Mother of five, Lily Ng, is nurturing children’s creativity and learning every element of running a small business, one SBDC workshop at a time.
Global Art & Creative has innovated a new teaching and learning methodology that enhances children’s learning abilities and creativity through art.
Designed for ages three through to 18, the program teaches children in a holistic way, enhancing their emotional, social and cognitive development, to be creative thinkers and help develop problem-solving skills, allowing them to discover different ways of thinking.
A family franchise
Lily first experienced the Global Arts program as a customer, with her children attending the program from the age of four. When Lily relocated to Western Australia, she saw the opportunity to bring the concept to her new home, providing continuity for her childrens’ activity while creating a new income stream.
“I was looking for a business to operate, and I suddenly thought I can make mine and my children’s hobby into a business,” explained Lily.
After learning to teach the program, in 2021 she opened her first WA franchise branch of Global Arts in Willetton and has since opened another branch in Canning Vale.
“During Covid, I followed the trend at the time and offered online learning through Zoom, and my clientele started to grow,” Lily revealed.
Being new to business ownership, Lily sought out good information sources to help her start and maintain her business in the best way.
“I did an online search and found the SBDC - they have so many resources.”
“I am the main teacher here, and my two daughters attend the training and act as buddies to the younger students.”
Image
Fitting in with her lifestyle has been one of the main benefits of operating her own business.
“This is a business I can run and look after my five children,” Lilly said.
Building knowledge one workshop at a time
After discovering the SBDC’s website and free resources, Lily began to look into the SBDC’s online workshops to help her understand the operating environment in WA.
“I first looked to understand the Tax system in Western Australia as it was different to what I’d known. Once I attended a workshop, I had more confidence.” she said.
Lily subscribed to the SBDC’s bi-weekly ‘What’s On’ newsletter to stay informed of upcoming skills development opportunities.
“I subscribe to SBDC, they always send me the available and upcoming workshops.”
“When I have time, I sign up. It’s very affordable at $20 per workshop. I’ve signed up for so many such as Marketing and how to use Chat GPT.”
Lily added “One thing I really want to mention is that if I’m too busy with my business, I might miss a workshop that I registered for. But the SBDC give us 7 days to go back and listen to what they discussed in the workshop.”
Passing the advice forward
Having successfully navigated starting her own educational business - one that delivers benefits for both Lily and her family -she has some advice for others thinking about embarking on their own entrepreneurial journey.
“If anyone else is starting a business, I tell them to start with research at the SBDC website, they have a lot of resources, and it gave me the confidence to start my business.”
With this support behind her, Lily has managed to grow her enterprise to two locations and help support the creating learning journeys of scores of local children.
“We started with a 60 sq metre classroom with a few students. We now have two centres and over 100 students!”.
Image
More information
- How to tell ‘Is it a hobby or a business?’
- Learn the ins and outs of working with family
- Do you or your employees need a Working with Children check?
- Read more about low cost SBDC workshops to help you learn fundamental business skills
- Stay informed about what’s on by signing up to our newsletter
Would you like to share your small business story?
Complete this form to tell us about your WA business, and experience accessing the SBDC’s services, to be featured as a small business story.
