43. Fortress Learning – StartupSmart

Founder: Chris Gribble

Revenue: $388,126

Year: 2008

Head Office: Queensland

Employees: 5

Industry: Education & training

Website: http://www.fortresslearning.com.au

 

Fortress Learning, a company that helps provide training for teachers and other trainers, started almost by accident. Founder Chris Gribble, a former fitter and turner, nurse and pastor with the Baptist Church, developed an interest education in the early 2000s and after completing a Masters in Education he became involved in helping to teach people to teach.

 

“We started almost accidently,” he says.

 

“We had a job to do and then were offered more work. We then identified a gap in the training market and began developing our own training product. The challenge for us is to continue to provide a low cost/high support learning experience for all our students.”

 

Fortress Learning’s main product is a course that allows students to earn a Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.

 

Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the fitness, resources and health sectors.

 

Gribble says he has focused on providing a high level of service to students while keeping costs low.

 

“We believe that our support levels are not determined by our training cost. Our team go to extraordinary lengths to care for our students’ needs,” he says.

 

“We make mistakes, we miss emails like any other organisation, but there is always a desire to get it right.”

 

Like many start-up entrepreneurs, Gribble says his biggest challenge remains marketing the business.

 

“We knew how to teach but we had a lot to learn about getting new students. Marketing is an ongoing process that must be supported by the rest of the package that we offer.”