The original concept in 1997 was to create LISME as an arm of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business with the Board made up of the Executive Committee of CFIB’s Board. The Board not only bought the concept but provided three years of funding to get the organization off the ground.
With LISME, our focus was on reaching small business and professional people through their associations. We also wanted to use e-learning for training small business banking officers and developed a partnership arrangement with Scotiabank. Our third target was accountants. The Certified Management Accounting association became our third client.
I sought out a colleague who was the Dean of the Business School at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. He agreed to become a player at LISME, and became the President. This was all done with the cooperation of the President of the College, Roy Murray.
Jim was already engaged in distance learning and worked with aboriginal communities hundreds of miles from the College. Jim also took charge of the Instructional Design function and brought Ann McCourt into the LISME team.
In the photo Jim can be seen with his wife Rosemary Miklitsch who later became a major player in our venture. Jim was a natural at selling a new idea and quickly secured a number of government contracts.
The increasing role of government contracts, however, became a bit of a problem for CFIB and in 1998, we replace the CFIB Board members on the LISME Board with academic colleagues who were interested in our new venture. They included Roy McMurray from the College and Dr. George Solomon of Washington State University.
The next problem we encountered was the rigidity of using someone else's platform. Every time we wanted the software modified, we had to wait about three weeks just to get their attention. So once again it was my brother Peter who agreed to develop our own software platform or Learning Management System.
I had huge plans to improve operations at CFIB using online learning. I remember the first time our BC Division Manager was sent up to Prince George to train a new DM, and signing the cheque for the plane fare. I could see massive savings if more of the field training process could be done online.
Then there were the memories of achieving a range of victories that were too complex to explain via the field organization. In particular, there was the refundable tax credit victory of enormous value to about ten per cent of the membership. And then there was the Allowable Business Investment Loss Provision which made it less risky to invest in small firms. Again a victory useful to about ten per cent of the membership. And on and on it went.
We needed an online training tool to help small firms understand and use these complex victories when they were applicable. A printed hand-out was just not efficient.
Then, of course, there was the traditional role small business advocacy organizations play in upgrading the management skills of their members through training. This future would grow in importance and effectiveness now that a new and more efficient training technology was available.
As someone who has taught entrepreneurship, there is always an original focus on planning to ensure that the risks are properly assessed. But when you start a venture to exploit a new technology, no degree of planning seems to help you create something viable. But it is the excitement of the new idea that drives you and your colleagues. And it is a process of innovating-persevering, innovating-persevering, and innovating-persevering.