Aman's course was created by Orlando-based Atticus, an education and training organization for attorneys. In addition to flexibility, its online courses offer Aman and other attorneys portability. They can study at their own convenience, from any location.
Online training -- referred to in the industry as e-learning -- is forecast to skyrocket in the next few years. According to IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based provider of technology intelligence, companies spent $234 million for online training in 1997 and $1 billion in 1999. By 2002, their budgets for online training are projected to exceed $7 billion.
The Internet is revolutionizing the corporate training industry. In 1998, for example, instructor-led training accounted for 77% of the market, IDC reports. In 2004, it will account for only 35%. E-learning is cost-effective, convenient and flexible. It helps employers meet the training needs of their diverse and dispersed workforces.
"The Internet has leveled the playing field, so a company with 30 employees can use e-learning just as effectively as one with 30,000 or 300,000," says Jim Riley, president of Learn.com, a provider of e-learning based in Sunrise. Learn.com offers more than 4,000 courses online, ranging from computer programming to management and marketing. Its courses start at $1.95 per employee, for a course on multiplication. It also offers hundreds of free courses. Just log on and start studying.
But e-learning is not without its disadvantages. Aman, for example, misses the feedback and give-and-take that a live training session provides. Not every subject lends itself to online training. Courses in team building or communication skills, for example, require live instructors to engage students in demonstrations and role-playing exercises.
"There are some subjects that lend themselves very well to a computer-based learning environment and others that are tough to simulate because you lose interactivity," says Catherine J. Rezak, president of Paradigm Learning, a Tampa-based creator of business training and communications programs. "Certain things are difficult to simulate in an Internet setting."
'Pay as you go'
Experts suggest that small businesses use online training on a "pay as you go" basis and avoid signing yearly contracts that require payment upfront for all employee training. "Companies that do that find that nobody takes any of the courses, and they end up paying a fortune for each course actually taken by an employee," Riley says.
Although e-learning gives small businesses the opportunity to train their employees cheaply and easily, they should evaluate their needs carefully and choose wisely to avoid wasting money.
Says Rezak: "The magic in training is using the right medium. Sometimes it's the classroom; sometimes it's online. The Internet is not a magic pill. It isn't going to replace all classroom training because so much still relies on human interaction."
Another Tool in Your Marketing Plan
Public speaking events can go a long way toward drumming up business.
By Robyn A. Friedman
Jane Singer has been coordinating seminars for Eckert Seamans ever since she joined the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm six years ago as its marketing coordinator. Twice a year, Singer books a conference room at a local hotel, arranges for breakfast, culls her mailing list and mails invitations to clients, potential clients and people she refers to as "friends of the firm."
Lots of work? Sure. But in addition to providing a valuable service to the community -- the firm's seminars include updates in labor and employment law -- Singer is providing a valuable service to her employer: She's bringing in business. "The seminars have been successful for us," says Singer. "They get our name out." Not every attendee at a seminar has an immediate need for an attorney, Singer acknowledges. "But if something does happen, they're going to think of you."
Seminars can be a powerful marketing tool when planned properly. "People come to hear you, the expert," says Shel Horowitz, the author of Grass Roots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World. "If they need further information, who are they going to call -- somebody out of the Yellow Pages or the person who gave the great speech?"
Seminars are a great way to sell yourself and your business -- provided that you are comfortable with public speaking and are an effective communicator. Hence, they're not for everyone. Horowitz advises small-business owners to charge a fee for the seminars they present to ensure that attendees are seriously interested in the topic. He also says that programs should provide attendees with useful information, not just promotional material on a product or service.
To Jaclyn Merens, seminars are a way of life -- and an integral part of her marketing plan. Merens, vice president of Eppy Financial Group, a Fort Lauderdale-based financial services firm, does about two seminars a month on her specialty, financial planning for children with special needs.
"It's my mission that every parent know how to do this kind of planning," she says. "But, of course, the ultimate goal is that people will want to sit down with us after they hear what we have
to say."
And they do. Merens says that for every 10 people who attend one of her seminars, she sits down with five and winds up doing business with two or three. That's a 20% to 30% response rate, compared to the 1% rate Merens typically gets on her direct mail pieces.
Says Merens: "In any small business, you're one of many people doing what you do. But someone who develops a rapport with the audience is going to be the one people want to do business with."
Your Business Plan: How to Do It Right
Experts caution against relying on software.
J.C. Campuzano sees a lot of business plans. As a principal of Interprise Technology Partners (ITP), a Miami-based venture capital firm, Campuzano reviewed about 1,000 plans last year. And how many did he fund? Eight.
The odds are certainly against any new venture that is seeking equity financing. After all, just 25 Florida businesses received VC funding in the second quarter of this year, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers' Money Tree Survey, out of the hundreds of business plans presented.
Just about every business plan includes the tried-and-true basics: an executive summary, a business description, and marketing, management and financial information. So how do you get yours noticed?
1. Keep it simple. Your plan should be written clearly and concisely. Venture capitalists aren't impressed by flowery language, fancy fonts or elaborate graphics. "Make sure your plan is well-written," says Bill Hager, chief executive officer of Cenetec LLC, a Boca Raton-based technology accelerator that was one of the eight ventures funded by ITP last year. "Don't impress people with vocabulary; impress the reader with clarity of thought."
2. Make sure that you've thought through everything. Anticipate the reader's questions -- and address them in the plan.
3. Capture the reader with your executive summary. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, less than 5% of all business plans received are reviewed past the executive summary, the first two to three pages of the plan that serve as a synopsis. The executive summary should read like the first paragraph of a great novel; it should grab readers' attention and make them want to read further.
4. Hire a professional. Sure, it's tempting to go to the nearest office supply store and purchase business plan creation software. Resist the temptation. Your business plan is your first chance -- and perhaps your last -- to make a good impression on a potential source of funding. Give it your best effort, and make every word count. -- Robyn A. Friedman
Staying on Track
Coaches can help business owners stay focused.
By Jeffery D. Zbar
Cathy Shea had been running her business for 10 years when she realized she was adrift. As the director of Shea Educational Group, an alternative therapies education and treatment provider in Juno Beach, Shea handled accounting, sales and the company's growing computer database. With so many responsibilities, she felt it was hard to keep the business focused, and it took her too long to develop new products. Shea even put off creating a website because she figured she'd have to do it alone. The future was unclear, and business was suffering.
"I was going through some severe growing pains," says Shea, who owns the company with her husband, Michael, whose own business often keeps him on the road. "I needed a good, solid business plan and to hone in on my personal needs."
She turned to the Palm Beach County office of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to help write a business plan and analyze her finances. Then she hired Susan Corbett, a business and life coach and owner of Boca Raton-based Success Technologies (www.coachcorbett.com), to guide her through the personal aspects of running her business. Together, Shea and Corbett identified and targeted Shea's business and emotional weaknesses and put together a plan to improve her performance.
Coaching pairs a skilled businessperson with an emerging or even accomplished entrepreneur. Today, there are more than 15,000 coaches internationally, according to the International Coach Federation. They are finding their place among corporate brass, small-business owners and home business owners intent on hiring a sounding board for the business, adds Jerry Hansen, principal with Second Opinion Group, a Sarasota consulting firm. His 2-year-old job as coach bears little difference from his 16-year post as CEO in the healthcare field, he admits.
"I ask the questions no one else will ask them and then get them to ask those questions themselves," says Hansen, who has benefited from several mentors during his own career. "My objective is for people to literally find out who they are."
With Corbett's guidance, imparted during three telephone calls each month as well as unlimited e-mail and fax correspondence, Shea learned to delegate accounting and bookkeeping to an assistant and hand off data entry and website development. She now focuses on curriculum, product development, and sales and marketing.
Shea learned to change her reaction to things that upset her, and she even found more balance between her home and home office. "I learned how to strengthen my strengths and not strengthen my weaknesses," says Shea, whose husband has had his own coaches for years. "It was crucial for me to create healthy boundaries between my personal and business life. I realized I needed some guidance through that forest."
Finding the Right Coach
Weigh these points when considering whether a coach can help you:
What are your strengths and weaknesses? A coach or mentor can help with business expertise, life planning and even the home office intersection of professional and personal elements. Interview several coaches to find the one who can best serve your needs.
Create a board of advisers. If you need a coach to cover many areas, you may be better served by a board of advisers. Each member would bring different skills and talents to the table, whether it's sales, customer service, product development or personal balance.
If you're a startup and strapped for cash, visit a local business school, the local office of SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives, www.score.org) or the Small Business Development Center (www.asbdc-us.org).
What can you afford? A coach can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 a half-hour or from hundreds to thousands of dollars for several sessions each month. A mentor, by definition, is pro bono. To find a coach, visit the International Coach Federation (www.coachfederation.org) or Coach U's referral service (www.coachreferral.com).