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Using Common Sense: Common Sense Business Ltd

Small and medium-sized enterprises across the world are suffering from a lack of skilled labour, according to the Global Business Monitor report from Bibby Financial Services (BFS).

Almost half (49 per cent) of all respondents say that a skills shortage is the greatest challenge they face. Traditionally the movement of labour has been used to plug skills gaps, but recent shifts towards protectionist policies mean this skill supply is starting dry up.

Common Sense Business Ltd provides a solution to this problem. They’re a management consultancy which provides online training courses to address these basic business skills. Their courses, written by Debbie Bird the company’s founder, originate from content derived from a range of subject specialists.

The company’s latest stage of development is to launch their Common Sense corporate courses to larger businesses to address skills such as business planning, selling skills and marketing. They’re using Nimble for this innovative next step.

We asked Debbie why she’s chosen Nimble for this crucial part of her company’s growth. Here’s what she said:

“We’re keen to see big business tools made relevant and accessible for smaller businesses. In my past life in the pharmaceuticals industry, elearning was the norm. SMEs aren’t in the habit of using this approach but it’s perfect for them. We encourage our clients to think of it this way; you’ve built up your business from nothing and know you need to develop additional skills, what do you do? There may be difficulties such as:

  1. Not knowing where to start, what reference book or YouTube video do you use?
  2. You risk feeling stupid in a classroom situation
  3. You don’t have the time to go to external training

The point is elearning, written for SME owners and their employees, is a cost and time efficient way of developing these new skills; they avoid these difficulties. Elearning captures knowledge, reaches more people and makes a difference. Creating courses might be labour-intensive at the start, but once completed, it’s efficient and satisfying.”

So why did Debbie choose to adopt Nimble in this crucial phase of her company’s development? We’ll let Debbie explain because her answer was so beautifully succinct!

“I spent some time experimenting with other platforms but they were so complex! With Nimble, the range of tools allowed me to concentrate on content. After all, getting that right can be challenging enough at times. Nimble is so straightforward and it has great support – why would you look any further?”

Debbie has been supported throughout this development phase with the Nimble Customer Success Programme that supports users in achieving their goals. We asked Debbie for her experience:

“Critically I feel that the Nimble team want us to be successful. There is feedback, which is so useful and is done in a constructive and practical way. I am completely comfortable coming back with any question or query and these are always dealt with quickly.”

Authoring courses might be a chore for some people, though we know that’s seldom the case for Nimble users! Debbie apparently agrees.

“I do face some challenges from time to time; procrastination, lack of time, writer’s block and perfectionism. Getting my head down and working hard overcomes them and once I get started I’m completely immersed and I don’t want to stop. Does that make sense?”

It does Debbie! It does! It’s simple common sense!

Debbie entered their Common Sense Business course “Business Planning Programme” into the 2018 Nimble Awards in the Course of the Year category. This category is for an individual or organisation who displays excellence in the design and delivery of an elearning course using Nimble. Their course went through as a Finalist for Course of the Year at the 2018 Nimble Awards ceremony on 13 September. The judge’s feedback was “Good use of individual modules to create the opportunity for a larger programme. It’s great to see the use of the platform for a blended approach to support classroom delivery, rather than just being standalone. Adopting a minimal and professional design, this course demonstrates a friendly and engaging style.” 

You can find Common Sense Business courses on our Nimble Marketplace:

CSB Business Planning Programme

CSB Biz Plan 1 – Getting Started

CSB Biz Plan 2 – SWOT Plus

CSB Biz Plan 3 – Mission, Vision, Values

CSB Biz Plan 4 – Setting Business Goals

CSB Biz Plan 5 – Customers and MUGS

CSB Biz Plan 6 – Market, Users, Goods, Services

CSB Biz Plan 7 – The One Page Plan

CSB Biz Plan 8 – A Plan to Share

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