Exclusive Interview with Jonny Havey – Co-Founder of eLearning Partners

Originally published on siliconvalleytime.com

My name is Jonny Havey, and I am a Co-Founder of eLearning Partners. 

Growing up, my family instilled in me three messages: treat everyone with kindness and respect; life is about how you spend your time; and hard work always pays off. To this day, I follow these mantras in anything I do – from my athletic endeavors to business. 

I co-founded eLearning Partners with my best friend from college – Hector Simoudis, and we’ve been business partners for more than a decade now. We’ve actually started multiple businesses that led us to what eLearning Partners is today – the company helping business owners and executives own their businesses instead of being owned by their businesses by leveraging the power of transformational eLearning and online courses. 

What are 3 tips you can share with our readers as it relates to your industry?

If you are looking to create employee training or a course to sell or onboard your customers, these tips will apply to you. 

First, don’t focus too much on technology. One of the biggest misconceptions we see in the eLearning industry is that companies focus 80% of the time and budget on researching perfect technology while neglecting their Learners and what their challenges are. Make your Learners at the heart of everything you do. We have a Free Masterclass about this on our website. 

Secondly, start small. You may have a great idea for a library of courses or training, but if you try to tackle it all at once before getting a return on your investment, you are going to burn out and exhaust yourself and your team. Focus on the most critical challenge and create what we call a Minimum Viable Course – something you can show to your Learners and test before committing too much of your time and resources. 

Lastly, going back to the Learners, create an infinite feedback loop. Invite Learners to your decision-making table and create a program that actually solves their problems. You can only do this if you ask for feedback constantly on all stages of your course creation journey. 

We are entering an era where everyone is interested in multiple income streams. How does one decide on a business to pursue?

As I’ve mentioned earlier, my business partner and I started multiple businesses. Honestly speaking, early on in our entrepreneurial journey we took on all projects we could find because we didn’t really know what our offer was. Finally, after working on various projects from creating marketing videos to corporate communication packages, we learned what we are good at and focused on that offer.

If you want to start a business but have no idea which one to pursue, my advice would be to try it on a small scale and see if you enjoy it. Nowadays, you can do this by exploring freelancing opportunities, working with a non-profit in your local community, or helping out friends. Connect with others who are doing what you are planning on doing, and network with people. Once you immerse yourself into the field, you will know whether or not this is something you have passion for and are good at to create a business around it. 

What 3 books would you recommend every entrepreneur read?

“The Go-Giver,” “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” and “How to Get Paid For What You Know.”

What do you do to recharge when you are feeling drained?

The best way for me to recharge is to be in nature. I’m an ultrarunner and avid mountain biker. Before I got into running, I also climbed fourteeners in Colorado. One of my favorite places is the mountain top. Sitting and watching storm clouds rolling in is peaceful to me. I also love spending time with my family, friends, and my dog Sniktau (named after a Mountain). 

How can you be reached if someone is interested in your products or services?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn @jonnyhavey, follow us on YouTube @e-learning partners, and learn more about our products on our website.