Sberbank of Russia : Sber, Google, Agency for Strategic Initiatives launch training course for budding entrepreneurs

Eleven lessons of the free course will answer budding entrepreneurs' key business-related questions, from choosing a promising business model and finding first customers to forecasting demand and winning a market share.

Sber, Google, and Agency for Strategic Initiatives have launched a free training course under the tagline Becoming an Entrepreneur. Z Business Style for young people aged from 14 to 25. It will benefit those who are making their first steps in the business world and are just considering starting their own business. The course will be part of the Business Class program by Google and Sber, which helps develop business skills.

Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation: 'The leadership of the Russian education system cannot but rely on the quality of education programs, and this goes beyond the quality of subject knowledge extending to a wide range of skills and abilities schoolchildren need in the modern world. Entrepreneurship is one of them, and the Ministry will support initiatives that help young people acquire the necessary skills in entrepreneurial initiatives, start-ups, and technology projects.'

The new course consists of four blocks consistently covering the key issues when starting or developing your first business. At the beginning of the course, students will learn when it is worth starting their own business, what qualities are important for a successful entrepreneur, and what external factors can help them do business. The second block is devoted to finding a business idea, understanding when it can be considered promising, how to evaluate its potential, and how to decide and start implementing it. In the third block, you will learn how to choose a promising business model and assess its viability. In the final lessons of the course, experts will tell you why small businesses need a strategy, how to set goals, and how to use goal-setting skills outside of the business. The course consists of 11 lessons and will take about 90 minutes to complete.

'ASI works a lot with those who are interested in business, social initiatives, technology entrepreneurship, or just pursues a self-development path. Our ecosystem and audience have many of those who are making their first steps in business, which is why they need to know the real situation. We're now working on a single knowledge base to meet the demands of those who'll be at the helm of businesses tomorrow,' stated Svetlana Chupsheva, Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

The course will be taught by skilled and novice entrepreneurs. The experts include David Yang (founder and Board Director at ABBYY), Alexander Laryanovsky (managing partner at Skyeng), Alisa Basyrova (founder, CEO of Holy Corn), Elena Shifrina (founder of Bite), Aleksei Kolesnikov (a co-founder of Local Kitchen). It will be supervised by Sergey Vorobiev (President of Ward Howell).

'We live in a world where 70% of the relevant professions of the future don't exist yet. Hundreds of professions will go away to be replaced by hundreds of new ones. The skills and knowledge that make us competitive in this environment are communication skills, flexible thinking, the ability to lead, manage your energy, and make outside-the-box decisions. These skills are useful not only for entrepreneurs to run a business but for anyone who wants to be successful in the modern world. This is something that can be learned, and it's time to do it now with the help of Business Class, free and online,' stated Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank.

'According to statistics, more than 60% of zoomers plan to change the world for the better, which aligns with Google's mission,' says Julia Solovieva, Country Director, Google Russia. 'If this aspiration that young people have is multiplied by high-quality content that entrepreneurs and experts share in our course, I believe that success is guaranteed. And it's these guys who will be creating products and services for us soon.'

The participants who complete the course will learn how to find sources to finance their project, develop and implement a business strategy, identify a target audience, forecast demand and develop new products, and also manage a company amid risks and uncertainty.

The course is available on the Business Class website here.