Sorcha Finucane’s TrainedIn has created an online hub that gives trainers and consultants greater visibility.
Along with the many other changes Covid has introduced to our lives, it’s also placed upskilling firmly in the mainstream.
Globally, Google Trends is showing a 100pc increase month on month for individuals seeking to upskill. As the world of work transforms at a rate of knots, people are upskilling to take advantage of new opportunities.
“We’re at the intersection of connecting people who train, teach, and advise with people who want to learn and need support”
In addition, the World Economic Forum published a report in late January that states upskilling has the potential to boost global GDP by $6.5trn and add 5.3m net jobs to the world economy by 2030.
Providing trainers with an equal playing field
Sorcha Finucane, founder of TrainedIn, and her team are making it easier than ever to help people upskill. They’re also helping trainers, tutors, coaches and consultants.
With a background in training and development, Sorcha has held positions in her career responsible for the professional development of large numbers of staff members.
She encountered firsthand how it wasn’t always easy to find the best trainer or consultant for the job through an internet search. And then the process to book them wasn’t always seamless.
“Training and consultancy companies with large marketing budgets dominate search results,” says Sorcha, “but that doesn’t mean they’re ideal for the job at hand. In the meantime, smaller companies, or solo entrepreneur trainers and consultants, who could be exceptionally well matched to a job are not easily found.”
TrainedIn solves this problem by providing an online hub for trainers and consultants, and gives them greater visibility by investing in the marketing and promotion of the platform and driving traffic to its registered providers.
Approximately 300 trainers in Ireland, the UK and overseas have already registered on the platform. They receive their own exclusive online presence set up to enable bookings when they do. Alongside this, they can also avail of technical support to run online workshops and TrainedIn’s regular series of community events.
“We launched just as we went into the first lockdown in Ireland,” explains Sorcha. “By 1 April, we were already running our first online upskilling workshop course. We use Webinarjam as our platform and our trainers love it.”
TrainedIn has also collaborated with Taste 4 Success Skillnet to run training courses for hospitality professionals. “There’s more scope to build collaborations like these in 2021 and beyond,” Sorcha says.
Two audiences for TrainedIn
Sorcha is aware that TrainedIn is speaking to two markets.
“We’re at the intersection of connecting people who train, teach, and advise with people who want to learn and need support. The platform is built to address the needs of both audiences,” says Sorcha.
“Anyone searching for a course, workshop, coach or consultant can be reassured that a provider registered on TrainedIn is highly credible. From a Zumba class to how to improve your public speaking skills to leaving cert maths grinds to business consulting, TrainedIn has the best trainers, coaches, tutors and consultants” Sorcha proudly explains.
Next steps and bigger horizons
To date, Sorcha has raised €120,000 and invested it in the platform. In 2021, she is planning to raise €1.2m.
“This investment will be used to build more tools and functionalities into the system for both our providers and people who want to access courses and services. We’ve also attracted our international trainers, coaches, tutors and consultants organically to date.
“With the investment, we’ll actively begin to market in different countries, and add more value to our customers” she explained.
Published: 18 February 2021
