New web design business in Sydney, NSW, Australia

After working with the RTA for almost 18 years, I left employment with them. I did a three-year period of training in Information Technology at Mount Druitt TAFE. I graduated and started my own web design business with the help of the Australian Federal Government.

After working with the RTA for almost 18 years, I left employment with them and thought deeply about my future. I wanted to be employed in an area that did not focus on age, where skills were important. Therefore, I embarked on a three-year period of training in Information Technology at Mount Druitt TAFE. Information Technology was like a brand new area to me as I had previously only a minimal exposure to computers.

"I wanted to be involved in an area where age does not matter, where what you know, what you do and what you can learn is important" says Phillip Cunningham.

Toward the end of my training, in September 2002, I heard about a Federal Government program called the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). NEIS is a program that is designed to help get unemployed people into self-employment in order to enable them to run their own business.

After graduating in 2002 with a Diploma in Information Technology (Web Site Production and Management) with Distinction, I embarked on a period of research into the idea of running my own web design business. I was accepted in to training for NEIS at Mount Druitt Mission Employment, where I learnt a lot about how to run a business - areas such as marketing, finances, taxation, insurance and business plans.

I completed NEIS training and opened for business from Thursday 22nd May 2003. My web site is www.pcwebdesign.net/. I will be making web sites for small businesses and doing contract work for web design companies. Phillip Cunningham can be reached by email at webmaster@pcwebdesign.net or by phone on (02) 8807 3440.