These are other Organisations that work with one or more of the above Awarding Organisations that make your registration and management of courses easier. They are not Awarding Organisations but can Certify a Course for you and also provide an Accredited or Regulated qualification via an Awarding Organisation if your client requires it.
I’m a huge bookworm. Here is a suggested reading list. They may be available in hard copy or e-book. All these books have been read by myself, many more than once so are personal recommendations. I hope you like my choice.
Disclaimer. These links are Affiliate links. If you click and purchase, it won’t cost you anything extra but I will make a small commission. Thank you!
If you are going to teach First Aid this is one of the manuals that you should have to hand. This essential manual was written and endorsed by all three of the UK’s leading first aid providers – St John Ambulance, St Andrew’s Ambulance Association, and British Red Cross.
Millions of people around the world have improved their lives based on the teachings of Dale Carnegie. In How to Win Friends and Influence People, he offers practical advice and techniques, in his exuberant and conversational style, for how to get out of a mental rut and make life more rewarding.
Tim has realised that whatever role you have in your Business there is usually someone to do it for you. This is taking using a Virtual Assistant to the extreme. Whilst not everything can apply, do have a read of this book as you may be surprised at how much you could delegate. Only by delegating do you stand a chance of growing your Business. I have read this and it gave me the courage to start delegating work. My Business would not be the size it is if I did everything – and it’s still growing each year.
Raving Fans, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day – in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organisation or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results.
What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you. A really good read for anyone wondering about how to earn and keep their money. Good advice delivered effectively.
There is a lot of overlap in Richard Branson’s various books but you should read at least one. I have found myself dithering about a decision and this book’s title has popped into my head, prompting me to jump in and go for it. Seriously, what is the downside most of the time? Now compare that to the upside.
These are a list of suggested Business tools that may help you run your First Aid Training Business. The trick is to automate as much as possible, especially with public courses where many tasks need completing as well as learner management.
Back Office
Microsoft Office – the most common Office suite out there – Word Processing, spreadsheets and Powerpoint applications
Either of these will give you Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Presentation capability. These are pretty much the minimum essentials for running a Business.
Accounts Packages
Xero. One of the bigger ones and packages start from £12 / month
Most people, myself included, start with a spreadsheet to manage Course Bookings, finances, client enquiries etc. I’m sure that with enough effort, a spreadsheet could be made that is reliable and flexible for your purposes, however I am not convinced. As soon as you get any level of complexity it is very hard to keep a spreadsheet updated. I strongly recommend a dedicated financial package for Accounting, a dedicated CRM (Customer Relationship Module) for managing (prospective) clients and specialist software for Booking courses.
Whilst there are plenty that you should try, here are a couple of recommendations to streamline things.
Telephone Answering Service
We use Answer.co.uk. If I’m teaching and a call comes in, it diverts to them and a real human takes a message. About £1 a call and if it leads to a Booking rather than someone Booking elsewhere, that is a very cheap Lead Generation method.
Virtual number
We use eReceptionist and also Invoco for our virtual numbers. Both have banks of numbers to call from and we are happy with either. Use the one that has a suitable memorable number in your area
01628 56 99 22 and 01491 22 55 22 are ours and both are ‘nice’.
Course management
There are dedicated Course Management tools out there. This is my original workflow based on using a spreadsheet with all courses listed and invoicing each person for the Booking
Old workflow
Create a course
Insert new line for course into course List spreadsheet
Take life into hands when sorting courses by status or date or any other criterion
List courses manually on a web page. Maintain list across multiple websites
Accept Booking requests by email. Create and send out invoice.
Chase invoices
Bank cheque payments (trip into Town)
Accept that I will get no-shows from people that Book a place but never pay
Manually update Bookings, including closing when courses become full or cancelled
It takes about an hour to set up a bunch of courses then probably about 15 minutes per person to Book them in and deal with payment. For a course of (say) 10 people that is about 3 hours overall per course. Ignoring the stop/start nature that is a minimum of £30 cost per course. Realistically, because of interventions, a lot higher.
Current workflow
Create a course
Duplicate an existing course if similar on Airtable, otherwise create from scratch. Airtable automatically inserts it into the correct chronological row
Duplicate an existing course if one exists, otherwise create from scratch. All websites have code that pulls the course information directly from the Ticket Tailor website so as soon as course goes Live it appears across all websites automatically.
Ticket Tailor automatically takes Bookings and Credit / Debit payment off someone Booking one or more places. Money automatically appears in Bank Account via Stripe. No intervention required. 4 Minutes gets notification email.
We manually send out instructions and directions. Not automated that but it’s a 30 second rubberstamp task
We also manually update Airtable with learner names as this will be used in 3 years’ time to remind them to renew
Ticket Tailor closes Bookings automatically when course is full.
New timelapse: About half an hour to set the courses up and about 1-2 minutes per Booking to send out instructions. No-shows are not a problem as they have already paid. No need to manually pay in cheques or chase late payers. No payment, no Booking.
Cost? £5 to set up the courses and £1 per Booking for Ticket Tailor and Stripe fees. My time freed up for more profitable work.
An event ticketing platform. Similar to Eventbrite (which I have tried) but is a bit more user-friendly and fees are much lower. recently it has introduced add-ons, so now anyone buying a place on a First Aid course is offered a chance to purchase (say) a a First Aid kit for collection at the course.
Stripe is a payment Processor. It integrates with a large number of Applications (such as Ticket Tailor) to handle the payment side. It automatically Credits your nominated Bank Account – initially after 7 days, but this gets reduced to 3 after a trial period and can be shortened to same day (for an additional fee)
A cross between a spreadsheet and a database. Build around user friendliness and flexibility, it is a tool that you must check out. My course platform is built around it and I wouldn’t be without it. As part of the premium package on this website I can get you set up on this to manage your courses. It is soooo versatile and makes creating, updating and generating Views and Reports a doddle.
Click here to sign up for a Free Account and give it a try
My next step may be to work out a way of automatically sending out Booking confirmations and maps to remove that step.
Miscellaneous Office items / software needed
Item
Notes
PC / Laptop
Printer
I’ve bitten the bullet and got a Laserjet as I’m fed up of unclogging inkjets if I don’t use them for a while. If you plan on printing your own Certificates a decent one plus decent card is a must
Landline or virtual landline
Having a mobile number as your main contact screams ‘small business / one person band’. Giving out a virtual 01 / 02 number that is on permanent redirect to your mobile looks so much more professional. Couple that with….
Answer service
… virtual assistant. When I’m teaching I can’t be answering the ‘phone. I have a service where unanswered calls are diverted to a real human answering service who will take a message then email and text me the message so I can call them back. Again this gives the impression of a larger Organisation. We use Answer.co.uk and can highly recommend it
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.
John Wanamaker
If no-one knows that you deliver First Aid Training, or that you run public courses then your Business is dead in the water. The trouble is that there are so many ways of sucking your time and money in advertising courses that it is hard to know where to begin.
This Post deals with a number of options and some of their advantages and disadvantages. I will also give you a brutal summary of what works for me and what has not worked.
Whilst this used to be pretty much the only way of advertising it is in decline as circulation numbers decline and more & more people get their news and gossip online.
Whilst there are specialist magazines, I can’t think of any (apart from the hyperlocal ones) that would target your audience enough to make it cost-effective. Health and Safety magazines, for instance cover all aspects of H&S, not just First Aid.
Circulation figures / print run numbers are all very well, but not copies all will get read and many will be sent for recycling.
The other main downside is that your advert lasts as long as the repeat rate of the publication. If it is weekly you are going to have to advertise week in, week out to stay in front of the audience. That can get very expensive, especially compared to electronic media where publication & distribution costs are much lower.
Local free magazines seem to have the sole aim of cramming in as many adverts as possible. There will be the occasional article, but often that is an advertorial. Generally there is very little actual content, it is skimmed through then binned.
You can tell that I am not really a fan of printed media.
Local event programmes
I do make an exception to hyperlocal events such as a Fete or Carnival. Usually they are looking for adverts to cover the cost of printing the programme. Fees are low and it is a Community event so the advert is getting in front of many that might need the training.
Advertorials
If you have a story that you think the local Press might like, get in touch. They are always looking for copy, so if you can put together a piece, or even a series of articles they may be happy to run it for you. This is me in a previous life. Free advertising.
Andy Crowhurst – Google Trusted Photographer
TV and radio advertising
We can rule out TV advertising for our First Aid training Businesses. Whilst 30-second slots can start at £150, the production costs of getting a TV-ready advert will run into tens of thousands. Factor in an advert running several times before it will start to make an impact then £50,000 is not an unreasonable budget.
Radio advertising is somewhat cheaper, obviously, with costs about £2 per thousand listeners. A few ads a week could come in at £250 and upwards – somewhat more manageable, but still expensive for a start-up. In addition, think about your target audience. If you are advertising Workplace First Aid then your audience will be…at work. Are you actually going to hit those ears?
There is one area where TV and Radio does work and that is if you can get onto the list of ‘experts’ to call. Consumer shows often need a person to be interviewed about something that has hit the news – for instance a Terror Attack or a choking incident. They are looking for a Talking Head that can come on and advise what to do in those situation. This is free advertising for you. They will give you and your Company a namecheck and you will be heard as someone that knows what they are talking about on Primetime TV or Radio.
I have been on a few local Radio programmes here and one colleague from a different Training Company managed to bag a slot on Virgin’s Breakfast Radio Show following a choking incident within the Presenter’s family. This sort of advertising can be priceless.
Paper-based adverts
This can be leaflets through doors, pinned to Community noticeboards, inserts into papers & magazines – or literally handed out in the street.
For the cost of the leaflet many Community Boards (and Big chains such as Supermarkets often have them) will allow you to post a leaflet for free or very low cost. There is really nothing to lose.
Letterbox drops need to be targeted. Family First Aid – sure, residences are good. For Workplace First Aid target the Industrial Estates, but don’t forget the smaller Businesses. And be persistent. I walked up to a car repair place when the staff were on a break outside. “Whatever it is, we don’t want it” came the pre-emptive statement from the Boss. I carried on walking, chatted and he ended up Booking three people on to a course!
I’ve tried leaflets in the local newspaper, however it was not cost effective. It was not targeted enough and I would have had to run it for several weeks to make an impact.
Handing leaflets out in the street is unlikely to work for business First Aid courses, however targeting people with prams could be effective for parenting First Aid classes. Try it and let me know!
Electronic media – email campaigns, Social Media (SM) posts & adverts
You have to have a Social Media presence nowadays. Keeping your followers up to date with courses, what you do, anything newsworthy keeps your business name in front of your prospective clients. Even if you don’t immediately plan on using them it is worth registering appropriate SM usernames (handles) so that they don’t get registered maliciously or otherwise by someone else. One of the Businesses I started was registered about 2 weeks before a Canadian one with the same name. By that time I had bought the .com and .co.uk Domains as well as registering the obvious Social Media handles. They weren’t very pleased but if I hadn’t done so it would be us using the second best versions.
I am not a SM expert so cannot advise you on how best to Market yourself via this Media but I do recommend regular posting of events when you get a moment. It helps when being picked up by Search Engines.
Advertising on Social Media. Lots of Organisations do and SM is very good at allowing you to tailor your adverts to your Client base, as well as A/B testing. I have tried it, not that successfully it has to be said, but will persist as I refine my technique.
Search engines & Directories – Free listings, paid for listings and promotions
Search Engines. Yes, you need a presence on Search Engines. Specifically you need a presence on Google. If you are not showing up there, you will not be found. Sure there are others, but when Google has 85% and its nearest competitor, Bing has under 10% it is quite obvious where you should focus your efforts. If you tailor your efforts towards Google, then that will also have the knock-on effect of improving your presence elsewhere.
Ranking well on Google is an art. Anyone can throw money at the paid ads at the side, but if you can get onto the natural listings for free you have it made. I have achieved this several times over for the Companies that I am involved with and can do the same for you. See the Premium Package page for more information.
Listings Directories. Yell, 192, Thomson Local etc. Put your Company details on the Free section of their website by all means. Don’t be persuaded to upgrade to a Paid version. Rarely do people go to those Directories directly, only when they appear on (say) Google. It’s good to have a presence, but with Google being the de facto place to start Searching, you are better off focusing your efforts there. No-one has ever said to me “I found your details on <insert name of Listing website>”.
Word of mouth
Free and effective. Tell your friends, talk about what you do on Social Media. If you run a course, ask the learners to recommend you if they like what you delivered for them. A personal referral is far more effective than an advert – people are putting their reputation on the line to recommend you so anyone receiving that recommendation will seriously consider it. Ask for referrals whenever you can.
Cold calling – telephone, door to door
There is a place for it. I’m not comfortable calling by telephone. I’m more comfortable interacting face to face. On the other hand, if you are comfortable it is easier to sit at home or in your warm office dialling loads of numbers than traipsing around. Each to their own and I have certainly picked up Business walking around. Either way, you do need to be able to handle rejection without taking it personally.
If you want to use the telephone, there are plenty of books and courses for it. Stand up and smile as you introduce yourself. Those two techniques help the way you come across at the other end.
Stunts and guerrilla Marketing
Richard Branson has made a career of this.
Don’t think “what’s the cheapest way to do it?” or “what’s the fastest way to do it?”, think “What’s the most amazing way to do it?”
Richard Branson
Richard Branson is known for his stunts and hair-raising activities. He knows these activities will get him into the Press – and therefore the Virgin Brand will be plastered everywhere. Free (well, not free, but at a cost far less than traditional advertising for that level of exposure) Marketing.
Try something radical. Try a 5K run in relevant fancy dress, adorned with your website. It might just get your photo in the local paper.
Trade Shows and Community Events
These are both options, but choose carefully. A Business Trade Show for the area might work for you, whereas a medical convention or exhibition almost certainly won’t – no-one there will be looking for First Aid training!
Local events such as fetes and carnivals – even local Business conferences are good if you are trying to develop your presence. Get yourself a hook – something that will grab the attention of people passing by. A challenge, free sweets. That sort of thing. They can have a free sweet as long as they take a leaflet!
Branded Goods
Everyone likes a freebie and you can stick your logo on pretty much anything nowadays. Pens, mugs, stress balls and mouse mats have been the staples, but you can be a lot more creative. You need something that will stay on a desk, not dropped in a drawer. It could also be relevant to First Aid. For instance all our students get a 4 Minutes branded faceshield on a key fob. They have it all the time, reminding them. I’ve had people come to renew after 3 years and they still have it dangling with their keys!
Branded Faceshield key fob
Mouse mats have had their time and, although I have mugs for refreshments during my courses I don’t use them as a give-away promotional tool.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring an individual, a team, or an event can be a good way of getting your name out there. Clearly an event will be a one-off project, although the right package will get you Social Media mentions and perhaps branding on the website. Sponsoring a Sports team will get you exposure for a season, but on the downside you will have to pay for all the branding of the kit (and the kit itself).
Networking
Although COVID brought to an end a lot of face to face Networking events, they still exist and are now supplemented by Zoom events.
Some of the biggest organisers are BNI, Athena and the CBI. Bear in mind that all Business representatives are there to try and sell their own Business. Don’t go flying in pushing your Business left, right and centre. Take time to listen to others’ proposals. Part of the culture is to refer others onwards – you won’t be able to do this if you don’t listen and take details.
Personally I find BNI too full on. It is quite pricey and you are expected to bring fresh prospects to meetings – as well as being bright and breezy at a crazy early time. As my Training Business is National I don’t really have a close circle of local Business associates I can tap into. I quite often get hit on at other Networking meetings by BNI members that are hoping to bring me as their +1 to top up their quota!
Athena is female-only, which rules me out!
If you Google ‘Networking events in my area’ you will find a lot to choose from. Try some out – most have a free period where you can see if it works for you. Don’t become a Professional Networker though – you do have a Business to run and I do find I keep bumping into the same faces.
Governing Body First Aid requirement specifications
Here is a list of Organisations and their First Aid requirements. It is non-exhaustive so if you wish to add any or you find a broken link please do let us know. All of these are minimum requirements.
Non-commercial (Survival Instructors, Offshore Personal Survival Instructors and non-commercially endorsed practical instructors) – 1 day / 6 hours syllabus defined
Commercial has to be the RYA First Aid, STCW Elementary First Aid or Sea Fish first aid.
The Medical field is full of Terms and Acronyms. Here we have compiled a list to help you understand some of the terminology, both medical and slang.
Clearly it is a work in progress as new terms are coming along all the time, but we hope that it will be of use to you.
Some of the slang terms may sound a bit callous, but consider the different traumas that frontline personnel will see on a regular basis. They need to develop a coping mechanism otherwise they would not be able to do their job effectively. Black humour is a way of coping.
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
111
The non-emergency Ambulance number in the UK. if you want medical advice, but don’t think that it warrants an Ambulance response.
999 / 112 / 911
The emergency Ambulance number in the UK. For any medical emergency. 999 is the main number, 112 is the European equivalent and 911 is the North American equivalent, both of which are treated as though the person dialled 999.
These numbers may be dialled from a mobile ‘phone keypad even if keylock is activated.
ABC
Airway, Breathing, Commence CPR. The first thing to be done once the area is safe. If the patient is not breathing, this needs to be dealt with before anything else. See also DR ABC
AED
Automated External Defibrillator – see Defibrillator
Analgesia
Pain relief – Paracetamol, Entonox, Morphine, Ketamine etc.
Asystole
Medical – lack of electrical activity in the heart (flatline)
AVPU
Acronym that measures a patient’s level of response – Alert, Responds to Voice, Responds to Pain, Unresponsive. Especially useful for monitoring trends over time.
Awarding Organisation (AO)
Also referred to as an Authoritative Body. The AOs create Courses and submit some of them for approval by the Regulator to become a Regulated course. Once Approved, they can offer them to Centres to deliver and can add the Regulator’s logo to Certificates of successful students.
Cardiac Arrest
A condition where the heart stops beating effectively, leading to a rapid deterioration and eventually death if not reversed. Not to be confused with Heart Attack (qv)
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / CPR
A lifesaving technique involving compressing the chest to assist blood circulation and blowing air into the mouth to deliver oxygen to the patient
Centre
A Training Company that may be registered with one or more AOs and delivers the AO’s Accredited and/or Regulated courses according to the specifications laid down by the AO. It is monitored on behalf of the Regulator by the AO for Regulated courses. It also performs internal monitoring for its own Accredited, but non-Regulated courses.
CFR / Community (First) Responder
A volunteer trained up by the Ambulance Service to assist with the more serious 999 ambulance calls.
Co-Responder
A person from an alternative Service (e.g. Police, RAF) trained to assist with the more serious 999 ambulance calls. They may or may not do it in a voluntary capacity.
CRB
Criminal Records Bureau report. Now superseded buy DBS (qv)
CTD
Slang – Circling the drain, in other words, close to death.
DBS
Disclosure and Barring Service (replaces CRB) report, that checks the criminal background of a person.
Defibrillator
A device that delivers a controlled electric shock across a heart in an attempt to reset it and get it beating on its own again.
DR ABC
Acronym to remember the order when dealing with serious incidents. Check for: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing and C=Commence CPR if not breathing (and 999 has been dialled).
Entonox
An Analgesic (painkiller). Consists of a 50:50 mix of Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide. Also called ‘Laughing gas’ and is used for pain relief during injury treatment as well as for childbirth.
External Quality Assurer (EQA)
An EQA works for one or more Awarding Organisations (AO) and liaises between the AO and the Centre ensuring that the Centre is delivering courses that meet the definition laid down by the AO and that is is following its published procedures. This can be through monitoring of submitted course paperwork, trainer/assessor qualifications and visits.
They are an External Quality Assurer as they are External to the Centre.
Guided Learning Hours
The amount of time a learner spends being taught or instructed. e.g. for an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, this is 6 hours.
Heart Attack
A condition where part of the heart’s blood supply gets blocked, depriving part of the heart of oxygen and causing it to start to die. Not to be confused with Angina nor Cardiac Arrest (qv).
HSE
The Health and Safety Executive. Oversees Health and Safety in the UK.
Hyper
Hyper is from the Greek meaning ‘high’. Can refer to anything being abnormally high such as hyperthermia (too hot) or Hyperglycaemia (Blood sugar levels too high)
Hypo
Hypo is from the Greek meaning ‘low’. Can refer to anything being abnormally low, but often used in a Diabetic context to mean low blood sugar level.
Internal Quality Assurer (IQA)
A qualified Internal Quality Assurer who carries out Monitoring and Quality Assurance tasks on behalf of a Centre.
They are an Internal Quality Assurer as they are Internal to the Centre – either directly employed or brought in on an ad hoc basis.
Level
This is essentially a measure of the level of difficulty that a qualification has. It has a close relationship with the time needed to complete the qualification. E.g.
Level 1 – GCSE Grades 1,2 or 3
Level 2 – GCSE Grades 4-9, Music Grades 4 and 5
Level 3 – A-Level
Level 4 – Higher National Certificate
…and so on up to Level 9
LIONEL
An acronym used to help a First Aider remember the information needed when dialling 999.
Location (where)
Incident (what has happened – fact, not guesswork)
Other Services required (Fire. Police etc.)
Number of Casualties
Extent of injuries
Location (reiterate)
LOL
Slang – Little old Lady
MHFA
Mental Health First Aid
MOP
Member Of the Public. Often a derogatory term
Myocardial infarction (MI)
A blockage in one of the blood vessels that supplies the heart. Also known as a Heart Attack. If there are no external symptoms it is known as a ‘Silent MI’
Normal Sinus Rhythm / NSR
Normal regular heartbeat. Patient is healthy and a defibrillator, if monitoring will not allow a shock to occur
OfQual
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Ofqual is a non-ministerial department
OfSted
Office for Standards in Education. The Government Body that oversees education standards in England
Purple Plus
Slang – Dead
Regulator
The Regulator defines the framework for the qualifications and approves Awarding Organisations and their courses.
A device that controls the flow of gas (e.g. Entonox) to a patient
RICE
An acronym standing for Rest, Ice, Comfortable Support, Elevation. Used in the treatment of Strains or Sprains.
Sprain
An overextension of a ligament
STEMI
Acronym standing for STElevation Myocardial Infarction. A type of Heart Attack. The ‘ST’ refers to part of the heart’s electrical waveform.
Strain
An overextension of a muscle or tendon
TIA
An acronym for a mini-stroke – one that is temporary
Transient (not permanent)
Ischaemic (Blockage)
Attack
Total Qualification Time
The amount of time that a learner is estimated to take to achieve a qualification e.g. for an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, this is 7 hours.
Trainer
Often a shorthand for Trainer/Assessor. Someone who teaches a topic and also assesses it on behalf of a Centre. In 2013 the HSE did away with having a separate Assessor (examiner) and Trainer for a course.
Ventricular Fibrillation / VF
Random electrical activity in the heart, preventing it from beating properly. One of the rhythms shockable by a defibrillator.
Ventricular Tachycardia / VT / Pulseless VT
A condition where the heart is beating too fast and not allowing enough time for it to refill with blood, preventing it from beating properly. One of the rhythms shockable by a defibrillator.
VAT is Value Added Tax. It is a sales tax charged by VAT registered traders on the value of the goods or services supplied to their customers. The amount charged varies. Some of the main categories are:
“VAT exempt” where no VAT is charged e.g. postage stamps, insurance
“Outside the Scope of VAT” where it does not fall into the UK VAT net e.g. statutory fees such as the Congestion Charge
“Zero rated” It is chargeable but currently that rate is 0% e.g. books, leaflets
“VAT Chargeable”. This means that VAT will be charged. The amount charged will vary depending on what is provided – between 5% and the (current) standard 20%
If you register for VAT you will have to charge it to your clients for Training but you can also claim back a lot (not all) of any VAT that you are charged by your suppliers. If you are not Registered you cannot claim it back.
Should I register?
I can’t answer that. If your turnover hits the threshold (currently about £85,000) in any rolling 12 month period you have to Register. If it doesn’t, you can choose whether or not to Register. If you make a lot of VAT chargeable purchases and your clients are mainly Corporates then it may make sense to. The Corporates won’t care as they can claim back what you charge, but you can claim back the VAT on any purchases you make.
If you are teaching mainly individuals, they almost certainly won’t be Registered for VAT themselves and so won’t be able to claim the VAT that you charge back. That will put you at a 20% price disadvantage to non-registered Training Companies.
If you are a Freelance Trainer and are earning less than the threshold you are probably better off not registering as a lot of Businesses that you Freelance for will probably not be Registered so, again, you will cost them 20% more compared to a non-registered Freelancer.
Find out more information on the Government website here:
If you do Register you will have to submit Digital VAT Returns every quarter. You need special Software to do this so there may be a cost or your Accounts package may support it. Failing that if you use an Accountant they can do it for you (again, this may be at an additional cost or might be part of your package).
We use Quickfile which is a doddle to submit Returns once set up and the basic package is free.
I will say, from experience that once it is set up (and it is not that difficult), then as long as you use a reasonable Accounting package (rather than, say, Excel) managing VAT returns is very simple nowadays. I started in 1997 when it was all paper-based and much more of a faff. My first VAT Return took 2 weeks to reconcile (I was using a spreadsheet I created from scratch) before I could submit it! Now it takes about 10 minutes a Quarter to compile, check and file a return.
Key points:
Registering is optional – unless you hit the threshold
If you are B2B, registration won’t make much difference to your Clients. If you are B2C then it will adversely affect your pricing by about 20% because you have to add 20% VAT to each invoice.
You need to submit digitally and will need a compatible Software package to do this
You will need a Government Gateway Account (AKA ‘VAT online’ Account). Not difficult to set up but does take a couple of weeks, so plan ahead.
Unless you are employed by others you will need your own set of training equipment. As with most occupations there is equipment that you need to buy, equipment that is useful and then there is ‘nice to have’ equipment. It is very easy to get carried away!
Required equipment
HSE Guidelines recommend a minimum ratio for certain equipment (e.g. manikins). I am assuming that you want to teach up to the course maximum of 12 and the numbers below reflect that. You can have more. For instance I actually have 1 manikin per learner to make life easier, however I appreciate that is a big outlay – as well as needing a decent size vehicle.
Prices are for new. Expect to pay about half this for second hand.
Magic whiteboard is white plastic on a roll that can stick to walls with static. Used for writing on or projecting onto
Choking vests
Used for practising dealing with choking. Comes in adult and child versions. Trainers are divided as to how good they are but I find them great for reinforcing learning
A4 whiteboards
Useful for group work
Airway demonstrator
This a head that can tilt demonstrating how a head tilt and chin lift can open an airway. Used as a visual tool by some trainers
Back Office – to manage courses
Item
Notes
PC / Laptop
Printer
I’ve bitten the bullet and got a Laserjet as I’m fed up of unclogging inkjets if I don’t use them for a while. If you plan on printing your own Certificates a decent one plus decent card is a must
Landline or virtual landline
Having a mobile number as your main contact screams ‘small business / one person band’. Giving out a virtual 01 / 02 number that is on permanent redirect to your mobile looks so much more professional. Couple that with….
Answer service
… virtual assistant. When I’m teaching I can’t be answering the ‘phone. I have a service where unanswered calls are diverted to a real human answering service who will take a message then email and text me the message so I can call them back. Again this gives the impression of a larger Organisation. We use Answer.co.uk and can highly recommend it
This is a summary of the main qualifications available and what some of the terms mean. You can get qualified to deliver all of these, although some may require additional qualifications
Workplace Courses
Emergency First Aid at Work
First Aid at Work
First Aid at Work requalification
Paediatric / School Courses
Emergency Paediatric First Aid (6 hours)
Paediatric First Aid (12 hours)
Forest School First Aid (16 hours)
Outdoor Courses
Outdoor First Aid (8 hours)
Outdoor First Aid (16 hours)
Advanced Outdoor First Aid
Activity First Aid
Forest School First Aid (16 hours)
Miscellaneous
Sports First aid
Motorbike First Aid
Martial Arts First Aid
Bespoke First Aid
In fact there are as many courses as you want as all can be tailored to a particular category (Nanny) or specialism (Anaphylaxis) and marketed as such.
Here is a brief summary of some of the courses – the main ones that are taught regularly and that Businesses need for compliance.
Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) / First Aid at Work (FAW) / First Aid at Work requalification
First Aid at Work is an 18 hour qualification often (but not always) delivered over three daily 6 hour sessions.
The first 6 hours covers topics such as Action at an Emergency and dealing with the more major emergencies. It can be taught as a standalone course called ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’.
The second part is more geared to medical emergencies in the workplace.
As a Trainer, you can advertise both courses running at the same time, boosting bums on seats – EFAW students just turn up for the first part (6 hours / day 1). Those doing the full FAW turn up for all three days. The only stipulation is that you are not allowed to exceed 12 students per trainer overall – you cannot have 10 EFAW students and 5 FAW students for instance.
Some Clients that have a mixture of FAW staff and EFAW staff will appreciate you combining the courses for them to cut costs.
The Certificates last three years and you need to take the same course again to requalify, however for FAW it is possibly to take the course over 2 days rather than 3 as long as the learner’s existing certificate is still in date (there is a small amount of leeway if it is out of date). The assumption is that less teaching is required.
Emergency Paediatric First Aid (EPFA) / Paediatric First Aid (PFA)
Paediatric First Aid is a 12 hour qualification often (but not always) delivered over two 6 hour sessions.
The first 6 hours covers topics such as Action at an Emergency and dealing with the more major emergencies for children. It can be taught as a standalone course called ‘Emergency Paediatric First Aid’.
The second part is more geared to medical emergencies in the childcare environment..
As a Trainer, this allows you to advertise both courses running at the same time, boosting bums on seats – EPFA students just turn up for the first part (6 hours / 1 day). Those that need the full PFA turn up for the full 12 hours. Note that you are not allowed to exceed 12 students per trainer overall – you cannot have 10 EPFA students and 5 PFA students for instance.
Some Clients that have a mixture of PFA staff and EPFA staff will appreciate you combining the courses for them to cut costs.
Blended courses
A Blended course is one that is taken partly online and partly in a classroom. None of the above can be taken completely online, there is a certain minimum that has to be classroom-based, however it is a good option for some clients as it reduces the time staff are out of the office / classroom.
All of the above courses have their content (Learning Outcomes) publicly defined and if you are delivering one of them you need to Teach and Assess all of the course content to all of the learners to satisfy the HSE or Ofsted (for instance).
A Childcare environment needs staff with appropriate Paediatric First Aid qualifications, but it is also a workplace environment and therefore some staff may also need a First Aid at Work qualification. It is possible to deliver two or more courses at the same tile as long as the Learning Outcomes for both courses are covered – this will usually mean a longer duration course, however it can be more cost-effective for Clients.
Regulated, Accredited and non-Accredited courses
A non-Accredited course is a course that is delivered by an Organisation and that Organisation Certifies it to state that the competence to work to a specified standard has been achieved. Depending on the qualification and due diligence by the Client this may be acceptable.
An Accredited Course is a course that has been recognised by an Authoritative Body that the competence to work to a specified standard has been achieved. This holds more weight than a non-Accredited course due to the reputation of the Authoritative Body.
A Regulated course is one that has been developed by an Authoritative Body and also approved by a recognised Regulator – e.g. Ofqual or SQA. This is evidenced as the course details and the Authoritative Body’s details are listed on the Regulator’s website’s Register of Regulated qualifications.
All three can be a valid qualification, however there is more weight to the Accredited or Regulated certificates. With an internally Certified course the client has to satisfy itself that the training was carried our correctly by competent and qualified trainers. See our Post on Training and Awarding Organisations for more information.
If you wish to deliver an Accredited course you will have to do so through a Authoritative Body (Awarding Organisation).
The HSE and its involvement
Summary
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) no longer Approves courses and Training Providers but it does lay down recommendations for Training Provider requirements and First Aid at Work course content requirements. You need to demonstrate how you meet these requirements if you are going to deliver a course.
Prior to October 2013, the HSE approved Training Providers and also the Qualifications delivered. Only HSE Approved Providers could deliver Workplace courses.
In October 2013, the HSE stopped approving Providers and Qualifications. Clearly this means a reduced workload for the HSE, but it has dressed it up as letting Businesses decide on the level of First Aid provision needed. All Businesses now need to carry out a Risk Assessment at their Workplace(s) to determine First Aid equipment and First Aider requirements and then carry out Due Diligence on any Training Company to ensure that they are suitably qualified and competent to deliver this training.
Ofsted / EYFS and their involvement
Summary
The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) lay down the criteria for Training Provider requirements and Paediatric First Aid course content requirements that a Company in the childcare environment will need.
Other courses
Apart from the courses previously mentioned, most other courses are generally not Regulated. To be Regulated, they need to be set up and registered with Ofqual/SQA via an Awarding Organisation. There is a cost to this, both in time and money and there may not be the financial justification.
Awarding Organisations do offer additional Accredited courses such as Basic Life Support (BLS), Motorbike and Outdoor First Aid (OFA).
These courses are as tightly defined as the Workplace and Paediatric courses without the regulatory framework overhead.
You can also create and deliver non-Accredited and Bespoke courses, tailored to your Client’s needs. Some Clients will have a Governing Body that sets out First Aid qualifications for its leaders / tutors etc. Make sure that any course that you provide complies with the minimum requirements so that any Certificate that you issue will be valid.
If you are already delivering Regulated or Accredited courses, then the infrastructure that you need to put into place will also support non-Accredited courses. Use this to your advantage rather than thinking “It’s not Accredited, I can skip parts”.
