Entrepreneurship Micro-Credential

Why Consider an Entrepreneurship Micro-Credential?

This micro-credential is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in new venture creation and operation.  Helping students to identify new business opportunities, research markets, understand costs, set prices, and launch a new business or help an existing business to expand their product/service lines.  Understanding entrepreneurship will provide students the power to expand their personal wealth or build their career as a key leader of an existing organization.

With the widespread development of social media to aid in marketing and sales for businesses at every scale, the creation of new business and entry into the marketplace, has never been as easy or inexpensive for individuals to become their own boss doing what they love!

Who Should Consider an Entrepreneurship Micro-Credential?

GCC’s Entrepreneurship Micro-Credential provides valuable groundwork for:

• Anyone planning to start a business, either as their primary source of income or as a “side hustle”
• Individuals planning to invest in commercial opportunities and become business owners
• Anyone wanting to transition into leadership positions in any industry
• Managers, supervisors, team leaders that want to elevate their value and/or status in an organization

Learning & Skill Development

The Entrepreneurship Micro-Credential is comprised of three courses: Entrepreneurship (BUS225), Basic Accounting Practices (ACC106), and Introduction to Creative Problem Solving (CPS101).

Topics covered in these three courses include:

• Assess the viability of a business opportunity.
• Explain key components of venture creation such as opportunity recognition, market research and penetration, pricing, operations, or legal constraints.
• Research customer segments, marketing strategy, and trends to develop a business plan that aligns with the student’s values and vision.
• Prepare basic financial statements, such as the Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, or Balance Sheet.
• Analyze business transactions using financial accounting concepts.
• Learn to “think outside the box” in developing business models, coming up with ideas for new products/services, and in identifying and reaching customers.
• Learn and apply a variety of brainstorming and problem-solving tools to generate innovative and creative approaches to difficult challenges and gain a competitive advantage.

Attention Employers:

Given the continued increase in competition across all industries, the development of an entrepreneurial mindset in employees is of critical importance in every industry today.  Individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset are more valuable to employers since they are more open to seeing industry opportunities and understanding how their organizations can leverage these opportunities to their advantage.  It makes them much more adaptable to the rapid change at work within all industries and job markets today.

This credential can serve to support an organization’s promotion and/or succession plan by providing focused, short-term training to new or transitioning employees.

Overall, this credential helps employers identify internal or external job candidates who have the required skills, specifically, an open mind to new opportunities for their organizations.