Among the millions of students preparing to go back to school this fall are plenty of small business owners seeking a better grounding in finance, marketing and other subjects that can help them run their companies.
Many will be enrolling in courses offered at local colleges, while others will take seminars run by chambers of commerce and industry groups. Still others will be learning online.
Small business owners who have gone back to school say the experience helped them build their companies.
Trina Sheridan took a five-week course at the Women’s Business Development Center in Chicago to help her start her gourmet kitchenware and cooking class business, The Wooden Spoon. The course taught her about putting together a business plan, which helped the company get financing. She also learned some retailing basics, such as always keeping the shelves stocked so the store looks like it’s prospering.
One of the key lessons she learned was about managing – the need to delegate to employees. Her instructor told students to focus on running the business, not waiting on customers.
“Working on the business, not in the business, that was a big part” of what Sheridan said she learned.
Sheridan’s class covered general business topics and was the kind of survey course that can be invaluable for a new entrepreneur. Many organizations offer similar basic courses, and so do colleges across the country. In most cases, it’s not necessary to enroll in a degree program or pay a lot of money to take the classes.
Schools that host Small Business Development Centers – Small Business Administration-sponsored offices that are set up to help small business owners – run a variety of courses that teach the basics. The centers also offer advanced classes, generally on specific issues. Some of the courses are free, while others have low fees of $100 or less.
There are more than 1,000 Small Business Development Centers across the country, including centers at vocational schools, churches and other locations. To find them, go to the SBA Web site, www.sba.gov/sbdc.
The Delaware center, for example, offers courses such as “Understanding Cash Flow,” “Help for Writing Your Business Plan,” “Market Research: How to Help Your Business Succeed” and “So You Want to Start a Business.” Some of the courses are free, while others cost $20 to $50.
The SBA itself also sponsors seminars. You can find one in your area at www.sba.gov/calendar.
Organizations such as the Women’s Business Development Center, where Sheridan took her course, aim to help company owners by offering workshops, seminars and classes. You can look for one in your area.
You can also contact your local chamber of commerce. If the chamber doesn’t have classes, it probably can point you toward a group that does.
Julie Kampf, president of JBK Associates Inc., an executive search firm in Englewood, N.J., took a refresher course in pharmaceutical marketing from a businesswomen’s association. She didn’t need the basics; she was looking for a course that would build on what she already knew so she could expand her business.
“As you keep reinventing yourself as a business owner, you keep finding ways to capture new markets,” Kampf said, adding that probably means you need to learn something new.
Her class was short, several hours on a Saturday. Kampf wants to continue taking classes, but expects that the next one “will probably involve going back to more formal courses.”
Owners with time and the desire to do a lot of business learning might want to enroll in college courses. That is likely to be more expensive, but for someone hoping for a certificate or a degree, it’s the way to go.
Some owners would prefer to take classes online. Again, many schools and colleges offer the opportunity to get the basics or to learn about marketing, accounting, management and other subjects over the Internet. It’s a good option for someone who lives far from a school or center that offers scheduled classes.
Many business owners who have taken courses find that they get more than information and how-tos. Often some advice about business life is dispensed, and that’s something that a new company owner might need.
Sheridan said another important lesson she learned in her class was that she had to take a vacation – and train her employees to run the business in her absence.
“I didn’t want to go,” she recalled. But she followed the advice, got her employees ready, and then took the vacation that many new owners would be afraid to enjoy.
Small Business is a weekly column on the topic by the Associated Press.
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