Resources for those interested in starting a business
I’ve been thinking about my undergrad classes and really it’s useful for those solely interested in working in a financial role at some large corporation. But for those interested in starting a small business / startup scene , does anyone have recommendations for materials or references that serve as a guide?
Haha when you first start a business, most people don’t hire business consultants - they are too expensive.
Maybe you could take an entrepreneurism class? I took a class like this called Neuroscience Entrepreneurism and it was very informative. It was a 700 level class. During the course of the class we had to generate a real business idea and received feedback from potential investors.
I am not in school anymore. I am moreso interested in learning how to operate a small business rather than idea generation.
just start doing shit and fuck it up and then you'll learn what works for that specific business and what doesn't work for it, maybe you will learn some general lessons that you can apply to other stuff along the way.
There is a Wharton Online Course out there, it might be free. I think it started today, but you still might be able to enroll.
Entrepreneurship Specialization
"Turn Your Idea into a Funded Business. Develop, launch, fund and grow your own business:
Wharton's Entrepreneurship Specialization covers the conception, design, organization, and management of new enterprises. This five-course series is designed to take you from opportunity identification through launch, growth, financing and profitability. With guidance from Wharton's top professors, along with insights from current Wharton start-up founders and financiers, you'll develop an entrepreneurial mindset and hone the skills you need to develop a new enterprise with potential for growth and funding, or to identify and pursue opportunities for growth within an existing organization."
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/wharton-entrepreneurship?actio…
This looks interesting, I will certainly check it out.
Interview small business owners. There's no shortage or clubs or associations that entrepreneurs flock to. As long as you're not trying to sell them something or clearly compete with them, I tend to think they'd be glad to let you buy them lunch or dinner or show you around their place of business.
Nothing you learn in a book is going to give you the refined wisdom that experience does. The people that wrote those books have (usually) never done what they're writing about. So it's all going to be generalities and platitudes.
I think there are two issues with this. First of all, many small business operators cannot articulate how they succeed. They produce widgets or whatever and are good at producing widgets. They are not business gurus. They could tell you how they succeed, but they are not The Profit. A better person to talk to would be serial Entrepreneurs.
Secondly, he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He may not know the questions to ask. If you need a map for the city of Paris, you ask someone for it and they give it to you. If you need a map and don't know what city it is for, well that is a whole different problem.
Second point is key, really important to drive that point home. Reminds me of: "Lots of people watch Bruce Lee Movies. Doesn't mean they can do karate."
No disagreement on either point... but neither of these facts negate the utility of the exercise.
If you want actual practical knowledge on business or startups then best way to do that would be talk to people they maybe family and friend or community or even someone online who are actually already operating a business or have done so in the past learn from their missteps and the things that they did right, the insights you would gain from seeing how someone's business actually panned out and is running is way more useful that just reading some books or a webinar from an online business guru on Youtube.
Maybe you can even try and take a few business courses on Coursera from a Ivy League university(most are free if you don't want a diploma or certificate upon completion of the course) if would give you the theory on business.
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