Carol Campbell, 52, is from Frankston, Australia. She started her training and education business, Nepean Industry Edge Training (NIET) in 2009. NIET is a registered Training Organisation providing accredited training programs in industries such as Aged Care, Child Care, Disability Care and Hospitality plus a range of professional development programs for people working in these industries. In 2012 they launched NIET Corporate to offer mid level and senior executives a range of programs in leadership and management training, a growing market segment they had identified.
Starting the Business
Q: Where did the idea for your business come from? Where were you in your life and career?
A: Back in 2009, things were not great. My father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, I was newly divorced and a single mother of two young boys, with a mortgage and only a modest part-time income.
Working as a sessional trainer for local training firms, I needed to secure work on a more permanent basis. Perhaps naively, I was motivated by the dream of starting my own training company so that I could better manage the children’s care and my own work/life balance by gaining control of my own destiny.
Little did I know that the demands of single-handedly starting a business from scratch with no experience whilst juggling family responsibilities, was a recipe for spinning out of control!
Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting out?
A: I faced three huge challenges starting out. My biggest challenge/risk was financial because I became completely unemployable once other training companies discovered I was competing with them for work.
The second challenge was emotional because the hours/weeks/months it took to establish the business meant taking away a lot of precious time from my boys.
The third challenge was the loss of privacy and any semblance of home/work separation. The study was my new home, and as the business grew, so did the space it consumed within the house. People were coming and going all day, the dining room became a boardroom and the lounge a second office, and the boys had lost their home as they knew it, not to mention a mum who was often buried under a mountain of stress and paperwork. Once I leased NIET’s first office though, sanity at home was restored.
Q: What is the one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you started the business?
A: To believe in myself more. To see in myself more of the strength and skills that other people saw in me. Their encouragement and belief really helped me keep going in the early days.
I’d give four simple pieces of advice to anyone starting their own business today:
- Believe in yourself.
- Find what you love to do and just go for it.
- Do it authentically and don’t ever compromise your values.
- Never give up!
Q: What would you consider your first big success in the business?
A: The company was listed in the 50 fastest growing companies in the Start Up Smart Awards in 2011. For me, this represented recognition for all of our team’s hard work, and reinforced we were on the right track.
Q: What is the toughest thing about getting to the top / staying on top in your industry specifically?
A: Training is a competitive business and one that is highly regulated.
Always looking for ways to improve your business is not necessarily the toughest thing, but it is something you need to constantly be thinking about. When every competitor can provide the same product, it’s how you deliver yours that makes the difference, gets the referrals, and delivers the happy clients at the end. It is also a process of constant evolution. Just because your business model is working well today doesn’t mean it still will be in six months’ time. In our industry, a change in policy or in government can significantly impact the business overnight .
The Future
Q: Where do you see your industry heading in the next 5 years?
A: The industry as a whole is becoming much more difficult from a compliance perspective. Smaller training organisations are increasingly unable to maintain the financial commitment necessary to run a business largely due to the compliance costs. Many are closing and some are being purchased by larger organisations. The fallout from this is that often the students’ needs are neglected as the business becomes all about numbers and not people.
At NIET we pride ourselves on our flexibility, patience and understanding of individual needs and learning styles. The business plan for the next five years will focus on ensuring that our courses continue to meet those needs and all student outcomes are achieved.
Q: What do you plan on doing / changing in order to keep growing in this time period?
A: We are always looking ahead at industry demands and changes. We are partnering with other professional organisations to increase the range of our program offering. We are always mindful of our finances and cash flow and don’t take unnecessary risks.
Q: What does ultimate success look like to you? How will you know when you’ve achieved it?
A: At the right time, being able to walk away from the businesses knowing that our people are expert at what they do, and will continue to deliver on the NIET vision and values. People who are expertly trained, highly experienced and treat the business like their own.
Q: What do you think will be the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs in the near future?
A: For those with families, balancing the time and financial demands of the family with those of the business. For any entrepreneur, it’s a tough and rocky road and sometimes it seems like there is no end in sight, no pot of gold on the horizon. But, through a combination of confidence, enthusiasm and sheer perseverance, it is amazing what can be achieved!
Q: What one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in your industry and wanting to make it to the top?
A: If getting to the top is just about the money, then you will probably fail. Be true to your authentic self, and do good, honest, valuable work. Nothing in life comes easy, but the rewards of knowledge, satisfaction and financial security can be incredible.