Emma Dicks was a business science student with no coding background when she started a programme teaching high school girls to code. The gap she identified was not technical, it was informational: she had decided against studying computer science based on an impression of the field that turned out to be wrong, and she recognised that other people were making the same decision for the same reason.
That initiative later grew into a coding academy offering part-time and full-time courses, built on a straightforward commercial observation that the sector had more demand for developers than it had developers.
Not knowing the sector is survivable when the problem is not technical
Founders are usually told to build in an industry they know. The exception is where the problem is one of access, perception or distribution rather than technical capability, because those are visible from outside and often invisible from inside. Dicks could see the misconception about coding precisely because she had held it herself.
A supply shortage is a durable business, a skills shortage doubly so
An industry constrained by the number of people who can do the work is a market where a training business has guaranteed demand from both sides: learners want the jobs, employers want the people. That structure is more reliable than most consumer markets, and it exists wherever a sector is growing faster than its talent pipeline.
Moving from a programme to a business changes the model
A short, funded programme for a specific group and a fee-paying academy running full courses are different businesses with different economics. The first is funded by sponsors and measured on impact. The second is funded by learners or their employers and measured on employment outcomes. Founders making this transition should expect to rebuild the cost model rather than extend it, and to register and accredit where the qualification requires it, which is governed by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
Corporate partnerships supply what a small programme cannot
Partnering with established companies to host workshops gives learners exposure to real working environments and gives the programme credibility it could not manufacture. For the corporate it serves skills development obligations. Small training businesses should approach these partnerships as a mutual exchange rather than as a request for sponsorship.
Visibility compounds for a founder in an underrepresented field
Recognition programmes and leadership awards matter more in fields where few people look like the founder, because visibility recruits both learners and partners. It is worth applying to these deliberately rather than treating them as something that happens to other people.
Frequently asked questions
Can you build a business in a sector you have no background in?
Yes, where the problem is access, perception or distribution rather than technical capability, since those are often clearer from outside the industry.
Why is a skills shortage a good market to enter?
Because demand comes from both directions: learners want the jobs and employers want the people, which is more durable than most consumer demand.
What changes when a programme becomes a fee-paying academy?
The funding source, the measure of success and the cost model all change, and accreditation requirements apply once formal qualifications are involved.
Why partner with corporates on training?
They provide real working environments and credibility for learners, and the partnership serves their own skills development obligations, making it a mutual exchange.
Do recognition and awards matter commercially?
In underrepresented fields they do, because visibility recruits learners and partners, which makes applying for them a deliberate business activity.
Further reading
Originally published in September 2017. Updated September 2026 to focus on how a training business is built and what changes as it grows.
