Building a Strong Business Foundation

About this course

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. This course is designed to provide you with the foundational skills and knowledge to successfully launch and grow a business. By the end of the course, you’ll have a thorough understanding of the key components involved in starting a business, including how to write a compelling business plan and create a sustainable business model. You’ll also explore how to conduct user interviews to better understand market needs and develop a marketing strategy that builds brand awareness and attracts customers. Throughout the course, you'll dive into each aspect of building your business, starting with the essential steps of structuring your business model and defining your customer segments. You'll then proceed to developing your business plan, ensuring that you know how to align your revenue streams with your customers' needs. We’ll walk you through user interviews and market research, equipping you with the skills to gather insights that help refine your business offerings. The course also covers how to implement effective marketing strategies, focusing on social media, SEO, and email marketing to drive customer engagement. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or someone looking to scale your business, this course will give you the tools to attract and retain customers while maintaining a profitable and sustainable operation. This course is ideal for beginners who are just starting out in business or those looking to solidify their understanding of business fundamentals. No prior business experience is required, although some basic knowledge of marketing and business concepts will be helpful.

Course objectives

• to provide foundational skills for launching a business
• to equip students with tools for market research and customer engagement
• to prepare students to develop and implement marketing strategies