Business Interview with Andrew Wood - 2

More from the interview with Andrew Wood, the MD of Trainer Bubble...

What is your eventual goal?

We hope to continue building on our offering and eventually expand into other areas. I am currently in talks with many different training related groups about offering something just that little bit different. I'm hopeful we'll have some serious gaming and e-learning products ready for 2009.

How does your investment of time balance against your success?

Because our materials are downloadable, most of the work is put in at the design and development stage and for the rest of the time we kick back and relax...I wish! We are continually working to improve things and spend a lot of time marketing and promoting the website. Of course the development time is continual and we are always striving to make each product better than the last. It is all really hard work, but we are very successful and it's definitely worth it.

If you had an unlimited budget, how would you change?

There is a lot going on in the serious gaming market, where customers will play business simulations in order to develop their skills. I see this being a real interesting area in the future and I think the demographic of learners coming through will demand this. I'd also like to market overseas in a more substantial way, as we get a lot of new business from this area and could expand here.

What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?

It was a shock to me how much of a money pit marketing can be. I don't remember who it was that said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I only wish I knew which half." They were right.