The Amazon of knowledge
Purchase a project management course or an aeronautical license, just like you would do with a book or a t-shirt: online. Now you can, on theknowledgeacademy.com, a site known in the UK as the Amazon of training. It offers specialist and training courses in any professional discipline you can think of, all in English, of course. You can browse through the 5,000+ courses available, comparing lengths, times and tutors, choosing amongst 3,000 locations spread across 210 different countries, from the UK to the USA, from Bhutan to Chile, from Afghanistan to China. Anywhere there’s a demand for education in English. And for anybody who needs it. There are even virtual walk-in clinics for those who want to brush up on something, get some extra elucidations or revise more in depth.
Theknowledgemanagement.com is also an extraordinary story of global entrepreneurship, with a British soul, established by Dilshad and Barinder Hothi, a young couple currently developing an offer in different languages for those countries where training in English is less in demand.
Barinder was born in the UK from immigrant parents who managed a restaurant in London even though they couldn’t speak English. They taught her that studying is the only way forward in life, the only thing that can truly help. And she has learned the lesson extremely well. She met Dilshad when she was 20 years old, his father worked in the aeronautical sector and he had spent his formative years in the best British schools before being employed by a training company, while Barinder worked for Microsoft. They decided to get married and soon after they became business partners. In 2008, under the worried sight of their parents, they founded theknowledgeacademy.com. They couldn’t choose a better time: many were being laid off work due to the economic crisis and people were looking for ways to gain new qualifications in order to be more competitive on the market. And then came Linkedin, a platform that highlights titles and qualifications, making them even more important.
Dilshad and Barinder began their business with 10-strong team. Today their company counts almost 200 employees, has a £35m turnover and has handed out diplomas to over 100,000 people, two-third of whom have come back to learn more. Because studying is the only thing that can truly help.
