World-class financial education from the Knowledge Bureau
In these times of rising inflation and interest rates, there is no shortage of people taking on side hustles to make ends meet. But with nearly half of the North American economy propelled by gig workers—many of whom have turned a hobby into a small business—there’s just one problem: very few of them have any small business training. The Knowledge Bureau would like to change that.
The Winnipeg-based institute, Canada’s leader in post-secondary financial and tax courses, has just launched a series of CE Savvy Biz Ed courses for people who are—or want to be—in business for themselves. The areas of CE (Continuing Education) include; starting your business; building your business; understanding tax, compensation planning, making investments (diversifying your risk); and succession planning.
“We wanted to pull together an online educational program geared to busy small business owners and managers and provide them with advanced knowledge for critical things they need to know to make sound decisions, such as writing a business plan, hiring people, how to market their business and how to be a better leader,” says Evelyn Jacks, president of the Knowledge Bureau. “Eventually, small businesses grow so it’s not going to be just about you but how you lead your team to succeed.”
Being able to write a business plan is absolutely critical for any small enterprise because it maps out the steps to take in getting off the ground and carving out a niche. It’s a crucial starting point that will help entrepreneurs make important management decisions, including hiring any employees or sub-contractors, getting access to third-party financing and succession planning. Jacks describes the latter as a “will’’ for the business.
“The vast majority of business owners haven’t thought about that. We have trouble doing wills as individuals and it’s no different here. The business has so many obligations —to clients, to employees, to sub-contractors and to the community. Your role begins with having more formal plans in place,” Jacks says.
Students have been taking the 30 available courses since their launch in November and more are going to be added every month, including a new personal finance series. Each online course takes about an hour and includes interactive learning and built-in quizzes to help retention. The cost is $69 per course, five for $295 or you can subscribe to the entire course library for a year for $995. Tuition fees over $100 will qualify for tuition fee credits on your tax return.
At the end of each course, you’ll receive a certificate, which can be shared on your LinkedIn account or other social media to demonstrate that you’re continuing your professional development.
You can find out more by calling 1-866-953-4769 or register online at learn.knowledgebureau.com. A free trial and personal assistance is available.
