Training for Work

Deciding there was a growing demand among businesses to up-skill their employees, founders Quill, Lasaruk and McPhee launched Training for Work in 2008.

The three young entrepreneurs – McPhee at 30 is the oldest – used $250,000 of their own funds to get the business going and have since landed several big name clients, including Australian Federal Police, Australia Post, ANZ and Subway.

The premise is simple – the provision of programs such as traineeship, apprenticeship, certificate, diploma and advanced diploma to students in their places of employment.

The focus is on one-on-one training for employees, with employers getting the benefit from an up-skilled workforce.

Training for Work has subsequently topped $2 million in revenue and has created 12 jobs. But the resulting workload has presented challenges.

Quill says that “balancing work with family and personal commitments” has been one of the main issues the founders have had to grapple with.

“We had a tendency to put work first and friends and family second,” he says. “We learnt to better manage our time, to delegate tasks to other staff and to set aside specific time for family and friends.”