Entrepreneurs need to wear multiple hats if they are going to succeed.
And that’s why you will never find a single learning platform online that covers all the bases.
You need to go out of your way to diversify if you want to keep learning as a busy entrepreneur and find the best platforms for you in relation to all the skills you need for your business.
These are 10 of the best online learning platforms to help you hone your entrepreneurial skills and prepare for the life you want.
1. CodeAcademy
Bootstrapping entrepreneurs need to consider the fact that they will have to know a little bit about web design and web development in order to customize their online platform. The CodeAcademy is a free resource to help you do this. Create a free account and you can save your progress as you go.
This is perfect for learning some of the major languages, such as CSS, HTML, and PHP. By learning even the basics of coding, you can fix basic bugs and make minor changes without the need to consult a coder.
Related Article: Becoming a Sponge: How to Use Your Learning Style to Your Advantage
2. HubSpot Academy
The HubSpot Academy is a free certification for a range of issues, including inbound marketing and the creation of landing pages. These skills are necessary for any business, and they are even good to know for the future if you happen to work for someone else.
It’s by far one of the most comprehensive courses available, plus it’s constantly receiving updates as the playing field shifts. It’s an ideal resource that will make you a better entrepreneur.
3. Moz
Every smart entrepreneur is well aware of the value of Moz. Their introductory guides on SEO and content marketing are legendary. Any entrepreneur who is new to the game should pick out this resource. But there’s more to look at than the guides on their website.
One resource you have to check out is the Moz Academy. The Moz Academy is a free platform that gives you live and recorded webinars to view. There are guides on everything from link building to social media. The Moz Academy regularly attracts guest contributors from across the web.
4. Souters Training
Administration is a huge part of what it is to be a successful entrepreneur. The Souters Training organization has been offering training courses in office skills and administration since 1988. They offer courses and certification trainings on skills that are relevant to management, business development and the modern workplace.
Courses available include taking audio transcriptions, typing, and taking minutes.
5. LearnVest
The reason why some entrepreneurs succeed while others fail is money management. If you can’t manage your money, you are never going to get the success you want. If you overspend, you are going to find yourself out of business. Smart spending can grow your business into a success.
The LearnVest lessons available aren’t free, however, but they are affordable. You can still find the How to Budget and Building Better Money Habits classes for free, though.
Related Article: 3 Ways to Improve Transfer of Learning in the Workplace
6. Niche Consultant Courses
Sometimes you don’t need to look for platforms you need to look for individual practitioners. Some great practitioners offering niche courses from their websites include MyOwnBusiness and Natalie MacNeil. Try to use Google to search for specific courses in your niche.
The problem with a lot of online platforms is they simply don’t offer the niche courses many advanced entrepreneurs require.
7. edX
edX is one of the largest free online learning platforms for entrepreneurs around. On here you will find more than 300 courses, including those on Entrepreneurship 101 and Financial Analysis and Decision Making.
There are general business courses and more specific business courses. What makes this platform stand out from the rest is the fact that it’s perfect for both beginners and intermediates. You will even find industry-specific courses, such as those on environmental conservation.
8. Khan Academy
The Khan Academy is one of the most well-known providers of online training on this list. They offer everything from courses in math to history to art. They also offer interactive exercises and courses on technology. These lessons are geared toward use in the workplace.
They tend to take the format of a whiteboard, where the teacher speaks and draws out diagrams of the concepts they are explaining onto the whiteboard. The Khan Academy is ideal for visual learners and audio learners who need to keep their skills sharp.
Many of these courses can seem basic, since the Khan Academy is geared toward high school students, but the courses on taxes and accounting can be a great introduction for entrepreneurs.
9. MIT Open Courseware
MIT became one of the first universities to provide their courses online for free. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of this offer with MIT Open Courseware. What makes these courses so interesting is that these are the courses actually taught to students of this college.
Recently, the school opened up a page specifically for entrepreneurs. These are the courses that MIT believe will be relevant to new business owners. There are comprehensive lessons on software and early state capital.
10. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
The Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is another higher education institution that has decided to make its courses available for free. This university has 100 on-demand courses available entirely free of charge. The reason why Kutztown has been singled out is because they offer courses that are perfect for entrepreneurs.
For example, they offer comprehensive courses on business planning and small business taxes.
Related Article: Knowledge is Power: 10 Best Marketing Tutorials for Self-Paced, Online Learning
Conclusion: Choosing Your Course
All 10 of these learning platforms had to fulfill some key criteria before they were included on this list. The main factor was that they had to be updated on a regular basis with useful content. Entrepreneurs have to be extremely careful of choosing outdated courses because they could get them into trouble.
When choosing a course to help you evolve as an entrepreneur, make sure that it’s applicable to your current situation. Go out of your way to inspect reviews of the course and see what others are saying first. Your time is precious and you should treat it that way.
Which of the learning platforms listed here will you try out first?