10 Best Short Business Courses Online

Over the years, the business world has taken several dimensions, creating a need to stay relevant and up-to-date with new developments. If you want to start a business or advance in your already established business, you should consider taking short business courses online.

Short business courses online provide a dynamic and flexible avenue to gain vital business skills and knowledge. From digital marketing strategies to financial management essentials, these courses cover several crucial topics you would find helpful. The online nature of the courses makes them more accessible and convenient.

In this article, I will explore the 10 best short business courses online. The courses are taught by industry experts, ensuring you gain relevant and applicable knowledge to take your business to the next level.

Can I Study Business Administration Online?

Absolutely! There are many online courses on Business Administration.

An online Business Administration course, like most other short business courses online, gives you more flexibility than an on-site program. Learning online makes it an easier fit for you regardless of how tight your schedule may be.

It is also important to note that what you learn in an online business course is not of a lower standard than an on-site university course. Many universities provide their business courses online, offering you the same skills and knowledge but through a more convenient medium.

If you are interested in other online courses, check out the 21 Best Free Online Courses For Adults.

What Business Can I Do at Home and Make Money?

There are several lucrative businesses you can do from the comfort of your home. One good option is to start an e-commerce store.

Another good business you can do remotely is freelancing. You can offer freelancing services in several areas, such as writing, graphics design, and web development.

Other lucrative areas of remote business include blogging, vlogging, affiliate marketing, online tutoring, and social media account management, among many others.

Check out the 34 Best 4–6 Week Certificate Programs Online that Pay Well.

Which Business Can I Start Without Money?

There are several businesses you can start without monetary capital. You can offer writing services, such as content writing, editing, and blogging. Other businesses such as dog training, in-home child care, and consultancy are good businesses that do not require start-up costs.

Start-up capital is a major source of discouragement for many business owners. Many people resort to soliciting external investments before they can get their dream business running.

Businesses without capital requirements save you from the stress of seeking capital. It also presents less risk, as there is not much to lose if it does not work out. However, many of these businesses require skill. You can take short business courses online to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge.

What is the Difference Between Business and Management Courses?

A business course often includes a wide range of topics linked to business, such as economics, marketing, finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, and more. It provides a thorough understanding of how businesses in many industries operate.

On the other hand, a management course focuses on organizing, planning, leading, and controlling resources within an organization. Topics you learn from a management course include leadership, organizational behavior, and human resource management.

In essence, a business course provides a general picture of the business world, while a management course focuses on the specific skills and knowledge required to lead and manage inside an organization. These two fields frequently overlap. Many short business courses online offer management courses as part of larger business degrees.

Some courses incorporate business and management disciplines. You can refer to them as business management courses. To learn more about these courses, see Top 12 Business Management Courses Online.

List of 10 Best Short Business Courses Online

• Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting
• Business Intensive
• Introduction to Negotiation
• Time Management for Personal and Professional Productivity
• Sales Training
• Brand Identity and Strategy
• PMP Certification Course
• Business Analytics
• Ultimate Digital Marketing
• Workforce Development: Business Fundamentals

10 Best Short Business Courses Online

Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting

Here is an overview of the course:

• Course provider: American Management Association
• Cost: $2,595 for non-members
• Duration: 2 days

Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting is one of the shortest business courses online offered by the American Management Association (AMA). The course introduces basic concepts in finance and accounting.

In this course, you will learn valuable business skills, which include the following skills:

• Interpretation and appropriate response to financial information.
• Communication
• Determination of profitability drains
• Profitable decision making

The course is specifically for non-financial managers. If you fall into that category, this course is right for you.

The course comprises 19 live video sessions where you learn from an expert instructor.

By the end of the course, you will be able to interpret financial reports and make decisions based on the information they provide. You will also learn to draft accurate financial budgets.

For more information about the course, see Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting Training.

Business Intensive

Here is an overview of the course:

• Course provider: Brunch Work
• Cost: $1649–$2750
• Duration: 2 weeks

Business Intensive is among the best short business courses online. It is a course that offers a proven approach for generating, validating, prototyping, marketing, selling, and presenting business concepts.

In the Business Intensive course, you also learn how to run competitor analysis and market sizing. These concepts are helpful as they provide metrics to analyze the sustainability of your business.

The course contains 14 live sessions 14 interactive, live video sessions led by expert instructors. It uses an 8-part syllabus with curated study material. It also includes 8 hands-on projects and 6 professional models and presentation templates.

You will graduate from a passive consumer of business knowledge to an engaged company leader with real-world experience.

For more information about this course, see Business Intensive.

Introduction to Negotiation

Here is a glance at the course:

• Course provider: Coursera
• Cost: it is free
• Duration: Approximately 25 hours

Negotiation is an integral part of business. An understanding of the dynamics of negotiation promotes smooth business transactions.

Introduction to Negotiation is a Yale course that provides a framework for analyzing and shaping negotiations. It is one of the best short business courses online as it is self-paced. You can complete the course at your convenience.

Introduction to Negotiation is also a practical course. You will have the opportunity to test your persuasion ability with fellow students. You will be able to receive feedback from them to help you improve, and prepare for future encounters. You will also have the opportunity to learn how other people negotiated with their case study customers.

At the end of the course, you will hear insights from 3 negotiation experts: Linda Babcock, Herb Cohen, and John McCall MacBain. You can receive a certificate when you register for the paid course. Financial aid is also available.

To learn more about this course, see Introduction to Negotiation.

Time Management for Personal and Professional Productivity

Here is a summary of the course:

• Course provider: Coursera
• Cost: it is free
• Duration: approximately 10 hours

Work Smarter, Not Harder is a course offered by the University of California, Irvine. It is a self-paced course that you can learn for free. However, earning a certificate will require a paid subscription.

The following are skills you gain through this course:

• Effective planning to reach personal and professional objectives
• Recognizing and overcoming obstacles to effective time management
• Maintaining your sense of perspective to prevent and manage catastrophes
• Managing resources effectively and efficiently

The course comprises 4 modules. It is part of the Career Success Specialization course.

By the end of the course, you will be able to apply your knowledge of personal and professional awareness and organization to your business. You will also become skilled in applying the tools, methods, and techniques involved in goal setting and scheduling to enhance productivity.

To learn more about this course, see Work Smarter, Not Harder.

Sales Training

Here is a quick look at this course:

• Course provider: Coursera
• Cost: it is free
• Duration: approximately 7 hours

Sales training is a planned procedure that aims to develop and improve your skills as a sales professional. It provides you with the tools and techniques needed to sell items or services to consumers effectively.

Sales Training is a course offered by HubSpot Academy. If you are considering a career in sales or just got a new sales job, this course is for you. It is the first course in the Sales Training for High Performing Teams Specialization.

The course contains 5 lessons. In these lessons, you will learn the sales methodology and how it can help to promote sales. You will also understand the difference between active and passive buyers, and why both are important in business.

By the end of the course, you should have gained enough to start selling with a consultative mindset. You should also be able to customize a personalized approach to every sales conversation.

For more information about this course, see Sales Training: Building Your Sales Career.

Brand Identity and Strategy

Here is an overview of this course:

• Course provider: Coursera
• Cost: it is free
• Duration: approximately 15 hours

Brand Identity and Strategy is among the best short business courses online for you, as branding plays a major role in the success of any business. Every business person should be able to set up a working strategy aimed towards effective branding.

Brand Identity and Strategy is an IE Business School course. It expounds on what branding is and how it can be beneficial to a business. It also delves into consumer segmentation and its importance in setting up a successful brand.

In the course, you will learn how to select the right color, logo, and name for your brand.

The syllabus comprises 5 modules:

• Introduction to Branding
• Defining the Value
• Building a Brand House
• Brand Marks and Visual Expressions
• The Capstone Project

Brand Identity and Strategy is a self-paced course with flexible deadlines.

To learn more about this course, see Brand Identity and Strategy.

PMP Certification Course

Here is an overview of this course:

• Course provider: Simpli Learn
• Cost: $399
• Duration: 39 contact hours

PMP Certification Course is a training program for project management professionals. It covers subjects, such as rising trends, new technology and methods, and essential project management competencies. The training emphasizes the roles of a project manager while highlighting strategic and business expertise.

In this course, you will gain the following skills:

• Work breakdown structure
• Resource allocation
• Gantt charts
• Mathematical project scheduling models
• Project cost estimating
• Cost management
• Engineering economics
• Leadership

The course offers the opportunity to learn using case studies. This makes learning more practical and effective.

The instructors for this course are top experts in project management. They handle the live sessions and make them as interactive as possible.

You have a 90-day access point to the course materials regardless of whether you opt for the weekday or weekend classes. You also have the option of undergoing corporate training through the online platform.

To learn more about this course, see PMP Certification Training Course Online.

Business Analytics

Here is an overview of the course:

• Course provider: Harvard Business School
• Cost: $1,750
• Duration: Self-paced

Harvard Business School offers some of the best short business courses online. Business Analytics is one of those courses. It comprises 5 modules with featured exercises.

Key concepts you will learn in this course include the following:

• Data interpretation, and its application in making informed business choices
• Recognizing patterns, identifying outliers, and summarising data sets
• Examining the links between variables
• Creating and testing hypotheses
• Creating effective survey questions and generating findings from population samples
• Use of Excel to execute regression analysis and other analytical techniques

You can take this course if you are a college student, recent graduate, graduate school aspirant, or mid-career professional. You earn a certificate of completion at the end of the course. The certificate boosts your CV, increasing your chances of employment. You also earn a credential of readiness.

One great advantage of the Business Analytics course is the social feature, which allows you to connect with fellow students during and after class hours. Socializing helps build strong networks, which you will need for your business to thrive.

For more information about this course, see Online Business Analytics Course.

Ultimate Digital Marketing

Here is a quick look at the details:

• Course provider: Reliablesoft
• Cost: $780
• Duration: 2 weeks

Ultimate Digital Marketing is an online training program in digital marketing offered by Reliablesoft. The platform has gained popularity in business and provides some of the best short business courses online.

Ultimate Digital Marketing is a course that will teach you how to grow traffic for your website in 60 days or less. Through this course, you will learn how to increase sales by applying proven digital marketing strategies.

You will learn about SEO, Digital Marketing Strategy, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, eCommerce, Affiliate Marketing, YouTube Marketing, and Analytics.

The course comprises 13 sub-courses and 92 lessons covering more than 280 digital marketing topics. You can also download the offline copy of the course materials, so you have lifetime access to them.

For more information about this course, see Ultimate Digital Marketing Training.

Workforce Development: Business Fundamentals

Here is an overview of this course:

• Course provider: American Management Association
• Cost: $249
• Duration: 260 minutes

The Workforce Development course teaches you the elements that constitute a functional business. In the course, you will learn how to identify and manage stakeholders and keep them aligned with your overall goals. You will also learn about strategic thinking, and how to present your ideas to the rest of the team.

The course also covers areas of problem-solving. Having gained an understanding of the functionality of business, you will also learn how to solve problems through data analysis. Other topics include Accounting, Project Management, and Analysing Financial Statements.

The course lasts for 260 minutes and comprises 6 lessons.

For more information about this course, see Workforce Development: Business Fundamentals.

Which Course is Best for Managing a Business?

Business administration, management, and entrepreneurship are excellent for managing a business. These courses provide valuable skills you will need to keep a business flourishing.

However, other short business courses online can be beneficial. Before selecting a course, you must consider your goals, background, and your industry of interest. Other factors you should take into consideration include the reputation of the school, the curriculum, and available specializations.

What Should I Learn First for Business?

When entering into business, it is best to first grasp fundamental concepts in economics and market dynamics. A solid knowledge of these concepts provides a foundation for making informed business decisions.

Next, learn to read and interpret financial statements, manage budgets, and comprehend basic accounting principles. This skill set will enable you to gauge the financial health of a business.

Simultaneously, equip yourself with marketing strategies such as market research, branding, and effective communication. Proficiency in these marketing strategies will enable you to reach and engage your target audience effectively.

You can find many of these topics in short business courses online. It is advantageous to enroll in these courses, as they will steadily progress from basic to advanced business concepts.

How Can a Beginner Succeed in Business?

To succeed in business as a beginner, you must have a solid foundation in business concepts such as communication, adaptability, and problem-solving. You can take short business courses online to help you with that.

You must also set clear goals and design a well-organized business plan based on these goals. A business plan gives you focus and direction.

Another point that will ensure business success is building business networks. Surround yourself with mentors who have succeeded in business. Peers and advisors can also provide guidance and insights.

Additionally, stay updated. You have to continuously keep up with market trends and emerging technologies. This helps you stay ahead of the curve. Many businesses have delved into the online space to stay relevant. You should also do the same with your business.

Lastly, engage customer feedback strategies. It is necessary to consider what your customers think about your services. Setting up a mechanism for customer feedback helps you improve, and increases the rate of returning customers.

FAQs on Best Short Business Courses Online

Conclusion

Short business courses online can offer valuable skills for you as an aspiring entrepreneur or professional. Each course provides a deeper understanding of basic and advanced business concepts needed to push your business to the next level.

Short business courses online also provide business insights. These insights are essential tools that help you take proactive steps toward business success.

The online nature of the courses makes them more convenient and easier to complete, as most of them have flexible deadlines. The certificate some courses offer also helps boost your CV and increase your employability. You can also check out free online courses with printable certificates.

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