Case Studies

The company had come a long way in a short space of time - but the website was begging for attention, as it did not reflect the changes and their expanding market needs.

Bob was introduced to the e-Business Success – an innovative programme of practical e-business training and support – provided by Futuretrend Technologies. Bob has completed five courses to date - including Website Review, Creating an Effective Website, Search Engine Marketing, and e-Commerce Overview . Since implementing some of the tips and pieces of advice, Bob has had a far greater response from search engines in particular Google. Small yet significant changes to the home page, such as the use of key words and imagery, have helped to increase the website's visibility. The company is now attracting a wider geographical pool, including their first customer from the Netherlands. ‘The atmosphere is friendly and the courses are very informative. It is also a great opportunity to network with other small businesses in the local area and share ideas and knowledge. It's great, we are a small local business with a website that looks like a large national company,’ says Bob.

The results of the guidance from Futuretrend are clear to see and have allowed Alexandra Tool Hire to grow and diversify into new markets, providing a significant increase on bottom line gross profit margin and turnover.

Jane finished her studies and recognised that as a small company in a cutthroat business environment she needed some practical help to get her started.

She spotted an advert for the North London Enterprise agency and following a networking event met Femi Lana from Futuretrend. Since registering on the e-Business success programme Jane has attended seven of their courses across a variety of topics, including website review, e-marketing and e-commerce.

Since attending the courses Jane’s knowledge has increased dramatically. She has lots of plans and is currently in discussions with web designers regarding her upcoming website. The courses have helped her greatly in communicating with the designers as she now has the technical know-how to be able explain exactly what she wants: “People can be easily bamboozled by the technical language. You think you can’t do it because of the complicated terms but with a bit of help from these courses you can be in control”

Jane is also planning an online brochure. She recently purchased a digital camera to help her to get examples of her work in a format she can use on the website. Following the Editing Digital Images course this has opened up many avenues for Jane and she is able to experiment much more and really put her creative flair into use.

“People can be very intimidated by technology but in the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at Futuretrend you can really learn. The presentation is clear and you get a lot of individual attention during classes. They have also been fabulous in supporting me on an ongoing basis”

Fortuna Healthcare were quick to recognise that in the ever changing market they needed to stay ahead in terms of communication with their customers and take a more proactive approach to e-business.

Michael Kay, Customer services Manager and Adam Amrani, Product Development Officer were identified as the team to implement these changes, their first port of call Futuretrend for some e-business training. The pair have now completed over six courses between them and are back at the office putting their new skills into practice. Marketing is the first area to be targeted, hoping to focus their objectives to communicate single-minded messages, the website is to be tweaked in order to reflect the brand values of the company more effectively. Transforming the way in which they communicate with their customers is also on the agenda. The email marketing course has given them the know how to be able to target prospective customers via email, thus reaching a wider audience more quickly and cost effectively. They are also planning to employ this tactic to develop relationships with existing customers with updates on new products and company news.

“The courses were great, Futuretrend were very flexible and it was structured in a way that allowed you to gain the knowledge that was relevant to your particular needs. We can’t wait to put all we’ve learnt into practice and see the results.” Michael Kay. “Futuretrend have been great, they are always there to help even after a course is finished.” Adam Amrani