Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born – Learn These Vital Startup Skills With Your Unused SkillsFuture Credits!

Singapore seems to have become the land of young aspiring entrepreneurs, with an increasing number showing their interest in working in startups.

It’s no surprise, given that startups are taking the lead in pioneering new ways of living, and is even “regarded among investors as an entrepreneurial hub”.

But how does one go about becoming an entrepreneur?

While it’s rather tempting to think that it simply involves a seemingly good idea and the courage to execute it, there are actually many important aspects that need certain skills to perform. For example, one can’t simply get by with basic mathematics when keeping the company’s accounts.

Adult courses are generally expensive, but here’s a hack: spend your SkillsFuture credits and sign up for some classes using them!

With a generous amount of $500 given to Singaporeans aged 25 and above, those of you who haven’t found a worthy course to spend the credits on might finally be able to use them on something that might very well be an investment.

Thus, we’ve identified some entrepreneurship-related SkillsFuture courses for you to get started on. Even if you’re already a startup founder, we think that these would benefit you as well!

Finance

Finance is the first thing that an individual should think about when they plan a new project.

It’s important to know how to handle your company’s finances, and what financial strategies should be implemented. As stated on Entrepreneur, although a “well-organised bookkeeping system is vital, even more critical is what you do with it to establish your methods for financial management and control“.

1. Effective Cash Flow Management, Budgeting And Analysis ($400 – 7 Hours)

This course will help you “develop a comprehensive set of interlinked cash flow budgets within an organisation”. It will teach you how to manage cash flow budgeting, impart cash flow strategies for your business.

Interested? Visit this page.

2. Essentials Of Finance And Management Accounting For Non-Finance Professionals ($680 – 14 Hours)

This course will bring you up to a “sufficient level of financial literacy to better understand and perform your role in meeting your organisation financial objectives”. It also teaches you other important information on how much cash to hold, cash flow forecast budgeting and a number of other things.

Interested? Visit this page.

Leadership

The second most important thing is how one should lead their team and what one needs to do in order to become a successful leader. These are all skills any aspiring leader needs to have under their belt.

Any startup founder will be starting off with a small firm, and that’s why it’s so important to know how to grow the team well. The business will never be able to grow if you try to micromanage the company all by yourself – the people working with you should be part of every decision.

1. Lead And Influence ($600, 18 Hours)

This course will help you understand leadership theories, team leadership, roles of communication, and will give you perspective on what roles a leader should play in an organisation.

Interested? Visit this page.

Management

Management does not only refer to how an individual should manage the firm or plan its route to success. It also involves choosing partners wisely, and also knowing how to manage them.

A vital aspect of any business plan is to know how to implement strategies that will make the firm a successful one. An entrepreneur needs to have the exact knowledge on how should they introduce their firm to the market, and how to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

1. Corporate Strategy ($79 – 25 Hours)

This course will enable you to implement strategies according to different scenarios. It will also teach you how to “create, capture, and maintain value, and how it is fundamental for sustainable competitive advantage”.

Interested? Visit this page.

2. Strategic Planning And Execution ($79 – 25 Hours)

This course will teach you how to organise and execute a successful strategy. Aligning of interests and efforts of employees, managers and senior management are always the trickiest part of the matter, and this course wants to help you understand how to do so effectively.

Interested? Visit this page.

Product Design And Development

Product design and development is one of the most important parts of a business plan. This is the main impetus behind starting a firm and ensuring that your product will be different from your competitors’. Furthermore, knowing who exactly your target market is, is extremely important and that will determine the need and design of the product.

1. Product/Service Innovation And Design ($1,200 – 36 Hours)

Given that product and service life cycles are becoming shorter, having a competitive advantage is all the more important, and the course aims to teach you how to “generate new products and service ideas that are innovative, and coordinate the capabilities to implement those ideas”.

Interested? Visit this page.

2.UiUx: Human-Centered Design For Digital Experience ($640 – 24 Hours)

A beautiful product is nothing as compared to a solid user experience (Ux) and interface (Ui), and this course wants to help attendees learn how to create both useful and function digital product and services.

Interested? Visit this page.

Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born

If you’re thinking of starting your journey as an entrepreneur, or even if you’re already one, these courses will you equip you with the essential skills that many tend to overlook when starting up.

Entrepreneurs are made, not born – so why not start making your future today?

Featured Image Credit: nyp.edu.sg