I wanna be a Python trainer
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-10-20 06:16:24 - Graham Ellis"I came across your name when I tried to register python-training.co.uk as you've already got it registered. I've been programming in Python for 18 months and was wondering about doing some training. I don't want to compete with you but rather wondered if we could help each other develop the market. I'm in [Town in South Midlands] so I could cover that area".
I'm paraphrasing a little, but that's the line I got when I returned a call as requested between 7 and 11 last night - or rather the third time I returned the call as my contact wasn't actually answering until late evening, even though he had given me the specific time slot. Futher discussions revealed that he's working full time for someone else and has just a few days a month to fill in, and that he doesn't actually have any Python training material ...
He may be an excellent teacher. He may know enough Python to give a good course. And if that's that's the case, I wish him well as an ambassador for the language. And he's certainly got the bottle to ring up and ask some very cheeky questions and for our assistance along a line that would be very much in his interest and perhaps slightly against ours.
Jimmy, (not his real name), sorry. We'll train on site anywhere through the British Isles, so really we don't need an extra resource in the South Midlands; a few minutes research on our webs site would give you a quote for your area, mentioning the very town you live in. And you need to plan your business approach better too; I think you've a lot of preparation to do before you give your first Python course, even if you your already technically competent. You'll need the right equipment, training facilities, and material. It takes something like 10 days of work to write one day of training material (an oft quoted statistic) and if you've only got a couple of days a month off your regular job to do that in, there will be quite a long elapsed time before your first good course ...
I welcome ambassadors for Python, PHP, Perl ... but I fear the person who thinks he can make a bit of extra money on the side because he's been able to spend a couple of quid on a domain name and - hey - he doesn't even have to buy the software because it's open source. It's not quite that simple.
We've been approached in the past about franchising courses, providing our materials to others, etc. There's certainly a financial temptation to sell these types of services and to get our materials, which are applicable through the English speaking world, out to a wider audience to the benefit of our bank balance. But, so far, we've decided against this direction. A course is made not only by good material, but also by a very knowledgable tutor, and one who can handle the people / direction / relationships too. Add to that an excellent training centre, good accommodation for public courses, the right equipment (NOT a pile of old throw-out PCs!), and a professional backroom team to cover enquiries right through to bill chasing. Now THAT's the Well House forumla ...