MOBI Expands Free Online Courses for Professional Development and Business Success

MOBI offers a new Leadership and Professional Success certificate course, new and updated business topics, and eight new audio and video sessions.

SANTA CLARA, CA, UNITED STATES, August 31, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As part of its 2026-2027 course launch, the free online entrepreneurship education platform My Own Business Institute (MOBI) at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business is introducing a new Leadership and Professional Success certificate course. The course aims to help learners in any career build valuable transferable skills — including project management, negotiation, customer experience, business operations, managing and motivating employees, ethics, and more — and is being offered alongside new and updated topics for MOBI’s existing entrepreneurship courses, including data analytics, mental health, expense management, and succession planning.

MOBI is a community engagement initiative providing free online entrepreneurship courses to help people around the world learn how to start, manage, and grow their own business — and now, build important professional success skills too. MOBI provides a foundation of business and entrepreneurship principles that is accessible, understandable, and actionable regardless of educational background, business experience, or technical aptitude. MOBI partners with educational institutions, economic development and workforce readiness programs, NGOs, and other organizations to support entrepreneurship through free education.

MOBI underscores its commitment to accessibility by offering courses in a standard text format, with audio and video learning options available for many curriculum sessions through the MOBI On Demand library. This year MOBI is also expanding its MOBI On Demand library with eight new audio and video sessions, making its flagship Starting a Business course fully available in text, audio, and video formats for optimal accessibility.

New Leadership and Professional Success Certificate Course
With its new Leadership and Professional Success certificate course MOBI expands into professional development education, empowering learners to build practical skills for success in any career. The new course includes ten sessions to help participants gain career-ready abilities in leadership, project management, negotiation, customer experience, business operations, employee management, ethics, and more. Designed for anyone looking to grow professionally, whether starting a business, strengthening an existing business, or advancing their career. The course also includes a free downloadable Professional Success Action Plan to help students apply what they learn.

“Our goal has always been to make business education accessible to everyone,” said Trish Kalbas-Schmidt, Senior Director, Institute Relations and Program Development, MOBI. “With our Leadership and Professional Success certificate course, we’re excited to support our current students in new ways while reaching a broader audience of learners looking to pursue leadership opportunities, advance careers, and achieve professional goals — people who might not have considered MOBI before.”

New and Updated Business Topics
MOBI’s 2026-2027 courses feature new and updated sessions developed together with industry practitioners:

Managing Your Mental Health as a Business Owner (Managing a Business course): Contributed by Brian Moran, CEO of Brian Moran & Associates and Founder, the Small Business Edge podcast, this session offers actionable strategies to prioritize and protect well-being while managing the demands of entrepreneurship.

Data Analytics for Small Business (Growing a Business course): Contributed by Nicole Ruccolo, co-owner of digital marketing firm ModFox Consulting, this session simplifies data analytics into practical steps using information business owners already have.

Smart Expense Management (Managing a Business course): Contributed by Scott Ready, owner of Prepared Books and fractional CFO of Forever Ready Productions, this session guides business owners toward intentional expense management for business success.

Preparing for Succession: Transferring Ownership of Your Business (Growing a Business course): This session provides updated guidance on business and leadership transition planning.

Over 70 Resources to Put Learning into Action
MOBI offers over 70 resources and tools that complement its curriculum and help students take action on the lessons. Each new session for 2026-2027 provides a downloadable resource including a KPI Workbook, Mental Health Toolkit, Expense Management Action Checklist, and Succession Planning Guide. The Leadership and Professional Success certificate course provides the Professional Success Action Plan.

Expanded Audio and Video Options for Greater Accessibility
The 2026-2027 course catalog adds eight sessions to MOBI’s audio and video library, providing greater accessibility for students to learn the way that best meets their preferences and needs. MOBI’s flagship Starting a Business course is now completely available in text, audio, and video learning formats. Audio and video learning experiences are provided in English, with Spanish subtitles available for the video option, and are accessible on MOBI’s YouTube channel, the MOBI website, and within courses on the MOBI learning platform.

About MOBI’s Courses
MOBI’s catalog includes seven courses: Starting a Business, Managing a Business, Growing a Business, Quick Start Entrepreneur, Small Business Essentials, Professional Development, and the Sales and Marketing Badge Course. MOBI’s curriculum is accessible, understandable, and actionable, regardless of educational background, business experience, and technical aptitude. All courses are free, asynchronous, self-paced, and free to anyone, anywhere. Within the landscape of entrepreneurship education, MOBI stands out for its altruistic mission, commitment to accessibility, and university affiliation. Every MOBI student is eligible to earn a Certificate of Completion and/or Digital Badge from Santa Clara University.

About the My Own Business Institute

The My Own Business Institute (MOBI) at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business is the world’s leading provider of free online entrepreneurship education. MOBI students and alumni represent 249 countries and territories recognized by the International Standardization Organization. MOBI partners with over 125 organizations and institutions around the world to bring free online entrepreneurship education to those who need and want it most. The MOBI curriculum and website are based on the work of Phil Holland, a successful entrepreneur and author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide. MOBI was generously gifted to Santa Clara University in 2014 by Phil and his wife Peggy, an accomplished school teacher and administrator, along with an endowment, valued at $22 million at the time of transfer, to ensure that the organization and its accompanying websites would flourish into the future and continue to support the vital social and economic contributions of small businesses worldwide. The My Own Business Institute was founded and provided courses from SCU in 2015. For more information visit www.scu.edu/mobi.

Jill Martin
My Own Business Institute (MOBI) at Santa Clara University
+1 408-551-3549
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