It’s 2012, a new year, and we’ve predicted what will happen in the world of search and tech. Our job will be to try and keep ahead of the trends and offer you the best and most up to date training available. What are your plans for 2012? How about starting a business? It may be the year the world is predicted to come to an end and we may be in the middle of a recession but that does not mean it isn’t a great time to start a business! In this guest post the author tells us how starting a business in the face of recession can be a good idea, and how to start the process. Starting your own business can be a daunting process, especially if you have no managerial experience. A great way to start would be to come on some of our courses and learn some new skills. It may not seem obvious but when starting your own business it is often better to have all the skills – Web Design, SEO and Management - rather than have to rely on hiring a freelancer or consultant. The more of your business you can do yourself, the more it will belong to you and follow your vision.
People often think that hard economic times are the wrong time to start a business, but many of the largest companies today got their start during the worst economic time in modern history: the Great Depression. During hard economic times, business patterns shift. People stop making their traditional purchases and look for something different. Companies that don’t adjust to this go out of business, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs with a clear vision for the future. Launching a business that succeeds during these times takes quite a bit of preparation but for those willing to put in the work, the rewards can be rich.
The first thing to do is clearly identify the product or service you’ll offer, the target audience, and your plan for success. Typically this is contained in a comprehensive business plan. A successful business plan considers every aspect of your proposed business, including products or services offered, projected prices, costs of operation, location, marketing, what need you’re filling (and the research to prove the need actually exists), business insurance, and more. If you’ll need a loan to start the business, a bank will require a copy of your business plan to evaluate your ability to repay the loan.
Just as the first three rules of buying a home are location, location, location, considering the placement of your business is critical. What other businesses are in the area? If you plan to open a cake decorating business, are there already two bakeries and another cake decorator in the area? What are the demographics of the area, including the income levels? What are the traffic patterns? Where does the public transport system run? All this and more should be considered when placing yournew business, and the results of these findings should also be incorporated into your business plan. Read the rest of "Starting Small Business: Important Steps"
The App Development market is taking the world by storm and there is an app for everything. In fact there is so much demand for App Developers we have launched a complete range of Mobile Development courses including an exciting new Android App Training workshop, and an iPhone App Training workshop. Every developer should be familiar with Web App design too so we also run a Mobile Web Design Course. All businesses should be looking into design mobile friendly sites at the very least, and all new media business need to up-skill to take advantage of this explosive market if they want to survive. Not everyone wants to learn to build these treasures though, some people just want to use them to make life easier. Here our guest author Denis makes his recommendations for the best apps for the entrepreneur:
Some people want to use their iPhone or iPad to do more than play video games. Some actually use them to remotely control their work computer. Take a closer look at some of the iOS apps that an entrepreneur can use to make their life easier here in this article.
Your iProduct Can Connect To Other Computers
TeamViewer for Remote Control
The iPhone or iPad can be used just like any other computer but thanks to their mobility they are much more convenient. For those with the entrepreneurial spirit, mobility is important, and some apps are targeted just for them. The first is called “TeamViewer for Remote Control“. This is an app that connects to your other computers so that you can use them while you are are on the run. It is billed as secure and fast, working with Linux, Mac and Windows systems. It is already being used with 100 million computers in the world. It works with more than just an iPhone or iPad. The iPod Touch can also control another computer remotely. It comes in a free version and professional version which will cost $99 that’s £63.34 GBP. If you feel like jumping ship it also comes with an Android version as well.
There is a lot to learn on the road to successful management. Management Training is important for managers to develop new skills including leadership and communication but you can also pick up useful tips from management blogs such as ours. This guest post from Tony Smith looks at body language and its uses in the workplace.
What Your Body Language Says About You
People rarely realise that what they do is just as important as what they say. Body language is a nonverbal means of communication. Your posture, eye movements, facial expressions, and other types of body language all play a part in the message you convey to people. Sometimes people unintentionally give the wrong message because they’re not aware of how what they’re doing appears to other people.
Correct Posture
Do you remember as a child your parents or teachers telling you to sit up straight? The reason they tried to instill this lesson in your mind at an early age is because posture says a lot about you. If you tend to slouch when you’re sitting, you look lazy or bored.
If you’re talking to someone and you’re standing slumped, they may thing you’re not interested in what they’re saying to you. Sitting and standing up straight means that you’re attentive and focused on what you’re doing. Read the rest of "Management Training Tips – Body Language"
Did you watch Rupert and James Murdoch giving evidence to the Select Committee last week?
I did; I found it riveting, and that was long before the shaving foam appeared. It started me thinking about the line between the “organisation” and the staff, and who’s responsible when things go wrong.
Actually, UK law does recognise the concept of holding the “organisation” to account (especially for safety), and directors of companies and trustees of charities are legally accountable individually and jointly. This means they can be sued for something an employee did. They have to make sure there are proper systems and procedures, and that staff know and understand them, and they have to monitor that the systems and procedures work and that staff comply with them.
Getting back to Messrs Murdoch, their main message was “We knew nothing”.
Imagine a similar scene: you’re discussing with one of your staff some major disaster that’s happened in their department, and they say “I had no idea what was going on.”
My guess is you might reach one (or several) of the following unattractive conclusions:
They’re clearly remote / out of touch and not making an effort to find out what goes on
Their staff are clearly too scared of them to tell them honestly what was going on.
Their management is so lax they don’t notice anything and their staff can get away with murder.
They did know what was going on but they didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
They did know what was going on but they’ve been “selectively” ignoring it or they didn’t care as long as staff got results.
They did know what was going on but bottled out of dealing with it.
Now imagine you have to sit in front of a judge or your most important customer and explain what happened and why. Scary!
Management and Leadership Tips – What Can We Learn?
So what can we learn from all this for our own organisations? I think there are some common-sense do’s and don’ts.
If you don’t already – you might want to make sure that your organisation is doing the following:
Here at Silicon Beach Training we’re immensely proud of the quality of training that we provide – and we love teaching other people how to deliver great training sessions too, via our Train the Trainer course.
Knowing your subject matter is only part of being able to deliver great training. Understanding how adults learn, engaging with them effectively, and planning your training session properly are all essential to ensuring that attendees understand and retain what you teach them.
In this video, filmed on one of our Train the Trainer courses – our trainer Mary guides delegates through the stages of planning and designing an effective training session.
We’ve summarised the video below with some great tips on how to plan your own session.
These are edited highlights of this section of our workshop. We cover a lot more besides on out 2-day train the trainer course here in Brighton, Sussex – so why not come along and hone your training technique?
Train the Trainer: Planning a 10 Minute Training Session – Top Tips
When you plan a training session, its not just about what subjects you’re going to cover when. A well planned training session will provide the following elements for each stage:
Content
Questioning Techniques
Activities
During our Train the Trainer course each delegate is asked to deliver and refine their own short training session. This is broadly broken down as follows:
IOSH Accredited Managing Safely Training Course Now Available
Health and Safety Training Courses
According to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) every year on average:
220 people are killed
30,000 people injured
33 million working days are lost to injuries or ill health
25,000 people leave the workplace permanently because of harm suffered at work
The combined cost to British businesses for all of the above is somewhere in the region of £20 billion
Many of these costly work related injuries and absences can be avoided if managers receive proper Health and Safety Training.
We are pleased to announce that Silicon Beach Training is now offering accredited IOSH Managing Safely training here in Brighton, Sussex.
Attending an accredited health and safety course can not only reduce your organisation’s insurance premium costs, but can also enhance your business reputation, and increase productivity and profitability considerably.
Our 4-day Managing Safely course is priced at just £695 + vat, which includes assessment and certification.
Silicon Beach Training now offers the increasingly popular range of Agile Project Management training courses – but what is Agile Project Management, and why is it such a big deal all of a sudden?
In March 2011 the government unveiled it’s new ICT Strategy which identified a number of problems (or challenges using their words!) with the method in which IT projects and programmes were managed and delivered, causing them to fail. The first of these challenges being:
“projects tend to be too big, leading to greater risk and complexity, and limiting the range of suppliers who can compete”
For example, if a project to implement a large IT system is deemed to take 5 years to complete, it is very likely that, in those five years circumstances (e.g. technology, customer and business requirements, even governments!) will have changed, rendering the final solution based on the original specification unfit for purpose.
A number of strategies were identified to address these challenges, one of which is “by the application of lean and agile methodologies that will reduce waste, be more responsive to changing requirements and reduce the risk of project failure”.
Agile methodologies have been used in software development for some years, but are now being applied in project management as they offer a flexible process that can change according to customer or organisational needs.
How does Agile Project Management differ from traditional project management methodologies?
Traditionally a project manager may direct the project team using a ‘command and control’ style, actively directing their team towards the work that must be completed. Agile project management uses a different technique. At the beginning of an Agile project a high level plan will be created by the project manager, which is based around basic requirements and a high level vision of the solution. From there on the final project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each increment building on the previous increments. Agile Project management also differs in the way that team members create the plans for each increment, rather than the project manager themselves.
“Leadership & Management” Training Grants Programme Available NOW!
£1000 Training Grants
Training Grants are limited – application forms below…
Businesses who employ between 2 and 249 people can apply for up to £1,000 of matched funding towards any training courses that will help to develop their organisation’s people management skills. The new Leadership and Management Advisory Service (LMAS) is designed to help eligible employers fund training and development opportunities for their senior leaders.
If you are interested in applying and would like to discuss the courses we have available, please call us on 01273 622272 or emailinfo@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk
Is my Organisation Eligible for a Leadership & Management Training Grant?
The Leadership & Management Training Grants are open to any organisation which:
has 2 to 249 full time equivalent employees
can display the potential for high or fast growth, defined as:
if trading for more than 12 months have the potential to increase turnover by 20% each year for three years
if trading for less than 12 months have the potential to achieve a turnover of £500,000 within three years of trading
How Can I Apply for a Training Grant Towards a Course at Silicon Beach Training?
1) Identify Suitable Training
Identify the training course or courses that you would like to attend – remember, the courses must help you to increase your organisation’s people management skills – so the following courses would be applicable:
People often think that hard economic times are the wrong time to start a business, but many of the largest companies today got their start during the worst economic time in modern history: the Great Depression. During hard economic times, business patterns shift. People stop making their traditional purchases and look for something different. Companies that don’t adjust to this go out of business, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs with a clear vision for the future. Launching a business that succeeds during these times takes quite a bit of preparation but for those willing to put in the work, the rewards can be rich.
Did you watch Rupert and James Murdoch giving evidence to the Select Committee last week?
