From initial idea and business strategy to funding and international expansion, this course will take you through all the steps to launching and developing a successful business.

Plan and strategise to build a successful business

On this course, you’ll look at the key elements of effective business planning and how to develop a business strategy. You’ll also be introduced to important financial concepts and the different ways that businesses are financed.

By evaluating case studies of successful businesses and entrepreneurs, you’ll be able to develop your own business ideas, create plans and strategies to support them, and start to think about your funding options.

Discover the tools to conduct effective industry analysis

An important step in assessing the feasibility of a business idea is understanding the business environment and competitors. There are many different tools that you can use to put together a market analysis.

On this course, you’ll explore the key elements of three important tools: SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s five forces analysis. You’ll then look at applying different models for situation audits to help build a picture of the business environment.

Evaluate the different methods for international expansion

There are a number of modes for expanding a business into foreign markets and each has its merits and drawbacks. Explore these different methods with a combination of case studies from real businesses and supplemental materials to help understand the different approaches to international expansion.

Once you’ve learned the different methods, you can then apply them to your own business idea and discuss the suitability of each one.