Entrepreneurship 101 – Building Your Own Business

Finally, a homeschool business and entrepreneurship course about starting real companies and exploring real ideas packaged into a one-semester (or more) credit course for high school students. Fully online.

Entrepreneurship is the principle of all economic activity.

The world works on a simple principle - we exchange money for goods and services.

So whether you get a paycheck from a large company or do your own thing in your own business - we are all actually in business for ourselves.

The sooner you learn this principle, the sooner you will find joy in your work and prosper doing it.

Overview of the Course

One semester course in business and entrepreneurship that guides the student through the entire startup process through a series of online videos. Teaches the student how to think about what they do and are good at and how they can use their skills to serve others.

Module 1 gets you started exploring what business is and how it works.  This module gets past complex ideas and down to simple principles allowing you to explore how you can serve others with the gifts and talents you enjoy. 7 lessons with assignments in each. 1 quiz.

Module 2 is where you prepare to launch a business. None of the academic and stuffy concepts of writing business plans that nobody reads or doing massive marketing studies. Instead, you'll be testing ideas in the real marketplace with real customers - just like real companies do. In this module, you will be talking to customers, testing simple ideas, and having fun learning how to serve others. 5 lessons with assignments in each. 1 quiz.

Module 3 is where you will tidy things up. Now that you have tested ideas, made some money, and understand a bit about your customers, you will get good (but simple) accounting practices in place and take care of any legal issues about formulating a proper business. You will even explore how to find a good accountant and lawyer. In this module, you are going pro. 4 lessons with assignments in each. 1 quiz.

Module 4 is about finding ways to grow what you have started. You will deal with the real doubts and challenges business owners have. You will learn to move past those challenges and even use those challenges to help you grow. 4 lessons with assignments in each. 1 quiz. Final Quiz.

20 Lessons. 4 Module Quizzes, 1 Final Quiz. All quizzes are online and computer-graded.

An entrepreneurship course that really works

This high school course is the same material I teach to adults who are starting companies. The material in this course has been used to start about 5-10 companies per year for over 10 years. It is not theory – it is a proven strategy to launch real companies. 

Some examples of companies that started using this teaching.

• Debra wanted to offer resume writing services. She was good at it, and people on her job often asked her for help. She started a Virtual Resume Service that grew so fast she had to quit her day job. She took these principles and applied them to what she really loves, and now she manufactures pet supplies - Fluff Trough.
• Brian wanted to become a consultant teaching project management inside companies. He now employees a team that works worldwide doing training - Brain Trust. 
• Scott wanted to meet his neighbor as part of his ministry outreach. He decided to start being a local handyman doing jobs like hanging shelves, pressure washing, etc., on the side of his day job. He grew his efforts to a full-time pressure washing company - Iron City Power Washing.

Why learn about business and entrepreneurship

Learn how to start and run your own business - at any age! Going through the process of a startup will help in so many areas of life. In this course, you will:

• become aware of the power of commerce,
• develop a heart to serve,
• find how to connect passion and skills to the marketplace, and
• become customer-focused.

What results might you expect

• make better educational decisions as you head out of high school,
• be better prepared for college (if needed for your chosen path),
• be prepared to be an awesome employee and/or
• start your own business!

What others have said

Debra Mastic - Fluff Trough

I joined because I wanted to open my own business, but didn’t know where to start, lacked confidence in myself, and had a full-time job that burned up the bulk of my energy and time. With the help of this course, I was able to launch my business, start making money and quit my full-time job in eight short weeks. I made over $1000 during my first week of business in exchange for only a few hours of my time.

If you are looking to open your own business, joining is one of the best and most cost-effective investments you can make in your future.

Brian Rabon - Brain Trust

“[this material] has been a life-changing experience for me. … opened my eyes to the business world, and today I spend my time looking for the value add. I now have the confidence to be a free agent and/or start my own company. [The course] has revolutionized my thinking by providing a framework of knowledge to draw upon. I now feel that the sky is the limit for my career and my future."

Why is this course being offered by Dr. Callahan?

This course has spun out of my own entrepreneurial ventures and my teaching entrepreneurship in an executive master's degree program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for the last 20 years. Over the years, I have worked with many startups and venture capital firms.

I have been involved in entrepreneurial ventures since high school, starting with a lawn care service. Since then, I have been involved in companies in areas such as video gaming, apparel, wireless technologies, software development, consulting, and of course, online education. These companies have been everything from cash startups to those requiring venture capital investment.

Recently, I have begun to offer this training in various settings - mostly at the request of others. People seem hungry to learn how to do it on their own. In particular, I see a large interest in teenagers who have the desire to run a different path than the wide pre-prescribed path most have followed for years, moms wanting to reenter the workplace after their kids are older, and dads looking for guidance to start ventures where they can take their unique talents to serve others, earning a living for their family.

I love this life-giving worldview, and I'd love to help you experience it too. Let's get started!