Have you ever thought about running your own business? It’s a thought that’s probably crossed a lot of peoples’ minds at least once in their lifetime. One of the most common barriers to making this dream a reality is the lack of knowledge. For instance, most people will ask “what should I know, or what strategies will benefit me, or where can I find this information?” This course can help answer some of those questions. It is designed for people with little or no experience in the business. The syllabus offers a wide a range of skills to help launch your business off the ground.
The course teaches a few basic business fundamentals such as communication, customer service, performing business calculations, and investing. It then goes on to explore how to set up a home business, manage a sales and marketing campaign, and using the internet to sell products.
In addition, the course teaches a variety of soft skills designed to assist you along the way, such as self management, building relationships, and work and life balance. The skills gained throughout the course can be applied to almost any job in any industry, so if you later decide to transfer to a different area, you can be certain these will benefit your career.
Browse through the syllabus to read more about each module and what you’ll be learning.
This is an online Interactive Series course package. Read our FAQs for more details.
Basics of Business Math
This series is designed for users who want to improve their basic math skills. It covers basic mathematical calculations commonly used in business settings. Courses cover computing fractions and decimals, the order of operations for combined computations, and solving equations and word problems. It includes the use of proportions, ratios, and percentages, and also provides instruction on the use of a calculator for business applications. The course chapters cover:
- Fractions
- Decimals
- Calculator
- Equations
- Percents
- Reports
Time: 16hrs
Home Business
This series offers guidance on starting and managing a home-based business. It provides an overview of the options available in creating a home-based business and how to evaluate these options. Topics related to financing are examined, including writing a business plan and preparing financial statements, evaluating financing options, planning for personal expenses, and preparing for the loan application process. Office management considerations are covered, including equipment and insurance, hiring others, keeping the books and other tax considerations, and maintaining a professional image. The course chapters cover:
- Choosing a Business
- Raising Financing
- Office Management
- Managing Your Business
Time: 20hrs
Sales and Marketing (Videos)
Due to increased competition and cutthroat pricing, a higher level of sales and marketing skills is essential in today’s marketplace. You need to get out there fast to effectively disseminate your company’s name and brand. You need to find new prospects and cultivate repeat customers. Our programs will help you effectively build your brand, garner new business and close the sale. The course chapters cover:
- E-Mail Marketing (Interview)
- Guerrilla Marketing
- Guerrilla Trade Show Selling
- Marketing Your Web Site (Interview)
- New Rules of Online Advertising (Interview)
- Sales Skills for Call Centers
- Target Your Market (Interview)
- The Influence Edge and Sales
- Track Selling Step 1: Approach
- Track Selling Step 2: Qualification
- Track Selling Step 3: Agreement On Need
- Track Selling Step 4: Sell the Company
- Track Selling Step 5: Fill the Need
- Track Selling Step 6: Act of Commitment
- Track Selling Step 7: Cement the Sale
- Working Wounded: Closing A Sale
- Working Wounded: Getting Out of a Sales Slump
- Working Wounded: Keys to a Successful Marketing Campaign
- Working Wounded: Making A Gatekeeper an Ally
Time: 3hrs, 8mins
Time Management for Maximum Productivity
It always seems like we could use an extra two hours (or more!) in the day. How can we manage our time and be truly productive in our jobs and in life? This series will introduce you to the most important rules of time management, including not just how to get more done, but how to choose the things you do to give your day the biggest impact possible. The course chapters cover:
- Taming Time
- Prioritising and Procrastinating
- Establishing Goals
- Managing Time Together
- Controlling Time Leaks
Time: 6hrs
Internet Marketing
There are well over 100 million web sites on the Internet. How can you make yours stand out among such a huge crowd? How can your site attract the notice of your audience and of the search engines that your audience will use? This series will put powerful, simple tools in your hands to give your web site its own voice and to carve out its place on the Internet. The course chapters cover:
- The New Rules of Marketing
- Building a New Rules Marketing Strategy
- Developing a Content-Rich Website
- Online Marketing Tactics
Time: 6hrs
Running an Online Business
This series examines topics related to creating an e-business. After providing an introduction to e-commerce, the series examines how to start an e-business, establishing a business presence, and creating critical applications. Also covered are the legal ramifications of e-commerce, transaction processing and data mining, managing costs, and the logistics of providing customer service and payment processing. Other topics covered include building a strategy to market and advertise your e-business, resource planning, and ongoing business management. The course chapters cover:
- Your E-Business
- Getting Started
- Influences on E-Commerce
- Killer Apps
- Developing your E-Business
- Real-Time and Data Mining
- Lowering your Business Costs
- Customer Service and Payment
- Marketing your E-Business
- Advertising on the Internet
- Building Marketing Strategy
- Resource Planning
- Managing your E-Business
Time: 55hrs
Business Ethics
The Business Ethics series provides a common sense, practical approach to doing good work, emphasizing the need for people to prepare in advance for ethical dilemmas. The series takes an honest, realistic view of how managers can help improve ethical behaviour in the rushed, output-driven business environment. The course chapters cover:
- What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
- Everyday Ethical Dilemmas
- Ethical Dilemmas and the Law
- Organisational Values
Time: 5hrs, 3mins
Effective Business Communication
This series teaches the writing skills learners will need to effectively communicate in a business setting. They’ll learn how to prepare for a writing task, and about strategies and skills for effective word choice, sentence building, and paragraph design. The course chapters cover:
- The Planning Worksheet
- Writing Skills
- Patterns of Development
- Letters
- Memos, E-Mail and Other Communications
- Reports
- Documentation
Time: 11hrs
Customer Service (Videos)
Knowing what your customers really need is the key to providing high quality customer service. Being accessible, listening to concerns and resolving problems are fundamental when building customer loyalty. Our programs will help you develop the skills to achieve total customer satisfaction. The course chapters cover:
- Defining Service
- Communicating
- Fixing Problems
- Building a Department
- Tools of the Trade
Time: 23hrs
