08/ 22/ 2007
One of the advantages of a liberal arts education is that you're required to study subjects across various disciplines, though this may not always seem like an advantage to you. As a student and entrepreneur, you might sometimes feel spread too thin and wish you could narrow your focus. But what if you could use those general education credits to become a better-rounded business owner? Below are some classes from many different departments that can teach you useful skills to carry over into your professional life.
Public speaking
If you freeze up when dealing with clients, a public speaking class could be just the thing to make you more confident in your face-to-face communications. The skills it takes to be a convincing, likeable speaker can be learned with practice, so you can hone your presentation skills in the classroom and use the results at your business.
Business/practical writing
In business, there's no escaping written communication. Not only will you write contracts, letters and e-mails to clients and staff, you might also occasionally deal with the press through letters to the editor and press releases. To be taken seriously in these situations, it's important to develop your writing skills. A business writing class can help you express yourself with concise and powerful language, and will also help you brush up on those grammar and punctuation rules you haven't thought about since high school.
Basic accounting
Even if you hand your books over to someone else, accounting is an important part of any business, and you'll be better off having a working knowledge about its practices.
Business entrepreneurship
Many universities today offer their business majors the option to have their studies emphasize the entrepreneurial aspects of business. But whether or not you're a business major, you should see if your university offers any of these classes, which include topics such as managing a small business, writing business plans and small-business investment strategies.
Business communication
This is another important aspect of business education and covers subjects such as managing the communications coming from your company, managing conflicts inside and outside of your business, and workplace diversity.
Economics
While entrepreneurs don't necessarily need to know the ins and outs of economic theory, taking a basic course that covers banking and financing principles should help you deal with these aspects of running a small business.
Public relations
No matter the size of your business, how you present yourself to the public and deal with the inevitable problems that arise in customer relations is crucial to your success. While large corporations can hire public-relations firms to figure out strategies in this area, as a small-business owner, most of this burden will fall on your shoulders. A class now can help you prepare for this responsibility.
Depending on your type of business, there will be other classes you'll want to take. For example, if you're located in an area of the country with large non-English speaking populations or have the potential for overseas interaction, then a focus in language would make sense. Tell your counselors about your business and let them know that you're interested in taking classes that could help you in your professional pursuits. Not only will they have a good idea of the classes available, they'll also let you know which general education credit you'll fulfill.
