By Anica Oaks
Starting a business takes a lot of guts, perseverance, and luck. But maintaining a growing company takes a lot more knowledge and experience that you can’t easily fake.
To brush up on your entrepreneurial skills, sign up for a few courses in business administration. Classes in accounting, marketing, management, and writing can all revolutionize the way you run your company and attract new clients.
1. You Will Learn How to Better Manage Your Cash Flow
As a business owner, you’ll need to monitor a lot of transactions. Every sale and every salary will need to add up, and you’ll have to follow local and federal tax laws that apply to your industry. Although you could rely heavily on automated systems or hire an accounting team, you’ll be less likely to fall under scrutiny during an audit if you can do the math for yourself.
An accounting class will give you a better understanding of how to manage your finances during tax season, and more importantly, teach you about balancing risks with returns as well as assets with liabilities. As a result, you can make smart decisions about your financial future.
2. You Will Understand to How to Engage Customers
Do your fliers and billboards fail to bring in customers? You might be trying too hard to attract the wrong type of clientele. To make the most of your advertising efforts, you’ll need to carefully understand and research your audience—and a marketing class will help you do just that.
With the right instructors, you’ll gain insights into the best marketing techniques for your business. And you’ll learn how to not only appeal to your customer’s wants, but satisfy their needs. You’ll find out how to create a niche that gives you an edge over your competitors, so you don’t waste valuable resources on an unsuccessful product.
3. You Will Better Communicate with Your Staff
Your business is only as efficient as your employees. If you have a hard time leading your staff or giving them a sense of enthusiasm for your business, your team might struggle to meet deadlines or follow through with leads. In fact, Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace estimate that disengaged employees cost the US $450 billion to $550 billion per year.
Fortunately, business management classes as part of a business degree can help you better communicate your expectations and teach you to deliver constructive criticism while encouraging improvement. You’ll find out how to delegate tasks without micromanaging every detail and hire employees who share your team spirit.
4. You Will Present a Stronger Image to the Media
Business owners and entrepreneurs need to do a fair share of writing as they progress in their career. They need to write contracts, pitch new plans, compose company emails, and create appealing web pages.
Even those with strong backgrounds in writing and English could always sharpen their grammar and editing skills and learn new ways to create sound, logical arguments. And when you take a business writing course, you can discover how to present your ideas in a clear, concise, and engaging way.
These are only four classes you can take as part of a business administration degree. Just think about the additional skills you could acquire through computer science, public speaking, economics, and history classes!
Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here.
