March 10, 2020
The Best Free Online Certifications For Business Owners
It's here where online certifications can become beneficial to business owners. The best free online courses teach entrepreneurs to learn new skills and grow. Plus, there's never a need to step into a classroom or detract from your busy schedule.
Why Do Online Certifications Matter?
Long ago, the only options for struggling entrepreneurs to learn new things were to:- Enroll in expensive, time-consuming local college courses
- Consult with business coaches or mentors in person or over the phone
- Figure things out along the way and hope for the best
Our Top Choices For Free Online Certifications
The best free online certifications available for business owners will typically be related to finance, business strategy, operations, or marketing. All of the courses below fall into one of these four buckets and we'll detail them more below.- Finance
- Business Strategy
- Operations
- Marketing
Udemy’s “Understand SWOT Analysis”
A SWOT analysis is one of the most effective investigations you can do as an entrepreneur. Short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, a SWOT analysis is crucial for business growth. This process assists in identifying issues that impact the daily operations of your business. If this is something that interests you, the Udemy course Understanding SWOT Analysis will prove to be a strong business course. This course is concise and is comprised of only a 30-minute training video. However, upon completion, you'll be able to master the four-step strategies thousands of businesses utilize. These SWOT analysis help develop strategic plans, assessing organizational performance. This free Udemy course is ideal for entrepreneurs searching for systematic methods to analyze business performance. Three main takeaways can be expected with the Understanding SWOT Analysis course:- Learn the art of performing SWOT analysis for businesses of all sizes.
- Apply discoveries made in a SWOT analysis to strategic planning and goal setting.
- Follow specific examples and case studies, serving to understand SWOT applications better.
The SBA’s "Financing Options for Small Businesses"
When the US government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) develops a course, it’s best to take notice! The course Financing Options for Small Businesses represents just shy of an hour of material. However, at this time, you'll be introduced to the world of financing available for small businesses. This course has information on grants and small business loans, angel investing, venture capital investing, and crowdfunding. It allows you to learn the pros and cons of each potential funding source. The goal is to ensure the best financial decisions can be made for your business. With no cost, this certification is ideal for any business owner anticipating the need for outside funding. Between investors, loans, and other funding sources, you'll be able to make the best, most informed decisions. Three main takeaways can be expected with the SBA’s Financing Options for Small Business course:- Discovering various funding options that exist for your small business, and pros and cons of each.
- Determining the short- and long-term financing needs of your small business.
- Identifying financial options most likely to mesh correctly with your business plan. Along with this comes access to the resources necessary to assist in pursuing these funding options.
Alison’s “Fundamentals of Accounting”
Reporting and accounting software provides a fantastic insight into how businesses do financially. However, you need to know how to use them properly. In Alison’s Fundamentals of Accounting courses, owners of small businesses learn standard terms and principles. These principles and terms are used across the entire financial sector. After completing just a few hours of video instructions, you'll better understand financial management. You can also ask smarter questions to accountants or bookkeepers, as well as becoming a better steward of revenue. This free course is perfect for entrepreneurs wanting to learn skills for bookkeeping management. You can also review accounting documents, analyze CPAs, or even serve as a bookkeeper yourself. The main takeaways that can be expected from this course and certification are:- Learning to adjust issues in daily business accounting records with ledger and journal tools.
- Creating your first income statement and balance sheet for your business. Understand what these reports are made to reflect.
- Mastering common terms and accounting principles.
SBA’s “Savings Plans for Small Businesses”
The SBA is back again with a 30-minute online course called Savings Plans for Small Business. This course assists significantly in helping business owners understand the real importance of saving. This is done while also offering methods to discover new potentials for saving. This offering includes pointers on saving for unexpected life happenings, retirement, and much more. Clear voice-overs accompany well-written slides, working to assist in enhancing understanding for all users. The goal is to make a government-developed course seem as personal as possible. Savings Plans for Small Businesses is a free course, geared towards business owners who are looking to learn savings tips. The three main takeaways from this course are:- Understanding the differences between long-term savings and savings for emergencies.
- Learning the importance of savings and the reasons why savings matters.
- Learning the actions that can be taken to save, including potential tax breaks.
Hubspot’s Content Marketing Certification
We've covered Hubspot quite a bit on our blog. Due to this, we'd be remiss not to include one of the stellar courses provided by the Hubspot Academy. Their content marketing certification is a strong starting point for those business owners new to these strategies. With this four hour, comprehensive course, you'll be well on the way to generating robust content strategies. Additionally, you can focus on the creation and distribution of content in systematic, informed methods. Also, you learn the importance of telling compelling stories that will attract potential customers to your business. This free course is geared towards anyone who knows what content marketing is but needs further education. Expect to walk away with the instructions necessary to apply effective content strategies to business. Here are the four main takeaways from Hubspot’s Content Marketing Certification:- Mastering strategies to repurpose and promote content to extend business reach.
- Understanding the way content marketing works, as well as why it is a powerful weapon for your small business.
- Learning to measure and analyze content marketing efforts. This helps you always know what is working for your business and what isn’t.
- Planning long term content marketing strategies that properly align with brand and business goals.
Udemy’s “Introduction to Human Resource Management”
It doesn’t matter if you have a team of one, or a team of five hundred. There will come the time where you'll be responsible for leading, supporting, and managing teams of employees. However, many small businesses don’t have the bandwidth to handle the responsibilities of an entire HR team. This doesn’t mean they don’t have needs that relate to human resources. In Udemy’s Intro to Human Resource Management course, you receive a background in all things HR. From what human resources is, to strategies for retention and hiring, and beyond, nothing is out of reach. This free course is ideal for any small business owner looking to push their company past an army of one. Several main takeaways should be expected after completion of this course, including:- Learning the management of contractors and part-time labor
- Conducting performance reviews and work management for employees.
- Understanding the basics of human resources, HR management, and typical processes.
EdX’s “Effective Business Writing”
Small business owners may think they need to master every possible skill to achieve business success. For many, this includes both content writing and marketing messaging for your company. This process crosses between marketing and standard business operations and can be challenging to define. If you reach this point, you might feel the need to brush up a bit on your writing skills. Maybe you also want to learn to draft memos, letters, and other business materials properly? If so, EdX’s Effective Business Writing course is perfect for you. Provided by UC Berkeley, this free course is ideal for small business owners wanting to improve communication. The main takeaways that can be expected after finishing the Effective Business Writing course include:- Mastering effective and clear business communications.
- Refining both approaches and ideas for creating content.
- Learning how to write useful business communications, including reports, memos, and letters.
Other Free Resources For Business Owners
In addition to the courses above, the Internet has many free resources for small business owners. Here are just three incredible resources available at no cost to you:- The Small Business Development Center for your state
- Business Startup Planners
- The SBA