Training Blog

For the last few months we have struggled to achieve what we want in terms of training course bookings. I guess we have the eternal small company cash trap:
 
I need to spend money on advertising & brochure distribution but I need the turnover/ cash flow to do so.

 
Consequently, like many companies in this field, we tend to cycle through boom and bust according to cash flow. Recently the NHS, perhaps our largest market, entered its own cash crisis, as you´ve probably read in the media. This created a very serious situation for us because bookings dropped off just as we really needed to be reaching more people (and consequently needing more cash). It got very bad indeed (entrepreneur speak for ´the children are being sold as slaves next´).
 
It was massive action or finish and so we embarked on a non-cash-based turnaround programme. What I am delighted to report is that we have now spent the last 3 weeks consistently beating targets and with an average of around 7 course bookings per day. Anyone running training courses will tell you that this is phenomenol. Our secret… you must be joking!
 
However, the learning point to share is that what we did this time could have been done at any stage but somehow we remained ´blinkered´. It´s put us in our strongest position for about 2 years because now our business level is not related to our expenditure on marketing. Think about it… is there anything you have been putting off or making excuses for that could simply turn on the taps? What´s in the way, real or perceived? Get rid of it and wake up, just as we have done.