10 Free Online Courses That Can Benefit Every Entrepreneur

1. 21 Critical Lessons for Entrepreneurs
This two-hour video course by Docstoc CEO Jason
Nazar takes his real-world experience and breaks it into
several video lessons that discuss all the important
steps of running a successful business, from vetting an
idea and raising money from investors to scaling and
growth strategies.
There are a lot of coaching and training programs online
that are put together by individuals that don’t have real
business experience. They make their money by
teaching and not by doing. Nazar’s insight is truly
valuable because he has been there. He has used the
information he is sharing to grow Docstoc into a
successful business.
More information about this course can be found here.
Related: 5 Podcasts That Will Get You Hooked on
Digital Audio Content
2. New Venture Finance: Startup Funding
for Entrepreneurs
Some entrepreneurs prefer not to seek outside funding,
opting to bootstrap -- but the majority of startups would
welcome funding with open arms if they knew how to
secure it. This is what this online course from the
University of Maryland covers, as professor Michael R.
Pratt explains what you need to do in the early stages of
your business to prepare for funding, where to source
funding, how to pitch investors and venture capitalists,
as well as how to close funding.
There is a lot more to the process than putting together
a business plan and a pitch deck and firing it off to any
investors or VC that you can find. Part of being
successful is being prepared -- and this course helps
entrepreneurs be prepared before going after funding.
More information about this course can be found here.
3. Introduction to Web Development: HTML
Every business has an online presence these days,
meaning every business has a website. Some tech
startup founders are very computer savvy and can write
code in their sleep. Other business owners, such as a
restaurateurs or retailers, might not have the same
knowledge and experience. So what do entrepreneurs do
that don’t have a coding or programming expert on their
team? They pay ridiculously high rates to companies to
make simple website changes.
A lot of the small changes and tasks can be completed
in-house with just a little HTML knowledge -- exactly
what this course delivers. You aren’t going to become a
world-class developer after taking this, but you will have
a thorough understanding of how to create HTML web
pages and make changes and edits to existing pages.
More information about this course can be found here.
4. Scaling Operations: Linking Strategy and
Execution
This course from the Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University is a five-week lesson that shows
you how to correctly build an operation that is both
stable and scalable. There isn’t a single entrepreneur
that starts a business hoping to stay small.
The two professors, Gad Allon and Jan Van Mieghem,
cover everything from the correct framework, marketing,
outsourcing and strategy required to scale efficiently and
successfully.
More information about this course can be found here.
5. How to Make Money Online: The Passive
Income Business Plan
My company brokers the sale of online businesses, so I
understand firsthand how lucrative online-based
businesses can be. This course lays out a simple, yet
effective, way to make money online. The goal of the 12-
hour video course is to explain how to execute a plan to
make $5,000 in monthly passive income by creating 10
websites that each produce $500 in monthly revenue.
While this is a basic introduction to online business, it
does provide helpful information for entrepreneurs that
have contemplated starting an online business but
weren’t sure how to start. It’s a good first step for those
interested in making money online -- as are these online
business models.
More information about this course can be found here.
Related: 4 Ways Technology Is Making Education More
Affordable and Available
6. Successful Negotiation: Essential
Strategies and Skills
Being able to negotiate is a skill that every entrepreneur
should master. Business contracts, vendor contracts,
lease agreements and employee contracts all require
negotiation. George Siedel and the University of
Michigan have put together a video course that consists
of more than eight hours of practical education that
breaks down the negotiation process into four parts.
This is also a great course to have your sales team
complete -- there isn’t a single sales professional that
cannot benefit from additional negotiation education. The
fundamentals taught in this course can be applied to
virtually any sales scenario.
More information about this course can be found here.
7. Foundations of Business Strategy
Think you would gain a competitive advantage if you
understood how to position your company to maximize
your value creation? Professor Michael Lenox, from the
University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has
created a seven-hour video course designed to help
entrepreneurs understand competitive markets, analyze
structure and capabilities, as well as how to determine
competitive positioning.
More information about this course can be found here.
8. Fundamentals of Project Planning and
Management
Look back at the last project you completed -- did it go
as smoothly as you would have liked? You could have
the best plan but if it isn’t executed properly you could
potentially miss a deadline or fail entirely. Not only does
this course put together by the University of Virginia
explain how to properly plan a project, but it also
explains what to do when things don’t go as planned.
Understanding how to react when things go wrong is
equally as important as understanding how to execute a
project that is going to plan. Have your project manager
or department heads take this course with you and really
increase your company’s effectiveness.
More information about this course can be found here.
9. Entrepreneurship -- From Idea to Launch
If you are just starting a business or are thinking about
becoming an entrepreneur, this course is for you. With
nearly 40,000 individuals already completing this course,
Dr. Jeff Cornwall explains practical steps to take an idea
and turn it into a successful business.
Currently a professor of entrepreneurship at Belmont
University in Nashville, Tenn., Cornwall walks the talk.
He took a nine-year break from the education world to
co-found Atlantic Behavioral Health Systems. This
course is a great introduction to the world of
entrepreneurship that is taught by someone who has
actually launched a company.
More information about this course can be found here.
10. Marketing in a Digital World
Every single business needs to have a digital footprint
these days -- there are no exceptions. While you can
always just hire a digital marketing firm to handle
everything it is a good idea to have a full understanding
of what a digital marketing campaign consists of.
Along with discussing digital promotion, this course also
dives into the creation of digital products. Many
businesses -- the publishing industry for example -- are
converting to digital products. This is a four-week course
by Aric Rindfleisch of the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign that is a must for new entrepreneurs as well
as seasoned business owners that haven’t quite grasped
digital promotion.
More information about this course can be found here.
Bonus: Guide to Buying an Online Business
Buying a business can be a shortcut to success online.
Why start something from scratch when someone else
has done all of the hard work for you?