Name: Christine McInnes    
Course: Start Your Own Small Business
Institution: City Lit

Here, Christine McInnes tells us about her Start Your Own Small Business course experience.

I needed help with my gilding small business and felt that I would benefit from professional guidance. I had started my own small business with no support from anyone and I had no template or notion of what business was. I just knew I wanted to work for myself – I was skilled and I wanted to make a living doing what I loved. I also had no idea if I was suited to working for myself. I thought if I took a course I might get some understanding of how to make my business successful.

The Start Your Own Small Business course was a Christmas present from my husband. My tutor told me later I could have claimed it as a business expense though! I hoped the course would help me achieve increased profits and an idea of where I was going wrong.

Learning from experience
I liked my tutor immediately. He struck me as a very knowledgeable and measured man with a great deal of experience. I liked the way he laid out what we’d cover in the course and I really enjoyed his style of teaching. I found all the figures really difficult but eventually I realised how competent I really was and I got so much support from my tutor about business projects that I was quoting for. It was great to have someone with so much experience helping me with my business.

The course has showed me that I was doing the right thing working for myself and that I was well suited to being in business. No one ever tells you that you’re doing the right thing if you have no boss or if you are the boss! I got to measure myself against other people and I realised that I was competent and able. I changed my pricing structure and I feel much more confident in all my abilities at work having been on the course.

My advice
With my new skills I intend on doing the work that I love and making more money from it. My advice to potential students is do the Start Your Own Small Business course! At the very least, you’ll find out whether you’re suited to business or not. Working for yourself is difficult, exhausting and very hard on a person emotionally and often financially. You end up seeing all of your faults and none of  your strengths.

I think business can be a mirror of who you are, and it’s not often a pleasant experience looking at yourself clearly. Doing this Small Business course will show you whether you are the right kind of person to go it alone, and if you are, you’ll have all the tools and information you need to set yourself up.