MBA Business Skills Masterclass for Entrepreneurs & Managers

Explore the difference between employee and entrepreneur mindsets, contrasting effort, time investment, support responsibility, and income timing to guide a shift from employee habits to thinking as a business person.

Develop a practical approach to work-life balance for entrepreneurs by scheduling weekly plans that allocate time for business performance, family, health, and personal happiness.

Generate a business idea that fills a market gap or solves a problem, then validate and analyze competition by consulting four groups—friends and family, peers, experts, customers—about needs and pricing.

Define your idea by outlining offered products and services and what you won't offer. Validate quickly by talking to customers, researching needs, and analyzing competition to build a money-making machine.

Discover how to find a local or online mentor and build a mutual, productive relationship through respectful communication, timely meetings and resources, and practical advice that guides informed decisions.

Align the right people to key roles in family business control, including a financial controller, a visionary, and an implementer, to set spending limits, track finances, and fulfill commitments.

Plan ahead and insure family members to protect a family business from crises such as death, divorce, or health issues, and rotate responsibilities to cover absences.

Grow your consulting business by boosting your website with search engine optimization and backlinks, publishing blogs, and leveraging targeted ads, partnerships, retargeting, email marketing, social media, referrals.

Discover how a digital marketing agency works, from leadership to account management, creative, technologist, web development, analytics, and project management, plus media planning, paid and organic search, and CRM.

Short-term debt financing improves liquidity and cash flow with overdraft, letter of credit, or short-term loans, but carries high interest; long-term debt financing funds capital investments via loans or leasing.

Grants offer nonrepayable financing for your business, but qualifying is challenging and reporting must show funds are well spent; prepare a project proposal with activities and budget.

Explore the challenge of outside financing, assess your financing needs, and compare debt versus equity while weighing benefits, complications, and options like private equity, venture capital, and angel investing.

Identify the executive summary as the most important one-page part of the business plan, highlighting the business name, location, products and services, and management team.

Analyze market size, growth, and trends; define the target group with demographics and purchase motivations; evaluate competition and entry roadblocks, supported by internet research and customer insights.

Focus on the customer and state what they gain from your products and services and their primary function. Explain basic information and pricing clearly.

Develop and execute a detailed marketing activities plan by testing strategies, networking, direct marketing, advertising (traditional and nontraditional), PR, promotional videos, events, and trade shows to achieve marketing objectives.