Free Online Education Courses From The Small Business Administration


For small businesses entrepreneurs, continuous learning and finding new resources to help further business goals can be essential to growth and success. However, business courses can be costly and the sheer amount of information and resources available online can be overwhelming.

But now, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a new online Small Business Learning Center aimed at simplifying the process of finding and procuring small business resources online.

free online education

The redesigned portal features a searchable catalog of educational resources including videos, web chat sessions, and self-paced courses all aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The free courses can cover anything from disaster recovery to market research. Basic topics covered include starting a business, managing a business, financing, marketing, and government contracting. Users can browse items by selecting the course topic and/or the type of media.

Once users select a course that looks interesting, they can view details about it including a brief overview, length of the course, system requirements, and a few more details.

The photo above shows what the overview page looks like for a course regarding the 8(a) Business Development Program. Users can view the course’s workbook (PDF) or a text-based version (PDF) in addition to the course itself.

Once you begin the course, all of the course’s topics are indexed on the left, so that you can see an outline of what is to be covered. At any time, you can stop the course, go back to a previous slide, or advance to other content within the course. Many of the slides also include links that direct you to supplementary content elsewhere.

For videos and chat sessions, you can simply view the media or transcripts directly on the overview page.

The site also gives businesses access to analysis tools and information about local resources, such as connection to SBA district offices, SCORE chapters, Small Business Development Centers and more.

The SBA already offers many resources for small business entrepreneurs, both educational and otherwise. But this new portal is a way to easily find and access the resources that can be most relevant to your business needs.

8 Comments ▼

Annie Pilon Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring all that her home state of Michigan has to offer.

8 Reactions
  1. This is pretty cool to see that these classes are being offered online for free. I hope many will take full advantage of this opportunity. Thanks for sharing this with us, Annie.

    Ti

  2. Jacqueline Temarkon

    How can i enroll ?

  3. Yes, I am interested on taking the free online courses for business.

  4. Thanks To Sba Group For The Opportunity. I Have Already Benefited From The Free Online Training Program And I Got A Certificate In 2013. This Have Enabled Me To Help Other Youths To Start And Run Their Small Businesses. Currently, Am Running A Charcoal Briqette Business At A Small Scale. And Am Looking For Fund To Expand It. Thanks SBA Group.

  5. I have a business and thinking in retirement, wishing my daughter takes it over. She has a high school diploma, what will be yiur best recommendation for her to get ready?
    Can we set up a counselor appointment with us for you to guide her what to do.
    I’ll appreciate your response.
    Thank you.
    Hugo