Student Q&A: Molly Caldwell

Please note: Upskilled no longer offers the course in Small Business Management but the equivalent qualification, BSB40320 - Certificate IV in Entrepreneurship and New Business is now available for study. To express your interest, contact our team on 1300 009 924. 

Molly Caldwell studied Small Business Management with Upskilled. Having previously completed qualifications in business administration and management, she already had a strong grasp of business concepts, helping her thrive in her current role as Buyer in the women's fashion industry.

However, Molly feels she has further expanded her knowledge and skills since completing the Small Business Management course, giving her a newfound confidence to run her own business, should she decide to start one some day. 

In this Q&A, she shares her motivation behind studying Small Business Management, the benefits she's gained from the course and further advice to future students thinking about studying the qualification. 

What was the motivation behind studying Small Business Management?

Learning is a great passion of mine. It’s a chance to gain knowledge and skills of anything you’re interested in and enables you to adhere to new goals and challenges. I love learning as much as possible about different things and enjoy spending time trying to understand them. 

I’m motivated to acquire new skills and knowledge and to build on what I already know. I do often get frustrated with changing material and learning patterns, but enjoy overcoming this frustration and conquering the battle of this.

I’m fortunate with the job I have, as my employers encouraged me to take a business course because I previously completed my business admin certificate. Not knowing what course I was ready to take on next, they encouraged me to go down the path of business. 

How has this course helped you in your current role?

I currently work in the buying and styling department at Birdsnest, a women’s fashion business. Here, I explore all things fashion – touring tradeshows and working with suppliers all around the world to create, order and range for seasons ahead. With this job, I do a lot of my work in spreadsheets and am constantly working with budgeting and numbers. 

This course has helped me gain confidence in the role I’m in and to explore new and higher positions. I’m a very ambitious person, so it’s important that I keep learning and developing in my current role and also prepare for future opportunities. 

This course has taught me how to start my own successful business, how to manage my own business and to keep the business inclining. Even though I’m not planning on building my own business in the near future, It has given me a tremendous insight to all that goes into the one I work for.

You previously studied Business Administration. What made studying Small Business Management different?

I absolutely loved studying Business Administration because it was the forefront of what I was needing to learn when I first started my role as a buyer at Birdsnest. It taught me how to use an excel spreadsheet and word document to the very best potential. I learnt how to run a computer and all the functions needed for the job I do. I’ll be able to take this knowledge to any job in the future. 

Studying Small Business Management was almost the next step for me as I had just completed the Business Management course and this one was almost a continuation from that.

What do you think are the main benefits of studying this course?

I’m very fortunate to have gotten this role before having any qualifications, but I don’t think that work experience alone is enough to succeed. I’ve gained knowledge in areas that I never even thought about before studying this course. 

I also like to have a variety of career options and I believe that studying this course has helped expand that. 

How did your trainer support you throughout your studies?

My trainer, Keith Mogford, was very helpful throughout this whole course. I believe that I’m a very capable independent learner so I didn’t rely on Keith too much. However, he always made himself available via email and phone contact to make sure that I had help whenever I desired. I occasionally sent draft assignments through to Keith and he would have a look over them and tell me what I was missing and pointed me in the right direction.

Do you intend on running a small business in the future?

I can definitely see myself running my own clothing business in the future and I believe that this course has given me the confidence to do so.  

Any advice you’d like to share for those thinking about studying Small Business Management?

I’ve gained so much useful knowledge in just one short year of studying. If you work in a business and would like to know more about starting up your own business or managing someone else’s, this course would be perfect for you. I’d love to further my knowledge in this industry and cannot wait to start a new course this year!

Want to expand your skills and knowledge in business?

If you can imagine yourself running your own small business one day or simply want to have a better understanding on how a business operates, consider studying Entrepreneurship and New Business. This online course can help develop your communication and management skills as well as learn how to budget and set up the marketing of a business. Get in touch with the Upskilled team and enquire about this course today.