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Free MBA! 7 Free Online Business Classes for Entrepreneurs

Ok, you might not really get an MBA-level education for free, but if there’s something about business that you really need to learn, chances are you’ll find a free course online to help you gain the knowledge you’re looking for.  Check out the list below to begin your business education tuition-free!

How to Write A Business Plan Offered by the SBA, this free course gives you an overview of business plan basics.  After a short registration, the course is presented as a slideshow, with audio instruction.  It’s about 45 minutes long, and the course is self guided, so you can start and stop as you wish.  At the end of the course, you can even print a certificate of completion.

Writing a Business Plan

The E Factor – E-Marketing & Social Networking This is a fantastic presentation for beginners in online marketing, sponsored by the Maine Small Business Development Centers.  It’s a video, with slides to accompany and supplement the presenter’s information.  The course is delivered by Rich Brooks, founder and president of Flyte New Media, and it covers the basics of marketing online, from e-commerce to SEO, in addition to newsletters, blogs, and social media.  It’s a great course if you’re getting started in online marketing, and even veterans will pick up a tip or two – or at least be reminded of some important points.

E-marketing

Managing the Digital Enterprise Michael Rappa, founder of the Institute for Advanced Analytics, and professor of Computer Science at North Carolina State University, is the creator and presenter of this course, designed to help the online entrepreneur in areas ranging from design to online ethics, and everything in between.  The course consists of 15 modules plus case studies, and you can jump to whichever module you want at any time.  If you choose “podcasts” from the “Jump to” dropdown menu, you can listen to each module or download the MP3.  If you’d rather read than listen, just choose whichever module you want from the dropdown.  Either way, there’s some valuable information in the course, and there’s no registration required for this one.

managingdigitalent

Strategic Planning and Execution Presented by SmallBizU, this course is a comprehensive lesson on strategic planning.  It covers topics such as defining a purpose, mission, and vision, devising strategies, setting goals, and more.  The course is a combination of audio and 184 slides, divided into 10 topics.  The audio for each slide only lasts about 15 seconds, so you should be able to get through the whole thing in an hour or less, but you can go at your own pace and advance the slides faster or slower as you wish.

strategic Planning

Home Based Businesses If you have or are thinking of starting a home based business, take a look at this course.  MyOwnBusiness.org offers the course, detailing all the ins and outs, and dos and don’ts of starting and running a home based business.  The course is mostly text, with some video accompaniments to add to the learning.  Topics include: benefits of a home based business, different approaches to home based business, picking the right business, common pitfalls, and a lot more.  At the end of the course, you even get a business plan template specifically for the home based entrepreneur.  Not bad for free!

Home Based Business Course

Improve Your Personal Networking Skills You probably know that networking is an important part of business, but you might not know how to go about it.  This course is presented by HP, and you’ll have to register, but once you do, you’ll have access to all their free online courses, many of which are worth taking a look at.  The networking course covers why it’s important for your business that you network, and how to do it effectively.  You can view the lessons (about ½ page each) one at a time, view them all at once, or download a PDF version and save it to your computer.  There is no audio or video for this course, but some of the HP courses do offer that.

Personal Networking Course

Schedule C: First Time Filers No one likes to think about taxes (except maybe accountants), but they’re a fact of life for entrepreneurs, and definitely something you want to get right.  So who better to get information from than the good old IRS?  They’ve put together this 35 minute video course specifically for new business owners who are filing a Schedule C for the first time.  If you’ve just started your business, this is the free course for you.  Watch it and make sure you’re doing things Uncle Sam’s way.

Schedule C Course

The courses above are just a sample of what’s available out there, so get started on your free education today.  Most of the sites listed have many other free courses available.  Check them out, bookmark your favorites, and set aside some time regularly for learning.  Before you know it, you’ll be an educated entrepreneur – without spending a dime!

Matthew Toren
 

Matthew Toren is a serial entrepreneur, mentor, investor and co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com. He is co-author, with his brother Adam, of Kidpreneurs.org, BizWarriors.com and Small Business, BIG Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right (Wiley).

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