Certificate in How to Start a Business

Launching your business is the most daunting part of becoming and being an entrepreneur - dreaming and planning is the easy part. But, ideas are nothing but ideas without execution. You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and avoid common pitfalls if you want to realise your dream and achieve your vision. This lesson will focus on the principles of entrepreneurship, which includes its common pitfalls and how to avoid them, as well as the habits and characteristics that safeguard entrepreneurs and provide support throughout the entrepreneurial journey.

The world we live in is constantly changing, the people in it are evolving and the business landscape is transforming - fuelled by the rapid changes and trends in technological advances and economic health, as well as political challenges and societal shifts. This lesson will explore key emerging trends influencing the entrepreneurial and small business landscape, as well as ways in which entrepreneurs can safeguard and future-proof their businesses, and themselves, by taking advantage of what these trends have to offer.

As an aspiring entrepreneur starting a business, it’s important that the value of continuous and comprehensive market analyses not be underestimated. A market analysis can, and should, be conducted at various stages of a small business’ lifecycle, from pre-launch and beyond. This lesson will provide you with an introduction to market analysis, the key research considerations for new entrepreneurs, as well as the resources and data collection tools available to easily navigate through the research and analysis process.

If you’re an entrepreneur starting a small business, you’ll most likely need a supply chain to bring your offering from concept to consumer. If you’re an entrepreneur striving toward a competitive advantage, chances are you’ll need a sound value chain to enable the realisation and delivery of optimal value for both your customers and business. We'll explore the primary differences between supply and value chains, as well as modern supply chains and the key decision-making and activity-based consideration areas under each.

Due to the fast-paced introduction of digital transformation, the rapid changes in innovative strategies, and the ever-changing demands of consumers, most businesses have been forced to think outside-the-box and mould their strategic endeavours into proactive, future-forward and consumer-centric decisions. This lesson will focus on the various revenue models and business models available, and explore the basic components of each to assist you in selecting the appropriate models - suited to your specific business and the demands of your customers.

Now, more than ever, businesses are gaining momentum and solidifying a sustainable competitive advantage due to their modernised customer-centric approaches. With the rise of the digital age and the technological advances that came along with it, the ways consumers engage with businesses and their customer experience expectations have transformed drastically. This lesson will focus on customer experience and the various consideration areas under the customer journey, to ensure optimal customer satisfaction and retention.

The entrepreneurial journey is severely nerve-racking, filled with risks and could often become a lonely path. However, through well-executed professional networking, the entrepreneurial journey can become thrilling, filled with invaluable opportunities and supportive, as well as like-minded professionals. The aim of this lesson is to provide you with an introduction to professional networking, as well as the key consideration areas for entrepreneurs entering the entrepreneurial world and launching a new business.

The entrepreneurial journey presents unique challenges. Some of these challenges are sometimes faced even before the business is up and running. One of the challenges startup entrepreneurs face is recognising that Moment of Truth - the one that requires you to hang the proverbial open sign and start welcoming customers. This lesson will aim to assist you in finding your Moment of Truth and introduce various ways in which you can optimally launch your business, create awareness for your offering and start generating customers - even with limited resources.

The journey of entrepreneurship is both exciting and challenging - posing a thrilling uphill climb for entrepreneurs who desire to start, launch, grow and scale the business of their dreams. To reach the next desired level of success and propel your business into its optimal state, your business must develop and adapt continuously. This lesson will aim to enhance your knowledge about the basic principles of business growth, methods for strengthening your launch foundation and the various approaches followed by successful entrepreneurs to ensure sustainable business growth.

Leadership excellence, especially among entrepreneurs starting a business, requires the ability to attract and retain capable individuals, motivate them to provide their best efforts and outputs, as well as face challenges proactively and effectively. These are certainly difficult tasks, which explains why effective leadership is both extremely rare and important. This lesson will explore the basic principles of leadership, the qualities and characteristics of successful leaders, various leadership styles and the importance of leadership within the entrepreneurial environment.

Marketing is a vital process for entrepreneurs launching and growing a new business - since no business could establish themselves within their desired market, as well as create and maintain awareness among their customers, without it. The process of acquiring and retaining customers, as well as the various insights that ensue, is at the very core of your marketing strategy. This lesson will aim to enhance your knowledge as to optimal ways in which to promote your business once launched and maintain the optimal level of awareness, to break through competitive noise.

Customer demands are ever-changing, especially given the digitisation of various touchpoints throughout the customer journey and the increase in competitive content. Customers are demanding more personalised engagements and require businesses to adjust their customer-related activities to their experience preferences. This lesson will aim to equip you with the necessary knowledge to create an agile customer acquisition and retention strategy and enhance the customer experience - to increase both satisfaction and sales performance.

Finding startup capital is one of the most challenging exercises for startup entrepreneurs, especially those new to the entrepreneurial environment. Although it's possible to start and launch a business with limited capital and resources, there's no denying that you'll require additional funding/capital in the long-run - which will aid the growth and scaling of your business into the future. This lesson will aim to enhance your knowledge about the funding opportunities available and how to create/present the ultimate pitch/proposals to prospective investors.

Even though a new business, launched in the modern age, should maintain an agile strategic approach and the capacity/capability to adapt to impactful change drivers and trends, there are various fundamental elements that should be solidified to strengthen the foundation of your business. This foundation relates to the business practices and policies on which your business is built. This lesson will aim to enhance your knowledge about the essence of sound business practice, as well as how to create and embed strong policies within the DNA of your business.

Effective brand management enables your customers to accelerate through the customer journey and transform into loyal or advocate customers for your business. Through positive brand associations and strong awareness of your business, as well as its core activities and values, your business could gain a strong place within the customer's evoked set and strengthen your position among your competitors. This lesson will aim to enhance your knowledge about the process of brand management and how to solidify a positive perception of your business among your customers.

The entrepreneurial journey poses both exciting and challenging personal and business-related endeavours. Even though your customers, their experience and overall satisfaction with your business are considered the core elements of your business, your personal development, as the leader of the business, should be prioritised as well. This lesson will aim to highlight the importance of a work-life balance, as well as the crucial role self-care, self-reflection and skills development plays toward the success of your business.