If you are a small business owner and you are looking for ways to rapidly grow your business, one good place to start is by earning a degree! Earning a degree can help you with the technical part of running a business — you will learn essential terminology, how to communicate with your employees and how to make positive changes in the workplace. If you cannot commit quite enough time to earning a degree though, there are so many other options online that can suit the needs of any business owner!
Online MBA from Northeastern University
One good online MBA program for entrepreneurs is the one offered by Northeastern University. This MBA offers 8 high-demand concentrations and offers optional residencies both domestically and abroad! To enroll in the program, you will need to earn a high score on the GMAT exam.
The GMAT exam is designed to test your academic abilities before you start earning a graduate degree. To do well on the GMAT, many people look to different prep courses to help them boost their score. Prep courses are a great way to add heavily structured studying to your preparation for the GMAT. Not to mention, if you do well on your GMAT you can even earn scholarships to help you save money while earning your degree in the future!
Harvard Business School Certificate in Entrepreneurship Essentials
What better course is there to take as an entrepreneur than a class for entrepreneurs at Harvard University? This class will teach you the basics of how to get your business to make money — you will learn how to identify business opportunities, evaluate ideas, risks, and rewards, how to refine your business strategy and how to raise capital and communicate with investors. Getting this certification is a good place to start if you already know some of the basics. Do not rely on this course to teach you everything you need to know about business, but make sure you can apply what you learn!
All in all, this class comes out to be relatively affordable, especially when compared to the cost of obtaining a graduate degree. It also only takes four weeks, so you will quickly be able to reap the benefits of everything you learn throughout the lessons Harvard provides.
Vanderbilt Business Management Certificate
This business certificate through Vanderbilt is more concerned with business operations than with managing money. Nonetheless, it still teaches valuable skills that are essential for an entrepreneur who wants to expand their business. In the process of earning this certificate, you will learn effective communication skills, how to assess risk, the language of business and how to develop and maintain your leadership skills.
Even though this course does not specifically cover money management for entrepreneurs, it still teaches valuable lessons that can help your business grow. If you know how to effectively manage your team and adequately assess financial risks that you are taking, you will be much more likely to see your business thrive.
Stanford Entrepreneurship Program
The entrepreneurship program offered by Stanford offers one of the best business certificates that money can buy. Boasting that it teaches the “’secret sauce’ of Silicon Valley entrepreneurship,” this program presents itself as a perfect option for business owners in the technology industry. It will teach you how to identify and capitalize on a new business idea and will offer you feedback from business professionals that can further help your business grow.
The best part about this program is that it teaches you how to apply the skills you have learned. Rather than just give you conceptual knowledge about a business strategy, the Stanford program will provide you with context and opportunities to apply new strategies for yourself. The course can be completed in several different ways, with some students preferring self-paced classes while others prefer the structure offered by a more traditional class. No matter your preference, this certificate is guaranteed to help boost your business.
Indiana University’s Online MBA
This online MBA program is one of the top-rated online graduate programs in the entire United States. With students all around the world taking part in this program, you are sure to establish countless connections that you can use to help increase the growth of your business. Beyond these connections, this MBA will teach you the best practices of running a business. While this course may focus on teaching the fundamental parts of running a business, this course can still help any entrepreneur who would like to see their business grow.
One potential drawback to pursuing this MBA is that it requires you to have business-related work experience before you enroll. This can be difficult for some, who may find that they need an MBA to even work in the first place. A good way to get around this is with a business-related internship that you can find online or locally to help you gain solid work experience in your field.
Management Leadership Certificate from George Washington University
The final certificate program offered through George Washington University is perfect for people who might be new to a leadership position. This certificate course will teach you self-awareness, self-monitoring, social awareness, and relationship building to help you find success as an entrepreneur.
This is another course that focuses on business relationships rather than money, which is why it is a perfect fit for new entrepreneurs. If you want to have a successful business, you need to build a strong foundation of good relationships and good management before you can truly start to see your business grow.
Conclusion
Online graduate programs are an amazing way to encourage growth in your small business. If you are doing well but you are not sure what your next steps should be, consider earning a degree or other certification online to boost your business. If you do not have enough time to commit to earning your MBA, graduate certificates can give you just as much valuable information in a fraction of the time. Evaluate your own needs to find out what program will work best for you!
