Learn from the best.
The Brian Hamilton Foundation Starter U: How to Start and Grow a Business is a free, self-paced online course teaching everything you need to know to start, run, and grow a business. Whether you live in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine, work 3rd shift or 1st shift, this course is designed to give you, the entrepreneur, the flexibility to learn according to your schedule.
SUSAN S. Los Angeles, CA"I am a start-up specialist, working with new owners (many of them new businesspeople) opening new locations or purchasing existing ones. Many of them have no idea what it will take to run a business, thinking they can devote part-time effort and receive full-time compensation. I have been sharing Starter U with all my new non-business owners and it has been well-received. I found many of the cautionary stories to be very accurate, which I liked. Starting a new business is not for the faint of heart!"
What will you learn?
This program represents decades of entrepreneurship experience. When asked what information is absolutely necessary to start a business tomorrow, everyone agreed on the following:
| Welcome |
| Syllabus |
| Course Instructors |
| Special Thanks |
| What is an Entrepreneur? What is Required to be One? |
| Reasons to Start a Business |
| Obstacles & Roadblocks - Why Businesses Fail |
| How to Come Up with a Business Idea |
| Launch Considerations and To-Do Items |
| How to Get Your First Customer |
| Hiring |
| Financing |
| How to Know if You Should Expand |
| Legal Infastructure |
| Money Management |
| Sifting Through Buying Things |
| Getting and Using Customer Feedback |
| Getting and Using Employee Feedback |
| Accounting and Finance |
| Branding Your Business |
| Marketing |
| Sales |
| Customer Service and Success |
| Legal |
| HR & Managing People |
| In Summary |
| Additional Stories |
| Credits |
