to recognize business opportunities. The goal is to provide tools for people with little to no knowledge of entrepreneurship to assess their readiness to start their own business.

2. Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship

This course, rated the top entrepreneurship course by Coursera, is perfect for those with a great idea but no business background.

As the first course in Coursera’s “Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business” specialization, it serves as a general introduction to entrepreneurship, industry, and markets.

READ MORE  Business Term Glossary

3. Design Thinking for Innovative Problem Solving: A Step by Step Project Course

Design thinking is a powerful approach to problem-solving that can help you better connect with your customers and drive meaningful innovation. In this eight-week course, you will apply the entire design thinking process to solve a real problem facing your business.

4. New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs

This short (four-week) course introduces the vocabulary of investment and teaches you how to speak the language of raising start-up capital. You will also learn how to create an investor pitch to raise the funding your business needs.

5. How to Develop Breakthrough Products and Services

This graduate-level course teaches the user innovation paradigm, an innovation process that focuses on the needs of the end user. The courseware lets you work through the materials at your own pace, with readings, video lectures, and assignments from the actual course taught at MIT in 2012.

Whether you are a student studying business or a new entrepreneur just starting out, enhancing your knowledge and upgrading your skills is always a good idea. Whether you choose to read books, take free online courses, or join a local entrepreneurs group, the most important thing is that you never stop learning.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *