How to Learn to Run a Business: A Practical Guide

How to Learn to Run a Business

Introduction:

This guide walks you through what it actually takes to run a small business, the skills you’ll need to build, and where to find free or low-cost courses to build them. We’ll also answer some of the most common questions people search for when they’re trying to learn how to run a business, and point you toward reputable places to take courses.

Before you get to the course section near the end, let’s go over some important points you’ll want to consider first.

Key Points and Facts About Running a Business

Business survival gets harder over time, not easier — knowing the real numbers helps you plan instead of guess.
What it takes to run a business depends on your industry, your experience, and the size of the operation you’re starting.
Core skills you’ll need include management, finance, understanding regulations, knowing your industry, and marketing.
You don’t need a formal degree to run a business, but targeted, just-in-time learning improves your odds.
Free and low-cost courses are available through the SBA, SCORE, and university-backed platforms like edX.

Things To Know About Business

According to the SBA Office of Advocacy’s February 2026 data, drawing on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Business Employment Dynamics program, an average of 67.7% of new employer businesses survive at least two years. That drops to 49.2% at the five-year mark, 33.9% at ten years, and 25.5% at fifteen years. The rate of failure is steepest early on — businesses that make it past the five-year mark have much better odds of reaching ten and fifteen years.

The business world changes constantly, and it can move fast. Some business owners can’t adapt quickly enough and end up closing their doors. Others get outcompeted by a rival that does a better job — Blockbuster losing ground to Netflix is a well-known example.

Does that mean you’re destined to fail? No, of course not. You can succeed, but it helps to know what you’re up against and what to watch out for.

What Does It Take To Run a Small Business?

What it takes to run a small business depends on the type of industry, the size of your business, and your work experience.

AI isn't optional anymore. Start with one small step.

Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Example 1:

Suppose you’re an auto body repair mechanic and you want to start your own business. You already know how to repair vehicles and understand how the business works. You just may not have dipped your hands into the complete process of running a business.

Example 2:

You’re interested in starting a manufacturing plant to produce parts for the auto industry. You have no experience, but it’s something you’re interested in.

In the first example, because you know the industry, you’re already ahead of the game. You have industry experience, know what customers expect, and have an idea of how the business operates. You would still need to learn or brush up on managing a business, marketing, financial and bookkeeping, and becoming familiar with the laws and regulations.

The second example takes a lot more work. You’re not familiar with the industry, and manufacturing has a lot more to it than a service or retail business. You have many regulations to follow, you may need a large workforce, and you need to watch your costs while ensuring you have enough volume to keep your operation running.

As you can see, identifying what it takes to run a business depends on your starting conditions.

In general, running a business well takes long hours and a lot of planning. Getting there takes time, and one of the hardest parts is the uncertainty along the way.

For example, you could have a great business, but open in the wrong location. Or you could have a good product, priced incorrectly. You might have an excellent idea, but the timing is off. There are so many variables, and one will affect other parts of your operation. For example, if your pricing is wrong, your revenue suffers, your profits go down, and now you have a hard time paying expenses. So the one variable of pricing affects many areas.

Finding a plan that works is difficult. Once you find something that does work, it gets easier.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Run a Small Business?

There are a few key points to consider if you want to run a business well.

You can start a business without any formal qualifications. You don’t need an MBA. What matters more is how prepared you are — and preparation comes down to a few key areas.

Management:

An essential part of running a business is management. Without effective management, you’ll have a chaotic operation and a business that won’t last. Strong management skills are often what separates a business that lasts from one that doesn’t.

Management consists of being organized, having good planning skills, and coordinating operations. You’ll also need to direct and take control — you are not an employee but the boss, and it’s up to you to manage the business.

With time, your management skills improve. You’ll encounter many scenarios not taught in school, and you’ll learn from experience. AI tools are also becoming part of day-to-day management for small businesses — SBA Office of Advocacy data from 2025 found roughly 8% of businesses with fewer than five employees were already using AI tools, and that share is expected to keep growing.

Finance:

Running a business is about making money — ideally while doing something you love. You need to be good at managing money: paying on time, getting paid on time, and knowing where to spend and where to save. You also need to be aware of the rules, regulations, and taxes that apply to you.

Regulations:

You need to be aware of the laws and regulations that apply to your business. There can be stiff consequences for breaking them, and not knowing them doesn’t exempt you. Keep in mind that laws and regulations vary by location, so it’s always a good idea to check with your local municipality and state or province.

Understanding Your Industry:

Whether you’re new to an industry or a veteran, you need a thorough understanding of it to have a real chance of succeeding.

Here’s an example.

You may have seen this happen if you’ve ever worked for a large corporation: upper management hires an executive from outside the company, and that executive comes in and implements a new process based on past experience elsewhere.

The process might be a strong one, but does it work for this particular industry? Not all processes are interchangeable. You need to understand how a business works — and understand the industry — before making changes.

A well-documented example of this is Blockbuster. In 1996, Blockbuster hired Bill Fields, an executive from Walmart, to help turn the company around. Rather than focusing on Blockbuster’s core business of movie rentals, Fields built out a new line of merchandise in the stores, turning them into what he called “Entertainment Destinations.” In-store research later found the merchandise distracted customers from what they’d actually come in for — movies — and the strategy failed. Fields left the role a little over a year later.

Focus on the industry. Learn its strong and weak points, then apply your skills. Don’t apply a process to an industry you don’t understand well, and don’t assume what works in one industry will work in a different one.

Marketing:

It’s essential to understand marketing when running your own business. This doesn’t mean you need the skills of a marketing expert, but you do need to understand your customers and how to communicate with them.

Here are a few marketing areas to focus on.

Target Market:

You need to know your target market — how they think, what they need, and what they want. With that understanding, you’ll be able to offer products and services that sell.

Create Attractive Offers:

You’ll need to know how to develop offers and specials that appeal to your customers. Running a special is a good way to boost revenue while providing value. Offering specials consistently also helps build repeat customers.

Advertising Skills:

You need a basic understanding of advertising. A business without customers doesn’t last long, and many times you’ll need to advertise to bring them through the door. Even if you hire an agency or a copywriter, you need to understand advertising well enough to evaluate their work — otherwise you might spend thousands of dollars without seeing any increase in revenue.

What Classes Should I Take To Run My Own Business?

There are many courses that can benefit a business owner — in fact, there are so many it can get overwhelming. If you tried to take every course related to running a business, you’d be learning for years. It’s more useful to learn what you need, when you need it.

Spending a lot of time on education alone won’t get most business owners very far. One approach is taking night courses at a local educational institution. Another is taking courses online, where you can learn at your own pace and focus on a subject exactly when you need it.

It also depends on where you’re starting from. If you know nothing about running a business, look for a course built for entrepreneurs rather than a general MBA-style course. Entrepreneur-focused courses get into the areas that matter for starting and running your own business, while an MBA approach covers a lot of ground that won’t apply to running a small business.

Here are some course suggestions:

Once you have a basic understanding of running a small business, move on to the courses where you’ll get the most value.

For example, say your business is up and running and you need to boost sales — that’s when it makes sense to take an advertising course, whether at a local educational center or online.

The advantage of this approach is that you’re focused on exactly what you need, and you can put the information to use right away. Combining theory with real application helps you retain it.

Or say you’re filing receipts and sending them to your bookkeeper, and you want a more organized way to see your financial picture at a glance. You’d take the same approach — only this time you’d look for an accounting or bookkeeping course.

Repeat this approach any time you’re taking on a new business process.

Free Business Courses

A popular search is “How can I learn business for free?” There are a lot of free business courses available — some are a quick introduction, some are detailed, and some aren’t worth your time.

Another popular search is “How can I learn business fast?” The intent behind that search is usually someone who doesn’t want to take a full MBA-style course, is in a hurry, or already has a business idea and wants to get moving on it.

Courses you can take at your own pace let you get through the material quickly and come away with a broad overview of the topic. You can also go deeper or do a refresher later when you need it.

Here are a few resources to get you started:

SBA: The Small Business Administration (SBA), a government-funded organization designed to help small businesses succeed, offers free courses through the SBA Learning Platform, aimed at entrepreneurs at any stage of starting or growing a business.

SCORE: SCORE offers free one-on-one mentoring and workshops from volunteer business mentors — a good option if you want direct feedback rather than a self-paced course.

edX: edX.org hosts university-level courses from schools including Harvard and MIT. Many courses can still be audited for free, though free access is typically limited to the course content — certificates and some features usually require payment, and audit windows are sometimes time-limited. Use their search bar to find courses relevant to what you’re learning.

Online Search

Another way to find current courses is to search for them directly.

For example, if you want a course on small business advertising, search “advertising course for small business owners” to get current results. Once you find one that looks appealing, search the course name plus “reviews” to get feedback before you commit.

Our Resources

You can also check out these resources from A Touch of Business.

When starting most small businesses, the steps to consider are summed up in The Essential Steps To Start a Business, which offers an overview of each step and what to consider along the way.

Check out the simplified guide to starting a business. It’s built to present the information in an easy-to-understand way, along with the key issues to consider before you start.

Our library of articles is organized into three main categories: starting a business, running a business, and marketing your business.

Action Steps for Learning To Run a Business

Assess where you’re starting from

Identify how much industry experience you already have.
List the areas where you’re weakest — management, finance, regulations, or marketing.

Learn just-in-time, not all at once

Pick the one skill you need most right now, rather than trying to learn everything before you start.
Save deeper courses for when you actually hit that part of running the business.

Choose a learning format that fits your schedule

Compare night courses at a local institution against self-paced online courses.
Decide whether you’d benefit more from a self-paced course or one-on-one mentoring through SCORE.

Verify a course before committing time to it

Search the course name plus “reviews” before enrolling.
Confirm whether the course is entrepreneur-focused rather than general MBA content, if that’s what you need.

Checklist for Learning To Run a Business

Know your starting point
- Industry experience: yes or no
- Prior management experience: yes or no
Core skill areas covered
- Management basics
- Financial and bookkeeping basics
- Regulations relevant to your location and industry
- Marketing and advertising basics
Free resources lined up
- SBA Learning Platform account created
- SCORE mentor requested, if wanted
- Relevant edX course identified
Before you start
- Reviewed current survival-rate data so expectations are realistic
- Identified the one skill gap most likely to cause problems early on

FAQ: Learning To Run a Business

How can I learn to run a business for free?

The SBA Learning Platform and SCORE both offer free courses and mentoring. Many edX courses can also be audited for free, though certificates usually cost extra.

How can I learn to run a business fast?

Focus on one skill area at a time instead of trying to cover everything. Self-paced online courses let you move quickly through material and go deeper only where you need to.

Do I need an MBA to run a small business?

No. Many successful small business owners never earn an MBA. What matters more is building the specific skills — management, finance, regulations, and marketing — that your business needs.

What’s the biggest reason small businesses fail?

There isn’t one single reason — a mix of factors like being unable to adapt to change, being outcompeted, poor pricing, and being under-prepared in a key skill area all play a role.

References:

Conclusion

Learning to run a business is an ongoing process. The longer you run a business, the more experience you’ll gain and the more you’ll be able to take on. All you need to get started is a plan — and once you’re up and running, keep learning as you go.