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An example of application of the core attributes of home-based business learning
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The research project we conducted with CREEDA moved beyond the research phase to trial and evaluate two approaches to meeting the most immediate skill development needs identified through the survey.
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Using the survey respondents as the core group of businesses with which to work, we offered a series of free seminars on 'Low Cost Marketing' on the Sunshine Coast, and a program of facilitated peer learning 'Synergy Groups' in the Australian Capital Region. The two growth acceleration approaches piloted were quite different and designed to suit the needs and capabilities of the regions they were trialed in.
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Seminars
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The seminars attracted over 60 participants, and the evaluation sheets indicated that those that turned up were prime candidates for growth acceleration support.
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In comparison with the characteristics of the Sunshine Coast home-based businesses that responded to the survey, the seminar participants were younger and more growth-oriented - the ideal target group for such a seminar and for inviting into a more structured growth program.
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For example:
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Seminar participants' business were considerably younger than those who responded to the larger survey - 56% of seminar participants were running businesses less than 1 year old compared to 7% in this group from survey;
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But the seminar still attracted a large proportion of employing home-based businesses - 37 seminar participants were employing people full-time (63%, compared with 70% in survey); and
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Seminar participants were more likely than survey participants to identify 'lack of business skills' as a barrier to growth - (27% compared with 8% in survey).
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The top two business advice needs expressed in both regions were 'marketing' and 'more contacts'. The Sunshine Coast seminars provided no more than an introduction to marketing and a loose format for developing contacts, yet the evaluation sheets showed just how effective this very simple approach was. Feedback on the usefulness of the seminars showed that participants rated them highly and there was strong demand for more sessions - especially if held over breakfast. The seminar series was a pilot and necessarily short - yet it seems to have whetted appetites for more. Participants got a taste, and wanted more, and the seminars helped prepare a sound foundation for establishing a more organised association or home-based business network in the region.
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With that kind of self-help network in place, the region would quickly be able to move to the more intensive and deeper process of the Synergy Groups. The facilitated peer learning approach piloted in these groups was clearly a very cost-effective way of meeting a number of key needs of home-based businesses at once.
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Synergy Groups
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The Synergy Groups comprised up to 10 home-based business operators in a series of six sessions designed to improve business management and business practice run by an experienced business facilitator at four locations in the Australian Capital Region.
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The survey showed that contacts and networking are key needs of home-based business operators, primarily pointing to the debilitating effects of the isolation of working at home mentioned by many home-based business operators. The operators themselves know that getting out into a wider business world is a key to growth. Wider networks mean wider experiences to draw on in planning and wider expertise to draw on for advice, and the survey responses showed how important it is for home-based business operators to draw advice from a wider range of independent sources.
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Participants were selected from survey respondents who ticked a box to say they would like to know more about the program. There were more respondents interested in the Synergy Groups from the ACT than from any other area in the Australian Capital Region, both in terms of numbers and proportions of home-based business respondents. Participants were not required to pay.
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The Synergy Group program was designed to be a short sharp learning experience. The broad structure of the program covered the highest ranking skills development needs identified by survey respondents:
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Operating a business from home - balancing home and business demands;
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Building sales;
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Broader marketing;
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Financial management;
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Managing time and avoiding stress; and
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Communications technology and networking.
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Facilitators were provided with an outline of key issues to cover in each session as a guide, but the details of matters explored in each group was left to participants. Financial management, for example, quickly moved beyond the 'basic record keeping' introduction to look at locating and using benchmarks of financial performance for established businesses.
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Comments by participants highlighted the value of the self-directed explorations:
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'The informal discussions were most valuable'
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'Good [program] - I always learn something from other motivated people'
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'Excellent [program] - I learnt a lot from others'
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One facilitator commented:
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"Encouragement, information, training, mentoring and even social activity are some of the ways that home-based businesses could be helped. Employment growth through this sector can be enhanced by providing these services and by maintaining the enthusiasm and assisting the growth of these important future empires."
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Several participants expressed the desire to keep networking with other participants:
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I would like to see more targeted formal facilitated networking groups and more resources that can assist and overcome isolation at home.
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I would like follow up courses to just touch base to see progress / problems that occur.
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It was a good networking tool.
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The evaluations showed that the synergy groups were appreciated and effective. Participation stayed high throughout the program. The evaluation sheets reflected that participants got a lot out of the opportunity to break through the isolation hampering many home-based business operators, learning from each other as much as from the facilitators.
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The learning which occurred through participation in the Synergy Groups, changed expectations of employment prospects, business growth, and barriers to growth. Participants were asked to complete short questionnaires at the beginning and end of the program. Comparison of this synergy group entry and exit questionnaires show that by the end of the program participants were:
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More likely to forecast growth for their business;
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More likely to forecast higher growth;
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More likely to employ with an additional 2 full-time positions and 2 part-time positions being considered and other businesses considering taking on casuals or sub-contractors as needed;
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More likely to recognise self imposed and lifestyle choices as barriers to growth, rather than space, health/stress or family arrangements; and
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Less likely to want marketing and networking assistance.
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