Foresite Training
Revenue: $6,779,413
Growth: 160.96%
Founders: Darrin Morice, 38, Kylie Morice, 39
Head Office: Victoria
Employees: 40
Industry: Education
Website: www.foresitetraining.com.au
Husband and wife team Darrin and Kylie Morice say starting Foresite Training was a real leap of faith for the pair.
“We had two very young children, both of us had given up our jobs to start the company and we had taken a lease on a factory, purchased two forklifts and used all our savings,” says Kylie.
The risk paid off even though they opened the doors with no clients. By the end of the first week the fledgling business had bookings for the forklift and plant machinery training and licensing it offers and the phone was ringing with potential clients.
“The toughest thing was having to survive at the start, but we just knew it was going to work,” says Kylie.
“We just knew how we could set ourselves apart from everyone out there doing the same thing.”
Foresite Training has set itself apart from its competitors by ensuring students get more practical training and by providing flexible operating hours to provide training opportunities for shift workers.
The Morices spotted the niche for their business when Darrin was working for another business providing forklift training and licensing and thought he and Kylie could do it better.
“We also saw the need to treat our clients with high quality customer service and a friendly approach,” says Kylie.
“We learnt to trust our judgement; also to put the needs of our clients first and let people know who you are and what you do.”
While Darrin has the technical expertise with the machines and knowledge of the relevant legislation involved, Kylie’s background in accounting and knowledge of compliance is key to the business as well.
Working together as a husband and wife team goes “amazingly well”, according to Kylie.
“It surprises a lot of people. We work extremely well together and we both pick up on any areas that the other doesn’t have the skills in,” she says.
Foresite Training has now expanded beyond forklift and plant machinery training and licensing to include other qualifications such as training and licensing on other machines, including trucks, and civil qualifications in the transport and logistics industries.
“We are currently building the largest industrial skills training centre in Victoria and potentially Australia,” Kylie says.
The facility will include forklift and warehouse machinery, truck and motorcycle training and licensing, plant machinery training for the civil industry, defensive driving, traffic management and qualification training.
The Morices also have plans to move into the mining industry to offer opportunities for clients to get practical mining training in Melbourne, as well as hoping to expand Foresite Training around Australia.
The training industry is constantly changing and Kylie says Foresite Training has to constantly improve its services and invest in facilities, staff and resources to keep up. “There is also more competition, which means we need to always be innovative and offer our clients the best service to continue our success,” she says.sponsored links
