Boning up on business

Winston Churchill once said, "I am always willing to learn, however I do not always like to be taught." But for many new business owners or entrepreneurs considering startups, continuing their education can mean the difference between success and failure.

Whether it's starting with the basics or polishing up rusty business skills, area colleges and universities offer many options, and most people should be able to find a program tailored to their needs and schedules.

Myles Bland chose Jacksonville University's evening MBA program because it gives working professionals a chance to earn their Master of Business Administration degree part time.

When he began looking into the available programs, Bland, now president of Bland & Associates, was an archaeologist who wanted to start his own archaeology and historic preservation consulting firm.

"I wanted to go into business for myself, but I needed the business training," he said. "JU really gives you the basics. You start with economics, accounting, finance and marketing -- the real cornerstones of business."

Ellen Lockamy, associate dean at JU's Davis College of Business, said the MBA program is a perfect fit for many professionals because of its more general approach. "You're not being trained to be an accountant, but you are trained to understand accounting and its techniques, and what that gives you [is the ability] to make decisions on product costs, return on investments and many different things you have to know."

Students in the JU program can take up to three courses each semester, although most take two, earning their master's in about 16 months.

"It's not for everyone; that's a pretty tough schedule," Bland said, although he quickly added it was time well spent. In just two years, Bland & Associates, the company he started the day after he graduated from the program, has grown to six employees and works with private and public clients throughout the Southeast.

"Business has been good," he said. "I do have a fair amount of competition, but sticking to the basics I learned at JU is helping me succeed."

Bland says an important side benefit of the program was getting to know many business peers. Businesswoman Monique Nikki Terry agrees that having colleagues with whom to share business tips and advice can prove very helpful. She found her own network of new business peers when she enrolled in Florida Community College at Jacksonville's Small Business program last year.

Terry is president and CEO of Affordable Lending Source, which focuses on helping those with low to moderate incomes buy new homes, and Pro-Source Property Management, a residential and commercial property management company. Launched last year, both companies operate out of the Beaver St. Enterprise Center.

Despite a double major in computer science and business earned in the 1970s, and several years with Barnett Bank, Terry felt her business skills might need updating. "I knew what I might know was old," she said.

After she left Barnett, Terry worked for 16 years on in-flight crews and as a flight attendant instructor for US Airways. A single mother with a son in college, she still flies domestic and international flights for the airline while managing her two companies.

"I have a BlackBerry, a daily planner and a Palm Pilot and I need every single one," Terry said. Always on the go, she said the FCCJ program's flexible class schedule was a huge benefit.

The program is for "anyone starting a small business who needs direction," Terry said. "They have an idea, and that's cool, but they may not have a plan. You may have an idea, but that doesn't mean you should do it. The program helps you identify strengths and weaknesses you have in your business plan."

Those who complete the 20-week, fast-track program receive a college-credit technical certificate in small business entrepreneurship. The program combines in-class instruction with online coursework. "It consists of four college-credit classes," said Betsy Davis, dean of workforce development at FCCJ's Kent Campus. "Intro to Business to get a variety of the business basics. Advertising, to cover the promotion aspect. Applied Accounting, which gets into your actual accounting skills versus accounting theory, and it also gives an introduction to QuickBooks. And finally, Small Business Management, where the students write a business plan."

FCCJ decided to introduce the program two years ago because of demand for something specifically designed to help new entrepreneurs. "There had been a lot of phone calls from people who had taken classes or workshops offered around town by the Small Business Administration and the University of North Florida's Small Business Development Center, and they really liked the information they got, but wanted something a little more in-depth," Davis said.

Terry recommends the program to anyone who is interested in starting a company. "The questions people have when they first start their business, they would have already known the answers if they had gone to that class," she said. "I call it my mini-MBA."

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