College of Business launches online entrepreneurship program

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,” said Venkat Reddy, dean of the College of Business.

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 is $299.

“We wanted to make this noncredit 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 Jim Holley, an entrepreneur and inventor. He realized that the many lessons he learned while building his consumer product company would be valuable to other aspiring entrepreneurs.