Small Businesses Go to Summer School

CHICAGO (TheStreet) -- As the weather warms and schools start the countdown to June, it's tempting to ease into a summer state of mind. Unfortunately, small-business owners don't get three months off.

The midpoint of the year is a great time to take stock of your company's progress, though, and make plans for what you want to accomplish by the end of 2011. Taking summer classes at a local business school or college can help keep you on track with those goals -- or inspire you to set some new ones.

Taking summer classes at a local business school or college can help keep you on track with your goals -- or inspire new ones -- as well as providing a way for you to meet people outside your industry.

Besides learning tangible skills to improve your finances or marketing, college-level courses are a good way to expand your network. Whether it's a helpful professor or inspiring fellow entrepreneur, you'll meet people outside your industry and force yourself to think beyond your usual routines.

Almost every business school has an "executive MBA" program aimed at working professionals. The draw is that they allow students to keep their full-time jobs while fulfilling the requirements of an MBA degree; the downside is that they take years to complete and cost a lot of money. Students tend to be managers from large corporations (that foot the bill) rather than entrepreneurs.

But some business schools have more flexible "open enrollment" programs where you can pick and choose classes according to your needs. The focus is on learning-specific, actionable skills rather than working toward a degree.

Such programs give business owners access to business-school-caliber faculty -- at prices far below business-school tuition. And forget agonizing over a pages-long business school application; you can usually register for classes online in a few minutes.

Some of the country's most prestigious business schools will be offering classes this summer on topics relevant to small businesses. At the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, for example, Executive Education classes being held in June and July include a workshop on strategic persuasion (subtitled "The Art and Science of Selling Ideas"); a course in competitive marketing strategy; and another on using strategic thinking and management for competitive advantage. Programs run one week and cost $8,000 to $9,000.