The University of Colorado Colorado Springs College of Business wants to help aspiring entrepreneurs get a jump start on their business ideas.
UCCS will offer an online course, the Practical Entrepreneurship Program, in coordination with the Business StartUp Institute, Colorado Springs. The program features curriculum developed and presented by Tom Duening, El Pomar Chair of Business and Entrepreneurship, and director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.
“This program will further our vision of building successful futures for our stakeholders who are interested in starting their own businesses,” Venkat Reddy, dean, College of Business, said.
The Practical Entrepreneurship Program consists of 21 lessons delivered via a digital chalkboard providing video, illustrations, templates, downloadable attachments and learning tools. The content of the program is arranged around three core areas: developing a business plan, launching the business, and growing and planning an exit.
A list of lessons is available at http://www.uccs.edu/~business/onlineprograms.html.
Individual lessons are $29. The entire 21-lesson program can be purchased for $299.
“We wanted to make this non-credit program available at a reasonable price so that beginning entrepreneurs could beat the learning curve and succeed with their first startup business,” Duening said. “I share my experiences and what I’ve learned through years of research and teaching.”
While a college graduate student, Duening launched his first business in 1984 and has started seven businesses in his career. He has written 12 books on business, management and entrepreneurship.
The Business StartUp Institute is a subsidiary of Businesses2Learn, LLC, a Colorado Springs-based company founded in 2009 by entrepreneur and inventor Jim Holley. Holley realized that the many lessons he learned in building his consumer product company would be valuable to other aspiring entrepreneurs.
The UCCS College of Business was established in 1965 and has more than 1,300 undergraduates and 450 MBA and distance MBA students. The College of Business and Administration awards the Bachelor of Science in Business and Bachelor of Innovation degrees. The Graduate School of Business Administration awards the Master of Business Administration degree. More than 7,300 alumni of the College of Business live and work around the world.
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 36 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s, and five doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 9,000 students annually.