While there are plenty of qualifications available to those in employment, training courses for owner-mangers are thin on the ground. For the past 20 years, however, the Irish Management Institute has been one of the few places to offer a course aimed specifically at those who own and run their own businesses. The course takes a two-pronged approach covering personal and business development side by side. The course's official title is the Business Development Programme and there are roughly 24 people on each intake.
The course is part-time and spread over 15 months with participants attending for two days a month. The two days are normally mid-week and residential. The course is not cheap - it costs just under £10,000. But training expenses are tax deductible and grant assistance may be available from FAS or Enterprise Ireland. The IMI certifies this programme itself and there are moves afoot to have it accredited by an outside body. But according to programme director, Catherine Goodman, "the real measure of its success is the practical impact on the participants' businesses. At the end of each programme we do a detailed analysis of business statistics before and after and we can see exactly how much development there has been. Across the 23 companies involved most recently, their aggregate sales were up by 32 per cent and their net profits up by 74 per cent. We think these statistics speak for themselves," she says.
By the end of the programme Goodman expects participants to have gained in self-confidence as well as in business acumen and to leave the course with firm plans for their businesses which may include strategies for growth or new ways of tackling production or process issues. The course is usually over-subscribed so around 40 people are interviewed and 24 offered places. The next programme begins in May. "We interview people because we need to get a sense of their commitment and to be sure that they have support systems in place which mean their businesses don't fall apart if they're not there for two days," says Goodman.
The course centres on five key areas: strategy and planning, marketing, finance, operations and quality and human resources and Goodman says the emphasis with each of these topics is on practical applicability. To date, just about every sector of Irish business has been represented on the course from furniture manufacturing to engineering, distribution, software development and retail enterprises. For more information or a brochure contact (01) 207 8467 or e-mail catherine.goodman@imi.ie
