Learn how to take your dream of starting a business and put it into action. In this class, you'll learn everything you need to know about starting a business. You'll begin by discovering the tricks to picking the right opportunity for you. Next, you'll learn how to develop proven marketing techniques to easily build sales. Since every business needs money, we'll discuss traditional and nontraditional financing options. Finally, you'll learn easy-to-implement employee-management procedures and how to write business policies that help you build your business.

You, as a business owner, need to manage all your limited resources. One resource that often gets overlooked is your time. In the final lesson, you'll learn time-management techniques especially for entrepreneurs. While taking this course, you'll discover the secrets that separate the successful entrepreneurs from the struggling ones.

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Kris Solie-Johnson.

Kris Solie-Johnson, chancellor and president of the American Institute of Small Business, best-selling author, educator, speaker, and mother of three, is an energetic and passionate entrepreneur. Her books are in public libraries, high schools, colleges, and military bases both nationally and internationally. Solie-Johnson has an MBA in Venture Management from the University of St. Thomas and over 19 years of experience helping entrepreneurs reach their goals quickly through joint venture partnerships, creative marketing programs, and innovative financial options. She's dedicated to motivating and inspiring owners to achieve beyond their dreams.

“ As an artist with limited business sense, this was the perfect course for me to take. Kris took a lot of the mystery out of starting a small business. Her teaching style was very friendly and easy to comprehend. Thank you! ”

“ Excellent instructor - excellent course! I thoroughly enjoyed taking this class and can't wait to use the information I learned to start setting up my own small business. Thanks for the opportunity for me to be able to take this class. It was very little effort on my part to complete it, but what I learned will stay with me a lifetime. ”

“ I enjoyed the course and although I own a small business already, I learned some very important tips. ”

“ I enjoyed this class very much, the Professor was extremely knowledgeable and professional. I would definitely recommend it to someone with this particular interest. ”

“ I feel this class has helped me gain a greater insight into my own goals and provided support that will be useful going forward in the development of my next career. ”

“ I found the instructor to be knowledgeable, approachable, supportive and helpful. She has a very creative side and was very personable as well. I learned a lot in this course and it will all be very useful and applicable in my future business endeavors. I am glad I took this course and will recommend it to others. ”

“ I learned a ton and really looked forward to my classes. I am very excited to have found this class and thrilled to have been able to participate in it. Thank you very much. ”

“ I really liked the instructor's comments. Especially if it is not what you wanted to hear because sometimes an objective person's point of view helps you decide on what to do and how to do it. ”

“ The instructor was very informative and interested in the subject. She was very helpful in the discussion boards. This class was very useful and I would recommend or take any class taught by this instructor. ”

“ This was my first online course and I was not sure what to expect. The information was well presented and relevant. I will definitely be signing up for future online courses. ”