Who should attend

This programme is aimed at two main groups of participants:

• Persons of all ages who want to start and manage their own business successfully
• Those who want to excel as innovative, business-oriented managers (“intrapreneurs”) who are able to run a unit/department within an existing business or organisation in a cost-effective or profitable manner.
• Social entrepreneurs and leaders of NPOs who want to address social needs and inequalities by applying entrepreneurial and business skills.

Admission requirements

No formal tertiary qualifications are required. Participants should preferably have one to two years of working experience and an NQF level 4 qualification (Matric) or equivalent qualification.

PARTICIPANT COMMITMENT
This is a comprehensive study programme. Participants who wish to enrol must be willing to commit themselves to spend on average 2 to 3 hours per day for the duration of the programme in order to complete it successfully within the scheduled time frame.

Contact person (Enquiries)

Charmaine Garcia
Tel: +27 (0)21 918 4488
Fax: +27 (0)21 918 4478
charmaine.garcia@usb-ed.com

De Wet Schoeman
Tel: +27 (0)21 918 4216
Fax: +27 (0)21 918 4467
dewet.schoeman@usb-ed.com

How you will benefit

After successfully completing this programme, participants should be able to:

• understand and consider the dynamics and forces that drive and regulate the modern economy and how it affects the planning and management of a business venture;
• discover and understand their own talents and apply them to create wealth for themselves and others;
• apply innovative problem-solving techniques to create fresh and competitive business solutions;
• identify and design potential business opportunities and concepts and research their viability/feasibility;
• design and implement a competitive, generic strategic business approach with an accompanying competitive marketing plan, a cost-effective production/operations system and a productive and efficient staff (HR) function for a business;
• manage the finances of a business effectively;
• apply the principles and techniques of project management to improve efficiency and productivity;
• implement and manage an effective administrative support function for a business; and
• apply effective management, leadership and teamwork principles and practices to improve the quality and efficiency of business outputs; and
• compile tender documents.

Certification

On successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate from the University of Stellenbosch.

Other

Content overview

The contents of the Certificate in Entrepreneurial Business Management are based on many years of research and experience on what is needed to create successful entrepreneurs and business managers in the modern economic environment. The following competency areas are covered during the programme:

DYNAMICS OF THE MODERN ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT (Module 1)

• The origin and nature of the modern business environment
• Features of the modern economic, political, legal, social and technological environment and their impact on business activities and decisions
• Knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be successful in the modern business/economic environment

THE SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR (Module 2)

• Developing an entrepreneurial mind-set
• Self-discovery: know and understand who you are and who you want to be in life
• The role of paradigms and paradigm-shifting in the creation of wealth
• The role of problem-solving and innovation in the creation of wealth
• Generating business ideas and scanning their business potential

RESEARCH THE VIABILITY/FEASIBILITY OF POTENTIAL BUSINESS IDEAS/CONCEPTS (Module 3)

• Principles of costing and pricing of a product or service
• Research and data-gathering techniques for business
• Applying elementary statistics to summarise research data
• Determining the cost structure for producing and delivering products and services
• Factors that influence pricing decisions
• Steps in analysing the viability/feasibility of potential business opportunities

STRATEGIC THINKING, PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT (Module 4)

• Understanding the role and nature of strategic thinking, planning and management in the creation of a competitive advantage for a business
• Strategic analysis of the environment
• Formulating a competitive strategy
• Monitoring performance against strategic objectives

MARKETING MANAGEMENT (Module 5)

• Designing a competitive marketing strategy for a business
• The marketing mix
• Consumer research
• The marketing plan

PRODUCTION/OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (Module 6)

• Fundamental concepts and principles of production/operations planning and management
• Designing a cost-effective production/operations layout
• Capacity planning
• Stock and inventory management
• Quality management
• Health and safety in the workplace
• Monitoring operational efficiency
• Applying the principles and techniques of project management to achieve operational goals
• Office administration systems and procedures and effective record-keeping
• Tendering procedures

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (HR) (Module 7)

• Steps in developing a cost-effective human resources function for a business or unit or organisation
• Job descriptions and specifications
• The job interview
• Human performance management and motivation
• Adhering to employment legislation
• HR policies and procedures

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (Module 8)

• Financial cycle of a business
• Financial planning and budgeting
• Practical bookkeeping
• Understanding the basics of financial statements and financial ratio analysis
• Financing a business venture

GENERIC MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORK PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES (Module 9)

• Basic concepts and principles for effective time management, negotiation skills, business presentation skills, and conducting productive meetings
• Basic principles and practices of organisational leadership and effective teamwork

BUSINESS DESIGN AND BUSINESS PLAN (Practical project)

• A practical roadmap for finding and designing a competitive and profitable business venture
• Writing a business plan
• Designing a rollout plan for starting a new business venture

NQF complexity level

This programme is presented on the complexity level of an NQF 5.

Date and Venue

Correspondence


Starting date:  Any time
Duration: 8 - 12 months

LEARNING PROCESS

• Participants receive learning material and study assignments for Modules 1 and 2 via mail or email.

• Participants complete the study assignment for Module 1 and return it for evaluation, while working on Module 2.

• USB-ED evaluates the assignment and sends the next module’s material and assignment to successful participants . Participants who fail will get two opportunities to re-submit.

This process is repeated until all modules as well as the business design project have been completed.

Fees

R11 900

Fees include training material, online facilitation sessions and the final assessment of a business plan.  Fees are payable before the commencement of the programme.

Cancellation Policy

No refund will be given to participants who do not complete the certificate programme. Please note that programme fees and dates are subject to change. The online programme may be cancelled if less than 10 people register for this. Should this happen, fees will be refunded in full.