Educational Tools to Help Your Business Succeed
What’s one of the most difficult things to do in life?
If you guessed running a business, you would be right. Within the first year, 20% of small businesses won’t survive. Even if they make it past their first year, they may still fail their second year. The prognosis for surviving the five or ten-year mark is not much better.
So how do you increase your chances of success?
To succeed in business, you need the right educational tools.
Don’t know where to look? Here are a few ideas of tools you can use to succeed.
CodeAcademy
There are many online courses available, but CodeAcademy specializes in interactive programming sessions. With CodeAcademy, you can learn languages such as HTML, Python, C++, PHP, and more. By learning a new programming language, you can build a business website, create an app, or analyze your business data.
CodeAcademy offers a free trial. After that, plans start as low as $19.99 a month for a 12-month subscription.
HubSpot Academy
HubSpot Academy is similar to CodeAcademy in that it specializes in a specific area of business. In the case of HubSpot Academy, it’s marketing.
Their online courses cover inbound marketing, sales, customer service, and social media marketing. Best of all, their courses are 100% free. If you’re looking to learn more about inbound marketing, HubSpot Academy’s courses are definitely something you should look into.
Break-Even Point Calculator
For a new business, it’s important to be able to calculate your break-even point. It’s the point at which total costs and revenue are equal, meaning your business has no gain or loss.
Determining your break-even point will help you mitigate risks, price your services in order to obtain profitability, and can even help convince investors to fund your business.
The Small Business Association (SBA) has an online break-even point calculator that you can use for a break-even analysis. It’s easy to use and will force you to look at your expenses.
After you have calculated your break-even point, you can then determine if you need to raise additional capital for your business.
Business Plan Templates
The most important educational tool is your business plan. Your business plan will describe in detail your objectives and how you intend to achieve your goals. It should cover marketing, financial, and operation details.
The two types of business plans are traditional and lean startup plans. Traditional plans are detail-oriented and comprehensive. Lean startup plans are better for simpler, smaller businesses.
If you don’t know where to get started, you can use a business plan template that will walk you through the process.
Struggling to Succeed? Turn to A Professional
Using these tools will help you succeed with your business and master day-to-day operations. But sometimes you can’t do it alone. That’s where a professional business coach and consultant like Jim Riley can help.
Jim runs a successful consulting business in Kalispell, Montana, and has consulted for several successful companies, including In-N-Out, Baja United Group, and Ketel One Vodka.
If you need help with your business, contact Jim.