Education & Small Business Courses

[Slade]

Just wondering if anyone can recommend any courses I could do to get my head around running a business and entrepreneurship?

I noticed a few of you are doing entrepreneurship at university, but I always thought being an entrepreneur was more of a personality trait than a certificate.

If you look at some of the greatest entrepreneurs on earth, Richard Branson for example.. not a lick of further education, in fact he is dyslexic..

So is education that important? If so.. can you recommend any short courses?

[justinsigns]

So is education that important? If so.. can you recommend any short courses?

I have no formal training either Slade, I left school prior to finishing year 9.
I have seen a business coach in 2007 and that made a world of difference to our bottom line, and they way we project ourselves to potential clients.

Cant comment on University, but some training would be best, even a short course, or pick the book up that Carl recommended, its a great read.

[Carl Taylor]

Hey Slade,

I believe that Education is extremely important.

Not conventional education, ie university in fact i think conventional education systems are very outdated and need major revamping for the new age.

Conventional education really is designed to create people who want to have a job. But anyways i wont go into my rant on that right now, maybe a seperate post

My recommendation's are Read, Read, Read.
If your not someone who learns well from reading then yeah definately sign up for some practical courses or if your more auditory download audio books and listen to them in the car or on an mp3 player.

Little saying i like is "The more you learn, the more you earn".

As Justin has mentioned, I love recommending books.
There are 2 reasons i love recommending books.
1. Books are great resources you can return to when needing a refresher and its how i have learnt most of what i know
2. One of the main points of my website is my Library of Wealth which is designed to help others like us, Entrepreneurs and people seeking to create wealth, learn more through books.

So a few recommendations in regards to books:
- The Business Coach by Brad Sugars - Easy read in a practical story following a bakery owner through the Brad Sugars (ActionCoach) system of running a business.
- The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber - Similar to The Business Coach, great story to help you look at starting a business in a different light.
- How to Grow Your Business without spending a single cent by Justin Herald - Great tips from a great Aussie Entrepreneur to help you grow your business without spending any money.
- Billionaire In Training by Brad Sugars - one of my favourite books, look at business and your plan for wealth in a whole new light

There are many more, just look at my Library of Wealth to see all the books i have reviewed and others have recommended.

I've made it simple if you want to buy any of the books you can click thru a link from my Library and purchase them from either Fishpond or Amazon.

If your happy for me to get a small percentage commission please click the links i provide in the library otherwise just search for those titles yourself.

I also highly reccomend you look into short courses on Sales and NLP.
As life is always about selling no matter what you do.

[Brendan]

I agree, education is important, but not necessarily in the conventional sense.

Over the past few years I have been living abroad I have been doing my own entrepreneurship training, the self developed course consists of reading many many books by entrepreneurs, reading up on numerous topics, such as business, real estate, stocks, shares, investing etc.. and attending pretty much any related seminar I can.

I download videos, watch documentaries and study global economies and politics in both the news and on the papers.

I get myself involved in networking events, as well as make sure I am involved in the top end of the strategic business of the current company I am working for.

On the side of this I have started a few small online and offline projects to test what I am good at, what I enjoy, and how I can apply myself when I take the leap - I have already started to see some really good results in these projects.

I am only 12 months into my self-training, and have set myself a 2 year goal to be confident enough to give it a try..

Next steps for me are;
- Find mentors
- Start developing a dream team
- Develop ideas into tangible plans
- Continue to raise capital
- Take Action

[The Profit Frog]

Slade,
I totally agree with the comments provided by everyone else.

HOWEVER... I have noticed a massive trend in the last 5 years or more.
Almost EVERYTHING you may have once been able to become as a regular employee based on skills acquired and good attitude is now certificate-based at the very least...
Simple example? I can transcribe with the best of them, yet even though I did my nursing degree, I cannot secure a medical transription role because I now don't have a certificate verifying that I have trained in the area...
Sheesh!

So as it relates to education...
Being an entrepreneur as such doesn't require formal education.
You have to possess the desire to be responsible for your own future.

What I do suggest is that you do read as Carl suggested, and even the old stuff by Robert Kiyosaki because he is right about one thing... you can be an employee, or self employed... and you are still working. Be a business owner or investor and you step into the powerful realm of independence and control.

Look for a mentor.
Attend seminars, read books, watch DVDs, go to business events where you get to network with people you would like to emulate.

These are the things I do to get me focused on becoming the entrepreneurial business person I believe I can become.

Hope the ideas help.
Terri
Professional Copywriting Services - Freelance Direct Response - Copywriter Professional Writing Services Freelance Web Copy Direct Copy Marketing

[Jamey]

Your ideas are excellent. I did not know that education will relate to small business. Choosing a right mentor is the best way to be successful in business.

[one]

Regarding education, I guess it depends on what you want to do. With me, I was required by law to have the relevant qualifications before I could start my business, but there are many roles out there that don't have minimum education requirements.

I'm not sure that reading books can <i>make</i> you entrepreneurial, but I think they're great for lighting that entrepreneurial spark that already exists within some of us.

Personally, I'm not a fan of self-help books, but I'm a massive fan of books about real people with real businesses, who've enjoyed real success. I think they're far more motivational than books written by people who are only successful because they wrote a book about being successful...

[silkinteriors]

Hi Slade - I'm new to the board so I'm not too familiar with what everyone here does, including you, and at what stage your business is at.

A few years ago I did the Cert IV in Small Business Management (via the NEIS program) and got so much out of it. But like anything, it's what you put into it that determines what you'll get out of it.

I've also studied a post grad level and that was also fantastic, though much more academic, because it gave me a bigger picture of how the world works at a global level and I met some fantastic people I'm still in touch with today.

I love being in the classroom. I tried distance ed once but was terrible at it. I like to be able to ask questions, have discussions etc. I find I learn better in that type of environment.

To summarise, any business course you'll do through a TAFE with a national recognised qualification (e.g. Cert IV in Business) will be very much real world oriented whereas anything at uni is much more theoretical and academic. Though having said that, we got to work on some great real world projects at uni, too.

[Slade]

Wow. This was a very old thread that I started (2008), have I been here that long!?

Thanks for all your feedback guys, I decided to take Brendan's advice and try and immerse myself into everything I want to do by reading books, going to seminars, meeting with like minded people.

I run a few websites now where I sell information products, as well as selling at a stall at a market and things are tracking along well.

I do think you are right though silkinteriors I probably should do a course in business, do you know if that NEIS scheme is still available?

[Joesi]

I've found the Guerrilla MBA at www.clickok.org useful.