Many small business owners are often self-taught in the ways that make them successful. Most small business owners don’t have an MBA, which is actually a good thing. Formal business education, specifically the typical MBA program, is geared more towards the large corporate environment and not the small business environment in which agency owners operate.

So how would you design a two-year MBA program for a small business agency owner? The program is based on a quarter system and students are required to read one book per month for two years. There will be six areas of study, with a bonus session to allow for a concentration for the insurance industry. At the end of these two years, students will have the correct information to operate a small business and be successful.

The key purpose of this program is to accelerate the learning curve. Much of the information students will learn has been around for a while and works. Successful business owners don’t reinvent the wheel. They take a proven idea and adapt it. This reduces the time and expense of having to learn it on your own.

1. The first trimester focuses on understanding oneself and others. What skills and knowledge are needed to be successful? All of these books are classics and three of them have been around for over 75 years. To be a great business owner, you need to understand yourself as well as understand how to best relate to other people.

· 7 habits of highly successful people by Steve Covey

· How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

· Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

· The richest man in Babylon by George S. Classen

2. The second quarter is an introduction to business and business philosophy. Most small business owners went into business because they were good at what they did. Michael Gerber created the mantra of “Work us the business and not in the business”, so his book is a must read. The other books will round out your understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur and small business owner.

· The Electronic Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

· Scaling Up: How Some Companies Do It…and Why the Rest Don’t by Verne Harnish

· Redo by Jason Fried

· The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Businessby Josh Kaufman

3. Sales and marketing are covered in the third quarter. The books in this session will cover everything from the big picture of sales and marketing to the nitty-gritty details of how to do it. Marketers will like the Schley and Holmes books and marketers will like the Heath and Gladwell books.

· Made to Stick: why some ideas survive and others don’t by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

· The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell

· The Micro-Script Rules: It’s not what people hear. It’s what they repeat… by Bill Schley

· The ultimate sales machine by Chet Holmes

4. Welcome to the second year! The fourth trimester is all about management and leadership. Satisfied employees are critical to a company’s success. Some people are natural leaders, while others can be great leaders with some training. The material and ideas in these books are practical and easy to learn.

· One minute managementr by Ken Blanchard and Spenser Johnson

· Dilbert’s principle by Scott Adams

· The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

· Ride by daniel rose

5. The fifth quarter focuses on an area that business owners get easily or always struggle with: economics and business finance. Even if it’s a turnoff for some small business owners, it’s important to understand the basics. Accounting is a topic that doesn’t translate well in the books, so that topic will be covered through online videos. There are many free videos that will cover both the basics and details of accounting.

· Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to Economics Y Economic facts and fallacies by Thomas Sowell

· Financial Intelligence A Manager’s Guide to What the Numbers Really Mean by Karen Berman and Joe Knight

Various online videos on accounting

6. Now that the business is up and running, what’s next? A successful business is not static; is subject to constant changes and improvements. The sixth quarter introduces the philosophy of change and techniques on how to rethink business operations.

· built to last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras

· who moved my cheese by Spencer Johnson

· What got you here won’t get you there by Marshall Goldsmith

· First, break all the rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt W. Coffman

Congratulations! Reading these 23 books will provide more valuable information to the small business owner than is taught in most MBA programs! Graduates of this program now have the skills and knowledge to be even better business owners. Some graduates may want to continue with a concentration within their industry.

Formal education can be valuable. However, the stereotypical small business owner has neither the time nor the patience to attend an MBA program. There is so much good information that all business owners can easily have a personalized “MBA Program”. So, open a book, fire up a Kindle, or plug in some headphones, school is in session!