A review of the NEIS scheme

Recently a friend of mine did the NEIS program for his business and it reminded me that it's actually how i started Stay Human off properly. here is a review i wrote not long after i did it. hopefully all the details are still right!

NEIS - New enterprise incentive scheme

Neis is a government program run by centre-link where the unemployed person who has a decent business idea or the inkling at least is given a 7 week business course (certificate iv in small business management) after which they have their business plan reviewed and a panel decides whether there business is a viable one. If it is they get the equivalent of the dole ($10,000) paid to them over the course of the year while they attempt to get their business off the ground and profitable. I myself have just recently finished this course and thought I would give a run down of what I learned, what was taught and to dispel some myths.

How to get into Neis:

To find out about the Neis program and to get enrolled into the business course there are a few steps that are very easy but that centre-link seems to be misleading people on. Just go to your local centre-link office and look for some flyers around that have ‘be your own boss’ or ask at the counter for information on Neis. This will direct you to Kangan Batman tafe or another of three tafes that are involved in this course.

After you have called a tafe near you they will send you out an information pack. It has locations of tafes, meeting times and a rough guide for the beginnings of a business plan. Before you can get into Neis you need to go to an info session at a tafe, after which they have interviews to see who gets into the class.

The interviews are a laid back affair but it pays to have a few page of notes so that if they you know the questions they will ask like: ‘what is your business idea ? who are your customers? Why will they buy? Have you tested the market in anyway?

If you have run this business as a hobby for a while use that as testing the market. For instance if you want to make your zine a your business you would say previous issues have sold x numbers and we have now contacts with x advertisers or distributors.

If the interview goes well you will have to fill in a form saying you are on youth allowance and fill in your details and the tafe you wish to go to.

Myths:

I have heard the myth that you need to be on youth allowance a certain time before you can go into Neis. That is not true, I was on youth allowance just one week before doing the course and some people I have meet were so for only days.

Also the only determining factor to getting into the course is your interview and your idea. Some people have said they can’t do the course because they are over a certain age and it is only for the young. Most of the people in my course were over 40, there is no age barrier.

The course:

The course covers most things that are to be expected in a small business course. Marketing, bookkeeping, ratios, market research, competitor analysis and general business skills. Through out the course you work on your business plan adding to it with each section you cover. As you learn about market research you produce a survey to give to potential customers and fill in ideal locations, as you learn bookkeeping you fill in your financial plan.

Other than the actual information being of a very high standard I found that the sheer fact of focusing on one idea for seven weeks to be a very good way to refine your ideas. Without this course I’m sure I would not have planned or thought so deeply, because no-one would have made me. As a result my plans or tactics changed more than once, for the better.

Also in your class room you have twenty or so other people form different back grounds all plunging into different businesses for the first time. Though none of the people I had contact with were running businesses like mine, some of them were really good for giving me ideas and for business contacts in the future.

I also must add that the teachers were excellent in that they had all run businesses of their own and were not merely reading from a textbook but could give stories and creative answers from their own experience.

Do you want to start a business?

Even if I did not receive the Neis allowance by the final weeks of the course I was sure that I would continue with the business idea anyway. For others in the class they said that they would find a job, any job for a year or so and save and then launch into it if they didn’t get the allowance.
In the music scene there are a lot of people with good ideas that could be translated into great businesses. Record labels, managers, venues, all sorts of merch, zines, band photography, starting a record store or just your band itself.

I think also if you are right now on the dole and not really looking hard for work, say your band is your focus but it won’t pay the bills so your happy to stay on the dole. Or the same for your zine, your writing, your art. I would say that the Neis program is good for you because if you only do the course well that a free certificate 4 and three months you don’t have to look for a job you don’t want. If you do get the allowance then you have at least one year to really build up your passion into a career.

Working five days to live for two is not a great way to live a life. There are many ways to pay the rent and also do what you must to satisfy your passions, Neis is a great program that can help you get your project off it’s feet. And if it falls flat after a year you will just be all the wiser for it (and it only cost you time).