Introduction and guidance

Starting your small business focuses primarily on very small business structures, where one to nine people are employed, but many of the ideas are applicable to larger businesses as well. This will develop your knowledge of the general points and principles of small business start-up and operations. You will have the opportunity to reflect on how these principles might be applied in practice.

If you are looking at this course because you are considering working for yourself in some capacity, you will find lots of information of interest. You may notice that some activities ask you to think about a business you are planning to start. You may or may not have a business in mind, but this shouldn’t stop you from completing the course, as you can consider any potential business for the exercises.

We will be featuring a number of micro-businesses as case studies as we move through the course. These are based on real businesses but the names have been changed. Each section of the course offers short, interactive quizzes to test your knowledge and provide you with the opportunity to earn a digital badge.

Each section of the course offers short, interactive quizzes to test your knowledge and provide you with the opportunity to earn a digital badge.

Successful completion of the course will enable you to gain a suite of online badges and a statement of participation. The badges are validated by the Social Partnerships Network (SPN), a group of organisations with a shared commitment to extending education opportunities to all those that wish to benefit. These courses do not carry any formal academic credit. However, they do provide a way to help you progress from informal to formal learning.

Starting your small business is one of a suite of six free online SPN-badged courses that aim to provide you with an opportunity to engage with learning informally, studying as much or as little of the course and at your own pace.