New Business, please advice

[securitypub.com]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to business (It’s one of the things I haven’t tried in my life).
Currently I am working as a university lecturer.
My plan is to start a training business in Information security, network security, computer networks and digital forensics.
Plan to expand into teaching multimedia technologies and gaming technology as well.

I have a lot of teaching and industry experience in networking and security.

My motivation is to introduce something different to the current market
This would ideally be
Fun – Interesting presentation (not boring)
Cheap – Budget airline style ?
Pure online training (?) – possibly using tools like skype

I am not too sure how to get started.
I have purchased domain name www.securitypub.com, but yet to set up a web site.

Any ideas / comments very much appreciated.

[Rob Holmes]

Hi Security Pub,

Welcome.

There are plenty of sites around dealing with security of information etc etc. It's strange because the words and values I associate with online security are not fun, cheap and purely online.

IF I were shopping for security advice etc I would be looking for serious, expensive and maybe even offline telephone help depending on the job of course - most can be online nowadays and this is generally acceptable.

BUT the world is full of success stories that have turned things upside down.

Securitypub.com could be an online geeks forum covering all aspects of security - but they take time and energy to grow (forums I mean not geeks).

I took security pub to mean pub (as in Public house) is this what you had in mind or does it mean publications/publishers or something else.

You could convert lectures into PDF and sell them off sa whitepapers etc?

Just a few thoughts :)

Anyway enough of my ramblings, welcome anyway!

I'm sure others will have thoughts too!

Rob

[Cornish Steve]

Hi there!

I couldn't help myself - I simply had to respond!

Likewise, I have worked for many years as a professional, but entrepreneurial blood runs in my veins. Twenty years after completing my PhD, I went back to school to obtain an MBA. My degree was obtained online through a pilot program offered by the local public university.

That program taught me that online learning can work well. A fellow MBA graduate and I took best practices from that program, folded in some ideas of our own, and created our own company. We built a suite of nine courses in an area in which we could claim to be world-class experts (I don't mean to sound boastful, but you must be a leader in your field to be credible as an instructor).

We call our approach "interactive online learning". We need a better term really, but here are the benefits. Because it's online, our training is accessible from any place and at any time, and it's inexpensive (we have few fixed costs). Because it's interactive, our training is akin to a classroom except that discussions continue without a break. The real value comes from that interaction; everyone in the class becomes a teacher as well as a student. We use instant messaging and Skype to create the impression that, as instructors, we are always available.

I can tell you that we, as instructors, have a lot of fun. Much to our delight, members of our beta trial have helped us a bunch - offering to sell our courses, inviting us to conferences, and spreading the word (which is essential in the early stages of a business).

In many ways, you are at the point I was at one year ago. Thinking about the last twelve months, here are the most important lessons I have learned:

- Take care and spend the time needed to get things right. Always strive to improve. Seek advice from those you trust and admire, act on it, and never be satisfied with anything but the best.

- Find a partner. I could never have succeeded without a wonderful business partner. I admire her abilities, I trust her judgment, and I respect her work ethic. We complement each other very well. It's tough to go it alone.

- Run a beta trial. I was in a rush to launch our product, but my business partner demonstrated her usual wisdom. We ran a beta trial for several months to prove our concept and to test our courses. We involved participants from several countries, of different ages, and representing many industries. We learned lessons we could never have imagined, and our courses are so much better as a result.

- Establish partnerships. The guy who provides our course management system has been a great help and a useful source of leads. The local university helped us to design courses that would sell in a Continuing Ed environment (a number of programs now resell our courses). We have a reseller in Japan and hope to have resellers in other countries soon. Good partnerships benefit everyone.

- Define your core purpose and core values. Yes, it sounds premature to do this before you even generate revenue, but I find our company's core ideology to be very helpful as we make key decisions.

- Most of all, maybe, discuss your plans with your family. I've been working 100 hour weeks for three years now (two years for the MBA, and one year to get our venture started while working as a senior manager at a large international company). That's a lot of hours, and it calls for a very patient wife and children.

Despite all the hard work, I wouldn't change things for the world. It's exciting to run your own business. It's rather like watching a baby being born.

Good luck as you consider what to do. I'd be glad to help in any way I can.

Steve
www.goldctr.com

[coxadmin]

Welcome to the forums.

[top-click]

Hi Securty Pub..

digital forensics sounds really cool, but your URL would make me think you ran a team of bouncers (doormen)!

Welcome along either way!

Rob

top-click

[daveashton]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your company launch.

[securitypub.com]

Dear Friends,

Thank you very much for all the replies. This indeed is very encouraging.
Having worked at a few universities which offer courses in network security and related areas (in total there are 5 universities in UK) I was not satisfied with what they offered. Either course descriptions were out of date or the subject content was not relevant to the industry.

Thinking about a new business model would it be a good idea to give away the course material free of charge (after all there is a lot of free and good information out there and this is how we all got started in network security).

Steve, your model sounds very interesting with inexpensive pricing. Would this be an issue for marketing (as Rob put it, people might not be happy with free or inexpensive products). Could you please elaborate on “Continuing without a break” do you mean it’s 24/7 ?.

How would one setup a beta trial (any pointers would be greatly appreciated.). Participants from different backgrounds and countries is very interesting, I have tested the courses with different groups (different universities  full time/ part time students  from about 15 different countries) . Only restriction was this was done in a conventional classroom / lab setup. Did use skype and discussion forums but wasn’t very effective.

What is a good course management system for this type of offering ?.

Any pointer towards developing a company's core ideology ?

I plan to spend the next year improving things (Courses / web site / ..)

I thought the domain name securitypub was fun as pub = public house. Is this something that I should change (perhaps a more serious name !!!)?

I know it’s a lot of questions. I would be ever so grateful for you ideas / advice.

Thanks again

Best regards,
Securitypub
http://www.securitypub.com/

[graham]

Welcome to the forums.

What uni are you lecturing at?

With regard to uni courses containing security there may not be many containing "security" in the course title but I would assume more courses are now containing at least one module in security. Especially the BCS and Cisco accredited ones.

[Cornish Steve]

Steve, your model sounds very interesting with inexpensive pricing. Would this be an issue for marketing (as Rob put it, people might not be happy with free or inexpensive products).

Our courses are inexpensive in order to make them accessible to a wider audience and particularly to encourage participants from many countries. Setting a price is an interesting exercise. Conventional wisdom states that the higher the price, the greater the implied quality, and the lower the price, the greater the accessible market. It doesn't have to be that way.

Have you ever read the book "Blue Ocean Strategy"? It's an excellent read, and the main message is that some companies have been able to change the established rules by offering both greater value and a lower price. That is what we have achieved.

Could you please elaborate on “Continuing without a break” do you mean it’s 24/7 ?.

Let me comment on 24/7. Each week, participants in our learning program must contribute to topical discussions (one of three weekly assignments). Since this is an asynchronous form of communication, discussions can continue without a break - especially if classmates are from several different countries. This is what I meant.

How would one setup a beta trial (any pointers would be greatly appreciated.). Participants from different backgrounds and countries is very interesting, I have tested the courses with different groups (different universities - full time/ part time students - from about 15 different countries) . Only restriction was this was done in a conventional classroom / lab setup. Did use skype and discussion forums but wasn’t very effective.

We began the beta trial when we believed our courses were ready for the big time. We recruited participants who reflected our target market and we treated them in every respect like real customers. The quality of our product made a big impression on them and have caused many to become evangelists for our cause. Not only did the trial validate our principal target market, but it also helped us to identify new ones.

In my opinion, a beta trial should not involve products that are not market-ready. It's a validation of your product, a way to make something that is very good even better, and an effective tool for testing administrative and support issues (which we tend to overlook).

What is a good course management system for this type of offering ?.

Contact me by private message. I'd be pleased to give you some pointers.

Any pointer towards developing a company's core ideology ?

As an example, let me quote you the core ideology we came up with and then comment on some of its implications for us:

Core Purpose:

We develop the learning potential of every human being, regardless of community, culture, age, sex, and personal circumstances.

Core Values:

1) We believe in the importance of communities, and especially of the family unit, and encourage everyone to participate actively in community activities.

2) We promote open and honest dialog among diverse communities in order to bring increased knowledge, understanding, and tolerance to each community.

3) We demand and reward honesty, integrity, excellence, and initiative in all aspects of our business.

A few weeks ago, we invested a lot of money in order to participate in a major trade show. When we first thought about this, we realized that being away from our families for several days would violate our first core value. As a result, even though it cost us, we paid to bring our families with us. They visited local sites while we attended the show. After the show, we all stayed for two more days and enjoyed a great time together.

Also, we are promoting initiatives in some parts of the world that will help business professionals to develop their learning potential despite difficult financial circumstances. This meets our core purpose, and we take delight in pursuing these options. Of course, we must be profitable as a business; however, we will always remain true to our core ideology.

I hope this helps.

Steve
www.goldctr.com