We know that more and more people are on the brink of starting their own business.
Research shows that this transition to self-employment can be made easier if some key issues are tested out and addressed. They include:
- your clarity of vision
- your personal competencies
- your personal and financial supports
why workshops?
We know that some clients prefer to learn in a group situation. These are what these workshops aims to provide. Workshops can provide a number of benefits:
- economic – they save the organization on costs
- learning – participants learn a great deal from each other
- empowering – participants find that workshops often encourage their self belief and their consequent motivation
- reality testing – by comparing their own with others’ stories, participants often leave workshops with a more realistic picture of what is and what is not achievable
approach
Central to this workshop support is the Testing the Water® questionnaire. It has been designed by Cathy Brown, and developed in partnership with Birkbeck College, University of London over 18 months of research. It aims to help clients to assess their readiness for self-employment.
The workshop support has a number of steps:
step one – checking it out
after applying for the workshop, you will have a conversation with a coach to ensure that you are best prepared to complete Testing the Water™.
step two – testing the water
- ahead of the workshop, you will receive the Testing the Water® questionnaire
- typically it takes 60-90 minutes to complete
- by completing this questionnaire, you will have assessed your readiness for self-employment and will understand both your strengths and development gaps, and the support you will need to take your first steps to self-employment.
step three – providing practical support
- the workshops take place in a group of up to 6-12 people
- the workshop lasts for 1 day
- these workshops will consist of making sense of the Testing the Water® results, and practical activities to help you to improve your readiness to move into self-employment
- these workshops can include one-to-one coaching support both during and subsequent to the workshops
price
Workshops are tailored to meet each clients’ situation, in terms of duration and audience size. The price varies depending on this duration and audience size.
If you would like to find out more about holding a workshop, please contact Cathy Brown via the contact form.
The Testing the Water® questionnaire has been developed in partnership with Birkbeck College, University of London over 18 months of research.