Issue No 153 October 2005
Small business - big community, big ideas
The Small Business Company Ltd is a firm based in Christchurch that provides online products and services. The company's CEO, Glen Senior, tells us how The Small Business Company can help small businesses and looks at the importance of training and how businesses can access upskilling tools easily — without having to leave the office.
The company's CEO, Glen Senior, is known to many thousands of New Zealand small business people as the author of Marketing your small business in New Zealand, Small business survival tactics and Marketing for success, (all available from the library). Responsible for all activities of The Small Business Company, Glen shares his accumulated 20 years of business experience with small business people and organisations around the world. He has started eight successful small businesses and is still a director of two.
"When I was in business I saw that there was a need for the range of products and services that the small business owner could access easily — the type of information that I wanted quickly, in one place so I wouldn't waste my time," comments Glen.
So, The Small Business Company was developed. Its website www.tsbc.co.nz offers a wide range of free resources to people starting, running or wanting to grow their small business.
"The work we have completed over the past 15 years, including hundreds of workshops and seminars run each year throughout New Zealand, has enabled us to produce a range of small business resources," says Glen. "This has allowed us to position ourselves as experts in small business."
The Small Business Company produces a range of books, CD-ROMs, small business management software, online training and other resources for larger organisations, including government agencies, banks, accountancy practices, large corporates and industry associations. These products in turn allow the organisations to deliver business improvement tools to their own small business customers.
Well-known clients include Microsoft, The National Bank of New Zealand and BDO Spicers. The company's products are distributed in New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the USA. Current work on translating the products into a number of foreign languages will see their use spread into even more markets.
"Having a global outlook on small business issues allows us to benchmark what is happening in small business, from government policy to academic research, practical best practice tools and what small business owner/managers do to build a better business."
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"The real breakthrough of online training is that it allows interaction with the person accessing the training" Glen Senior |
Online skills training is rapidly being discovered by small business people needing to improve their business skills. It has the advantages of being confidential (no need to share your business details), convenient (the small business owner can choose the time) and efficient (in your own time, at your own pace). In around an hour per module a small business person can pick up new skills and ideas.
The online training model has had its challenges, says Glen. "Much of the so-called training out there is neither very effective nor particularly relevant.
"Simply reading screens of instructional text soon becomes boring. You can do that more effectively in a book. The real breakthrough of online training is that it allows interaction with the person accessing the training. The challenge is to engage the small business person more fully in the learning process.
"We've therefore focused on developing training that is practical, interactive, and allows the small business person to customise the experience to their own business challenges. At the end of the training they can output an action plan that relates specifically to their business and helps them implement what they've learnt."
If you are interested in trying some of the free online training developed by The Small Business Company you can access it through www.biz.org.nz.
