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Rocket Lab, a South African online learning program geared to guiding entrepreneurs through the process it takes to come up with a business idea, developing and analyzing that idea then launching the idea.Rocket lab originates from a full time digital marketing and social media course as well as a school for entrepreneurs, but with this difference – we have been able to slash the price to less than 5% of its original cost, by bringing it online.
Rocket Lab’s online program has been created by Charles Bryant and Aidan Blundell. Charles has been an entrepreneur and had a number of businesses since the early 90s including areas such as franchising. He also has a great passion for digital marketing. Charles also has an entrepreneurially inspired website www.ecopreneur.co.za.
Aidan Blundell, the co-founder Rocket Lab told TechMoran he has been involved in various industries but found his passion in the digital environment after going through an intensive week mentoring and course with Charles Bryant back in 2011. Blundell now creates websites and digital marketing strategies for clients under the name Digital Cactus. Blundell also says he gets great satisfaction out of educating his clients and people he comes in contact with regarding the digital world.
Here is the whole interview TechMoran had with Aidan Blundell.
What inspired you?
Both Charles and I really enjoy teaching and the process of knowledge sharing. It is always rewarding to be able to teach someone else, especially if it’s in field that you are passionate about. I am a firm believer in what you give is what you receive. Our country needs more self-starters, entrepreneurs and individuals who are passionate about what they do. We believe through our learning program we can provide the means for an individual to realize their dreams instead of thinking they are too big to achieve.
Any expansion plans?
We do have plans on expanding on Rocket Lab’s offering. Some of these involve an affordable hosting solution for the entrepreneurs taking part and expanding on the learning program into different fields such as ecommerce and analytics.
With any lean startup as Rocket Lab has adopted in getting everything off the ground there is a fair amount of phases the business would need to go through and achieve
before major expansions can take place, but we definitely have many ideas on how to increase the value of our offering and address other needs that may arise in the entrepreneurial journey.
Why teach entrepreneurs?
The country needs more self-starters! South Africa needs to generate more opportunities to create jobs. Entrepreneurs do not have to study years to achieve a piece of paper which says they have a degree and in turn are employable. Entrepreneurship relies on the knowledge a person has and how they apply that knowledge.
There is no organization or structure governing an entrepreneur, which makes it easier to teach these individuals. But the real reason we have focused on entrepreneurs is because we want people who are passionate taking our program. Potential entrepreneurs are passionate people who want to achieve their dreams; this makes it exciting to empower these individuals.
What do you train them in?
The program will be available online, and will include various different step-by-step sections, screenshots, walkthroughs, advice and recommendations. The program is set out to take an individual from the very beginning of an entrepreneurial dream, through the steps needing to be taken to realize that dream. Starting with idea generation and/or developing those ideas, working through analyses of the business idea, testing and execution.
There are two predominant sections of the program. There is the entrepreneurial driven section and the digital marketing section. The digital marketing section focusses on the digital environment such as how to set up a website (using WordPress), creating and managing Social Media channels effectively, design considerations and content strategies. The aim of the digital marketing section is to cover all aspects a business would need to address to be online. It is very similar to what I would provide a client of mine when offering my digital marketing services.
The reason why the digital marketing section is included is because a budding entrepreneur either would need to do a fair amount of setting up their own online presense as funds would be restrictive to do this. Also it is important for any entrepreneur in this day and age to understand the digital environment to be successful, such as simply understanding what SEO is and how to best SEO their website.
How much do they pay?
We are running a discounted price through our crowdfunding page at R750 for the first 50 people who sign up. After which the cost is R950 and will remain at that price to enroll.
How many entrepreneurs are you looking to training?
Our goal is to create 1000 entrepreneurs within a year. Now while this is ambitious we do believe we can get that amount signed up to our program and working through it. We want as many to succeed as possible, but if it is 50 or 1000 individuals, we want to create as many passionate entrepreneurs we can.
Why now?
Learning and the exercise of seeking out answers online has never been as popular as it is today. There are many different learning websites out there and they are successful because people want to learn what traditionally at school and university they are not being taught. It has been a natural progression in Charles and my interests as we both enjoy teaching others.
Any competition?
Sure, there is always competition, and if there was no competition it probably is a bad business idea. There are many learning websites out there. Most of these are a conglomerate of various subjects and areas of expertise. Some take on a theoretical approach and some take on a practical approach, but often that practical approach lacks the nessesary explanations as to why not just how things are done.
Our program is different as we are creating a road map of working through from start to finish of building an idea but also providing a lot of digital marketing knowledge which can be taken up by not only the entrepreneurs but individuals who want to learn through a cohesive process how to set up their presence online and not only learn how but also why
How much are you investing in the training?
Charles and I are writing the whole program ourselves based on experience, knowledge and a flow we feel creates a cohesive approach in working through the program. So we are investing a great deal of time and our collective experience gained over the years.
Who will be trainers?
We prefer to not call the program training or ourselves as trainers as that implies we will be physically working through the program with an individual. As it is a self-paced program we do not have trainers. As creators Charles and I provide the learning program and support and mentoring during the program and afterwards.
Who can join?
Anyone can join. The program is not only for entrepreneurs wanting to develop ideas but also for individuals who might only want to learn about digital marketing. We have created a FAQ which may answer an individuals questions if they are wondering if the program is for them or not.
