15 free and useful virtual courses for entrepreneurs

If you are going to open your business, you must first realize that this is a very hard bread. It will not be possible to quickly earn money and then rest. Business - this is an ongoing process, requiring complete dedication and great responsibility. Moreover, profound knowledge of the methods of entrepreneurial activity is required. And what kind of activity you devote yourself, where and with whom to learn how to do business is generally a separate topic.

You have to be crazy not to take advantage of the mass of useful information that the Internet gives. Video lessons, forums, discussions, any webinar or online course today can be found in a global network in huge numbers. And there is another question: how to choose the most correct, most useful courses and, importantly, free training for business? It's no secret that a novice entrepreneur does not always have the opportunity to invest in acquiring these courses. We are happy to provide you with a list of online training materials that will not cost you a penny. With a single click, you can start learning the basics of marketing, financing, business management, website creation and much more. These courses provide their listeners with special tools for their implementation. Perhaps this is the best chance for you, your team and your business to get back on their feet.

1. Fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Course of the University of California

Business is an exciting, but risky step in a career. To increase your chances of success, it would be prudent to get acquainted with the basics of entrepreneurship, having passed 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, features of the business plan and much more.

2. How is the startup built?

Those who are going to build business from scratch, will need some practical advice. The course "How to build a start-up" differs from any traditional manual offered by an academic institution, and it focuses on educating entrepreneurs on how to quickly come up with ideas, test the market in order to occupy its niche.

This course assumes the active participation of the student. During the course of studies, you can choose your own option, up to the preparation of your own exercises and projects. Do not blindly rely on someone else's idea, the course is focused on creative people. You will be able to use this course to find out for sure how much your intended product will be in demand in the market and how fast the return from the business will be.

3. Business Financing is a Sick Topic

You need funding, but do not know where to start? The Maryland University online course can teach you how to raise money for your business. Even if you do not have an initial capital.

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

4. Turn on your imagination

No matter what kind of business you are doing, every business needs a creative approach. To awaken hidden opportunities that are likely to be slumbering in you, a free course called "Awaken Your Creativity", offered to the coursera by specialists from the University of New York, will motivate you to create new ideas. You will understand that you are capable of more, and you will learn how to use your internal reserves of both professional and personal life.

The course takes time from 3 to 4 hours a week and involves classes in the form of video lessons, expert assessments. Very useful will be the weekly discussions on the forum. In addition to learning how to recognize and use your own creativity, you will gain the skill how to teach the same other people that you can use in the process of becoming 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 of the Santa Clara University School, laid out on the World Wide Web, and it is oriented to any kind of professional and entrepreneurial activity. Very useful will be this course for aspiring businessmen or students, as well as for experienced professionals.

The course does not impose its postulates, it allows participants to work at their own pace and aims at teaching ethical theory, which can be applied in 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 pitfalls for an ignorant newcomer, that it will be useful to learn from those who have already passed all this on their own experience. This is the course "21 important lesson for entrepreneurs". 450 students have already rated it for "five stars", noting that the most basic moments of the initial stage of their business are set out here.

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 business if your product is not bought? The "Introduction to Marketing" course - the product of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania teaches you to "look at the root" and anticipate the needs of your customers.

Training takes place over four weeks and requires active sessions of approximately 5-6 hours per week. Learn everything you need to know about brand positioning and communication, learn to accelerate decision-making, entering new markets, 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 site. You can start to explore all the features of the most popular web platform. Training is free.

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

There is no need to delve into all the technical subtleties 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 hosting provider, how to install and use WordPress panels, how to choose a design theme, how to create content and more.

9. Quick start with the help of social networks

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

Of course, this way is also not the easiest, everywhere there are subtleties. How to untwist your product in 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 maintaining your own blog.

10. How to argue and argue?

Ability to express their thoughts, defend their opinions, talk about matters is a necessary quality for the entrepreneur. Duke University offers a special course "Think again: how to argue and argue." How to discuss problems with business colleagues, how to learn to make decisions on your own, to argue them, to distinguish the important from the secondary - this is taught by this course. 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 performance will not succeed. If you want to develop as a businessman, you need to learn the basics of project management. This course is designed for four weeks and requires you from 2 to 4 hours of your time a week to listen to video lectures and participate in practical exercises, discussions and quizzes.

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

12. Marketing in the digital world

Experienced entrepreneurs know that the Internet plays an increasingly important role in marketing - even for small local businesses that operate mostly offline. Immerse yourself in the world of Internet marketing, a course called "Marketing in the digital world" offered by the University of Illinois will help you.

For this course, you will need to spend 6 to 8 hours a week to watch video lectures, and to participate in trainings for a total of 12 weeks. Each week, for students, an example of a real company is considered, which you will use to study the basics of marketing and how they are shifted toward the digital world.

13. The better the leader, the richer the life

The entrepreneur needs to refresh his leadership qualities from time to time. This will come in handy when it comes time to hire more employees or to keep the attention of a large audience. A free course offered by experts from the University of Pennsylvania is called "The better the leader, the richer the life". Training on this system will help you develop the necessary leadership skills.

The course lasts 10 weeks and will require 3 to 8 hours of your time each week, includes video lectures and weekly assignments, along with several exam options that are delivered at the end. You will learn practical and proven management methods that will help you determine your core values and win the trust of the people around you.

14. Financial accounting

You can not afford to hire an accountant to do business? Perhaps it's worth trying to master the accounting yourself and conduct your own financial affairs on your own? This knowledge can be obtained free of charge with the course "Introduction to Financial Accounting", offered by the business school at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

15. Operational management

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

The course takes four weeks, from 5 to 7 hours of study time per week on 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 performance, and come up with new ways to improve business processes.

Being an entrepreneur is not easy, and it is possible that you will feel quite depressed from time to time. But when you have the opportunity to study, useful resources that offer academic and practical knowledge, besides free of charge, you can be calm for your business.