The term Renaissance man was once the go-to phrase to describe someone with experience in multiple disciplines and skills.
In the 21st century, we call them entrepreneurs.
But simply being an entrepreneur doesn't make a person well-rounded. It takes time, experience, and real cultivation to build a wealth of knowledge. Fortunately, if you think your experience could use a little more roundedness, you can cut your learning curve short with an online course or two.
We’ve grouped some popular online courses into three categories, in descending order of direct relevance to being an entrepreneur:
- Core Curriculum
- Study Hall
- Extra Credit
Core Curriculum: Giving Yourself a Big League Boost in Entrepreneurial Skills
It all starts with those specific skills that make you more well-rounded within the business itself: the fundamentals. If you want to be a well-rounded basketball player, you don’t just start shooting. You learn ball handling skills, posting up, playing defense. The same goes for your entrepreneurial endeavors:
Entrepreneurial Finance – MIT Open Courseware
Entrepreneurs with anything resembling a cash flow quickly learn that business is a numbers game. Learning entrepreneurial finance from an MIT open course might sound like a major challenge, true. But if you can master funding, contracts, valuations, and everything else that goes into a startup…well, the major challenge of driving a successful startup won’t seem quite so daunting.
Extra credit if you’re willing to take MIT’s Open Courseware on pricing.
Building a Personal Brand - Udemy
Gary Vaynerchuk’s course on personal branding has received over 2,000 ratings on Udemy — which is to say it’s just a little bit popular. Today’s entrepreneurs are expected to be more than business owners. They’re expected to have a digital presence, which often means positioning yourself as an expert in your field even if you’re just starting out. This guide helps you leverage your strengths and put your best face forward.
Competitive Strategy - Coursera
Remember the basketball metaphor? Think of competitive strategy as the way you learn “defense.” Your startup isn’t in a vacuum, after all, and the entrepreneurial universe is bigger than just you and your customers. You have to function in a competitive marketplace — and in order to function, you have to learn the basic concepts that will help you determine your strategy for crushing the competition.
Business Law for Entrepreneurs - Udemy
Unless you’re a lawyer, the ins and outs of business law are about as exciting as unsalted pretzels. But if you really want to be a well-rounded entrepreneur, you’ll know your legal limits before you start to test them with silly decisions.
Business Development for Startups and Tech Companies – Udemy
In the pre-Google era, “content is king” was once “sales is king.” And to be honest, not much has changed. Unless you’re partnering with a strong salesperson on your team, your ability to bring money in to your startup begins and ends with your ability to sell.
This course takes you through cold calling, cold emailing, and helps you craft a pitch that will win you more business along the way. It’s a great comprehensive introduction for anyone who wants to cultivate their inner Blake from “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
Study Hall: Unconventional Skills that Help Entrepreneurs
Enough with the business stuff. What are the unconventional skills that will give you an advantage in the world of entrepreneurship?
Body Language for Entrepreneurs - Udemy
If 93% of communication is nonverbal, and most of an entrepreneur’s work is in the realm of communication, then it stands to reason that a course in body language will be worth its weight in gold. Or at least silver.
This particular course from Vanessa Van Edwards — whose street cred includes a serious swath of research and writing for the likes of CNN and Forbes — has the advantage of introducing a new skillset that is aimed at people like you. In other words, it’s not Secrets of Winning at Poker.
Achieve Productivity: How to Become a Human Time Machine - Udemy
Controlling your time, thought, and actions may not seem like such a big challenge—until you notice yourself spending more time goofing off at the home office than you are working.
Self-mastery is an essential skill in any high-performance position, but it’s especially important when you need to motivate yourself. Becoming more productive and squeezing more money out of your time is a great way to ensure you’re your own best employee.
Extra Credit: Helpful, Fun, and Challenging — But Not on the Final Exam
Wake Up! A 15 Minute Routine for Daily Energy - Udemy
Entrepreneurs work long hours, often for little thanks and even less pay. Having the energy to put up with the daily rigors of launching your own business is paramount. If you’re really going to be a master of starting up, it will help if you can at least “start up” your own weekday.
This popular and well-reviewed course is a great way to battle sluggishness in the mornings. It may be better for older entrepreneurs than younger entrepreneurs, but hey—that’s what the money-back guarantee is for.
From Pawn to King: Learning the Game of Chess - Udemy
What does chess have to do with business? Literally nothing—unless you’re in the business of hand-carved chess pieces or selling books on chess advice.
What does the skill of chess have to do with business? Just about everything. It teaches you to weigh your decisions based on an unending series of consequences, to use obstacles to your advantage while pressing forward, to make decisions based on rational reasons, not emotional reasons.
It is, in short, one of the best ways to practice being an entrepreneur. Without the financial stakes.
Bonus: Grasshopper Academy
Grasshopper Academy focuses on learning that you can apply to your small business right away. With courses on everything from finance to HR to marketing, you can fill whatever skills gap you're coping with, and become a better, well-rounded entrepreneur and business owner.
Learning Your Way Up the Ladder
Whatever you decide when it comes to your online courses, always look for those that engage you. You’re an entrepreneur, after all: you know that to do is to learn. Find those courses that interest you, have you fill out worksheets, and ultimately force you out of your comfort zone. At the end of the course, you won’t only be a more well-rounded entrepreneur. You’ll be a more well-rounded person.