Free Online Course
The Brian Hamilton Foundation’s Starter U: How to Start and Grow a Business is a free, self-paced online course teaching everything you need to know to start, run, and grow a business. Whether you live in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine, work 3rd shift or 1st shift, this course is designed to give you, the entrepreneur, the flexibility to learn according to your schedule.
Our course covers business ideation, marketing, selling, customer service, how to overcome the biggest obstacle stopping you from starting your business: you. Through roughly twelve hours of instruction, entrepreneur stories, and discussion topics, we distill everything you absolutely need to know to start your business tomorrow. So, what are you waiting for? Start today!
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Register HereWhat's Covered?
This course represents decades of entrepreneurship experience. When asked what information is absolutely necessary to start a business tomorrow, everyone agreed on the following.
SECTION 1 – STARTING AT THE END
- Let’s Start a Business in 8 Minutes
SECTION 2 – BEFORE YOU BEGIN
- What is an Entrepreneur and What is Required to Be an Entrepreneur
- How do Entrepreneurs Think? The Mindset of an Entrepreneur
- Reasons to Start a Business
- Obstacles and Roadblocks: Why Businesses Fail
- How to Come Up With a Business Idea
SECTION 3 – HOW TO GET STARTED
- Setting Up Your Business: What You Need to Get Started
- How to Get Your First Customers
SECTION 4 – GROWING YOUR BUSINESS
- Hiring
- Financing
- Knowing When to Expand
- Legal Infrastructure
- Money Management
- Getting and Using Customer Feedback
- Getting and Using Employee Feedback
SECTION 5 – ADDITIONAL THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Intellectual Property: The Key Is the Way You Think
- Legal
- Human Resources
- Pricing: How to Price Effectively
- Basic Accounting Things
SECTION 6 – CLOSING
- If You Do Nothing Else, Do This
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can take this course?
Starter U is for anyone who wants to start, run, or grow their own business. The course is especially designed for people interested in building a low-capital business, since most businesses in the U.S. are self-funded. Whether you’re starting with $10 or $1,000,000, Starter U teaches the practical steps to turn a business idea into a real, sustainable business.
Is there a charge for the course?
No, Starter U is offered free of charge.
What does the course cover?
Starter U covers everything you need to know to start, run, and grow a business. There are a lot of entrepreneurship resources out there; Starter U distills everything down to one simple course that will set you up to start your business tomorrow.
Who teaches the course?
Starter U is taught by Brian Hamilton, the founder of Sageworks (now
Abrigo), one of the world’s first fintech companies. Under his leadership,
Sageworks became a market-defining platform used by thousands of
financial institutions to assess and manage risk and millions of small
business owners to understand their financial information.
Hamilton is also the founder of both the Brian Hamilton Foundation and
Inmates to Entrepreneurs, an international nonprofit that provides training
to help formerly incarcerated individuals start low-capital businesses. The
program—the largest and longest-running of its kind—has equipped
thousands of people with practical tools to build stable livelihoods and
reintegrate into their communities. Hamilton expanded this mission as the
star of the award-winning ABC television show “Free Enterprise.”
Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. Raised in a working-class neighborhood
near Bridgeport, Connecticut, he experienced the challenges of economic
disadvantage firsthand. He launched a small landscaping business as a
kid, ultimately earning enough to become the first in his family to attend
college. This personal journey continues to shape his work at LiveSwitch,
the world-leading communications platform for small businesses and
entrepreneurs.
What if I have a question while taking the course?
If you have any questions during the course, contact the foundation at info@brianhamiltonfoundation.org.
What’s in it for you?
The satisfaction of helping others. We do not financially benefit from Starter U in any way, and at no point will we try to sell you something. Our founder, Brian Hamilton, has been an entrepreneur all his life. He established the foundation to share what he has learned and to create a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to help anyone who has an idea and wants to turn it into a business.