How To Study Business on Your Own

Are you passionate about the business industry and want to learn how it works? While genuine passion and interest are crucial in scaling your business, passion alone would not suffice, and nor will it close the gap for unattained knowledge. 

To study business on your own, regardless of your field of practice, follow these steps. First, understand the basics, then get access to business materials (course packages, books by renowned business owners, and tools kits). Finally, build your skill set by putting to practice all you have learned.

If you want to be successful in studying business, you must debunk the idea that studying business is troublesome and strenuous.

The journey to learning business would entail learning a lot, and the fastest and best way to learn is by doing.

How To Start Studying Business on Your Own

Here, we will provide you with four necessary steps to start studying business independently.

We advise that you ease into it and be entirely open to fully grasping the structures and principles that guide business.

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Step 1: Understand the Basics

The first and most important rule to doing anything is understanding its basics. This rule also applies to studying business.

Studying the basic principles of business would serve as a guiding principle to understanding or assimilating its related concepts, building interest, and finding an area of specialization in the industry.

When trying to understand the basics of business, you first need to:

1. Understand what Business is

Before getting yourself familiar with what business basics entail, you should have a proper understanding of what business is all about. 

Investopedia defines business as an organization or enterprising body involved in commercial, technical, or professional activities.

The purpose of a business is to organize economic production (of goods or services).

2. Discover the Basic Concepts to Learn

To learn business basics, especially on your own, you must familiarize yourself with the basics guiding business interactions.

This would help you navigate resource materials easily and expand your business vocabulary using Business Jargons.

3. Discover your Area of Interest

In addition to the two already discussed above, discovering where your interest lies helps to streamline your study priority appropriately.

Business is a broad concept with branching sub-concepts that require different levels of comprehension.

Areas of interest in business include;

• Marketing
• Human resources
• Operations
• Technology
• Financing, and 
• Strategic analysis

Step 2: Use the Right Resource Materials

Without the proper resource materials, studying business on your own will be cumbersome and boring. The right materials would aid your initiation or transition into the business industry. 

Since the internet is heavily saturated with resource materials and assisting toolkits that could be helpful but also leave you feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin, we have curated a list of helpful starter packs that will be helpful;

Business Books

Business Journals

To be a business expert, business journals from industry experts will surely come in handy.

These journals will teach you how to speak the language of business and also keep you updated on research findings related to business and all the latest developments. 

Here are business journals you can check out

• Check out – Academy of Management Journal
• Check out – Academy of Management Review
• Check out – The Journal of International Business Studies
• Check out – The Journal of Business Ethics

Podcasts on Business

You’re probably wondering how helpful can podcasts on business topics bes? 

Well, in case you didn’t know, listening to these podcasts at least once a day would help you develop your business knowledge tremendously and broaden your understanding of the industry.

As a business owner, you get to listen to experts talk about mistakes they made in their entrepreneurial journey and how they worked out sustainable solutions to the problems.

As a business student or someone with an interest in business, these podcasts allow you to learn and get updated with the current industry developments, practices, and business tactics applicable to successfully scaling a business.

Here are some popular business podcasts that we think would be worth your time

• TED talk business 
• NPR business stories of the day
• HBR IdeaCast
• Cold call | Harvard business school
• BiggerPockets business Podcast
• After Hours| Harvard business review

Step 3: Gain Skills and Experience

Whether you are a business owner, student, or someone with passion about business, more than understanding the entirety of what business encompasses, project-based experience, course works, and practicals improve your planning, implementation, and execution skill.

Projects-based tasks help you understand and analyze businesses using case studies with standardized business processes. 

It exposes you to the real-world methods of doing things and equips you to think innovatively and approach business problems with a solution-providing thought process.

10 Essential Business Skills

• Business Management Skill
• Leadership Skill 
• Negotiation Skill
• Communication Skill
• Emotional Intelligence
• Decision-Making Skill
• Networking Skill
• Time management Skill
• Analytical skill
• Problem-solving Skill

Check out this link, https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/business-skills.

We are sure you would find this useful in understanding how to build and develop the critical business skills listed above 

Step 4: Take Online Courses and Certifications

An excellent way to improve your business skills is to engage in project-based tasks. There are available online courses that can help you build experience.

A lot of them are easily accessible and free. You can also adjust the timing and affordability to your convenience.

After selecting a field of interest, you wish to explore, enroll in classes to acquire those skills or overall business knowledge and qualify for certifications.

Check out the link below for some online courses on business;

• London Business School
• Udemy
• www.alison.com 
• edX.org
• Coursera
• Oxford Home Study
• Harvard Business School Online   

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Step 5: Understand and Engage with the Industry  

The business industry has evolved and changed over the last decade. It has proven to be dynamic over time, with the pressing need to be updated and hyper-aware.

The evolution of technology has reformed how companies conduct business and use it to improve their business processes.

Keep up with business-related trends using forums, magazines, or social platforms like

• 2PM, Inc
• Google Alert
• Google Trends
• LinkedIn.com

And here goes the familiar saying, “practice makes perfect.” If you want to perfect your craft and retain knowledge that would help you in the long term, you must be willing to practice what you study.

4 Tips to Remember When Self-Studying Business

To aid you as you study business on your own, here are tips we think are absolutely crucial to your journey

1. Attend Business Conferences and Seminars

To fully immerse yourself into the business world and understand the trends and updates, attending business webinars, and other city events attended by successful entrepreneurs, renowned business owners, and suppliers from different product chains is a must.

By following these seminars, you will learn from others and improve your skills and knowledge about your field of interest. 

Here is a link to a list of upcoming US conferences in 2022 https://allconferencealert.net/usa.php. 

Good business people are avid networkers who know themselves and consistently interact with one another.

It is also essential to engage and network, ask questions and perhaps introduce yourself after a panel session to the panelist.

2. Start a business

If you don’t already have a business of your own, it is advisable that you start your own business. You can learn a lot of things in business, and being involved is the fastest and most efficient way to learn.

Start with something simple that you can manage yourself, using all the resources and knowledge obtained. If you are in business, you can also experiment with all the knowledge you have learned from your research.

Also, you can build your website using Wix or WordPress and start transacting some products electronically after you have conducted a proper market analysis and mix. You can learn how to build a Wix website here.

By practicing and implementing these things, you will remember them much better than any other student in business school.

3. Build a Study Structure 

A reading structure would help you target focus areas and assign study hours according to priority level.

Start by outlining all business-related topics you would like to study, do this by listing them according to your area of interest and the complexity of the topics you wish to learn. 

Then proceed to pick hours in the day that would be convenient to study them; you can do two topics a day or seven topics a week.

Ensure that you have a study journal to help track your progress and ensure accountability; this way, you can understand your learning process and track progress in the long run.

4. Join an Online Study Group

A study group would hold you accountable and give you access to resources that would be of helpful assistance in your self-study.

You can also start a study group with a few friends interested in studying business. You can share ideas, plan to visit business conferences together, enroll in an online course and track each other’s progress. 

Joining a study group would help you develop your communication, networking, and leadership skills which are essential skills to have as someone studying business.   

Why You Should Study Before Starting a Business

Starting a business is not simple in reality. If you plan to hire employees to help you lead, you must have and understand the basics such as communication skills, leadership skills, and how employees are motivated and rewarded. 

Studying business before starting a business prepares you for the ups and downs that are peculiar to the business world. It helps you plan proactively before market integration and to make informed decisions.

It prepares you to develop crucial business skills such as marketing, effective communication, accounting, human resource management, etc.

Anyone who already owns or manages a business must be aware that the world of business has changed and is continuously evolving and moving towards technology and globalization. 

Navigating through this new phase of business practices and systems has become equally daunting.

As such, every business must have a clear strategic mission and vision that would enable the management to make informed decisions.

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Top 7 Fields You Can Explore After Self-Studying Business

Business experts are in high demand worldwide who understand business fundamentals and can provide solutions to business problems.

Business encompasses every aspect of modern human society, typically understood to comprise a relatively broad group of programs.

There are some highly specialized business fields that can cut across interdisciplinary, academic, and professional development.

S/N	Field	Description	Average Salary per Annum
1	International Business	International business involves all forms of industrial activities that are involved in the process of transaction and exchange of goods, services, resources, people, ideas, and technology across borders.	An international business analyst earns an average of $72,001. An international business manager earns an average of $60,481.
2	Finance	– Finance is a broad career field with various job career paths available that cater to different skill sets and interests. – Most jobs come with a pre-requisite of an advanced college degree, master’s, or experience, especially in mathematics, business, and statistics.  – Careers you can explore in finance are; Investment banking, Actuary, Portfolio Management, Quantitative analysis, and Securities trading. For more career opportunities check out www.investopedia.com	Average investment banker base salary: $101,187 Average actuary base salary: $96,843 Trader salary: $72,612.  Average quantitative analyst base salary: $85,042
3	Business and Economics	– This field entails applying economic theories and research techniques to analyze business problems. – Career options you can explore in this field are; Human Resource Coordinator, Operations Associate, Research Associate, and financial planner.  For more, visit www.indeed.com	Human Resource Coordinator$40,748  Operations Associate $47,713 Research Associate $61,583
4	Accounting and Finance	Accounting and finance provide you with specialist knowledge of commerce, accountancy, and finance practices. For more information, visit www.indeed.com	Auditor $57,522 Accountants$57,680
5	Human Resource Management	– Human resources managers are an essential part of the work culture of an organization.  – They control the organization and development of programs that improve employees’ performance and output.	HR management $110,986
6	Marketing	– Marketing involves the process of promoting and building awareness for a company. – Examples are Market research, Brand Management, Advertising, Promotions, and public relations.	Marketing Managers $135,030
7	Business Management	This field encompasses a wide range of financial management, marketing, administrative, and even human resource tasks.	Sales Representatives $59,594 Project Manager $76,404 Business Manager $63,999www.indeed.com

No matter the level you choose to study business at and whatever field of interest you choose to specialize in, it’s necessary and only fair that you anticipate all types of business fields to emphasize the practical application of theory strongly.

If you have a unique industry-evolving idea and the knowledge to back it up, you would become a hotshot in the industry, render your service across other sectors, or even start your own business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Is It Okay To Do Business Without a Degree?

Having a degree is not a prerequisite for launching your own business. As a matter of fact, a lot more is obtained from self-research and experiencing the industry yourself. 

The industry has a high level of dynamism which demands that you be up to date.

Q: Can I Study Business Without Math Literacy?

No, you do not need to learn complex mathematics to study business. Depending on your field of interest, if it demands that you understand basic math and some statistics, it is only appropriate to learn it.

Find what works for you, research the field you want to venture into, and the criteria necessary to succeed.

Q: How Can I Make Studying Business More Exciting?

Truthfully, there would be a point in your learning experience where things begin to feel redundant and uninteresting, and it is not a feeling that necessarily depicts a reclining passion but rather a mental burnout.

Take a break from your study once in a while, you can choose to instead interact with the real world and absorb knowledge from real-time experience.

You would learn more from practical applications. Ensure that you enjoy the process and cut yourself some slack.

Final Thoughts

Every industry needs business experts, and every business owner needs to understand how business works.

Business is an intricate form of handling products and services, and sometimes you would have to get your hands dirty by putting in the work to succeed. 

Reference

• https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-study-business-on-my-own
• https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/business-fundamentals
• https://kinsta.com/blog/best-business-books/
• https://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Business-Basics
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-business-definition-characteristics-examples.html
• https://www.topuniversities.com/courses/business-management-studies/why-study-business
• https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/business-management-degree-jobs