5 minutes with Ben Foulis

1. What did you study at RMIT and what attracted you to that program? 

Master of Data Science Strategy and Leadership.

I’m a SCADA Engineer by trade, which is a highly logic focused field. I also have a very strong creative side that can get suppressed.

Data Science is that beautiful intersection between hard logic like the maths that underpin machine learning, and the creativity of communicating never seen before data insights in compelling and impactful means using a variety of media. 

2. What is your business all about? 

Supporting community football/soccer clubs and volunteer coaches. Providing useable toolkits and systems for first-time coaches who have generously donated their time to make junior football possible.

I have been volunteer coaching at community level in a small regional town for over a decade, have done multiple certifications, and even worked with Liverpool Football Club International Academy. I noticed the mum and dad coaches at our local fields looking out of ideas having come straight from work to the football field. There is a ton of good, free information out there, but its spread through dozens of verbose training manuals.

I wanted to distil the most important and useable information from those resources and cram them into a physical, portable, deck of cards. Pocket Coaching Cards were born.

The deck of cards are designed so that any coach, even first timers can build an effective, structured training session within just 1 minute. All while aligning with Football Australia’s guidelines.

3. Where do you see your business in 10 years’ time?

I see Smart Coaching Systems as a go to hub for amazing parents who are brave enough to put up their hand to coach when no one else does.

In 10 years the products, services and advice provided will encourage more and more volunteers to put their hand up because they know they will have everything they need from us to have a great season! 

4. How has studying at RMIT prepared you to run your business? 

Building Data Science skills has enabled me to be competitive off the bat in the most saturated ecommerce market (Amazon USA). There are so many factors, levers and metrics that need to be understood and manipulated to successfully sell a product online. You definitely can’t just rely on the product speaking for itself. It’s in the numbers.

Additionally we did an amazing course on Financial Analytics for Managerial Decisions and this has paid for itself 10x over. It was a general overview of corporate finance, understanding company financial documents and bookkeeping basics.

These skills have meant I’ve been able to execute faster and set up systems by myself to meet compliance for 90% of my operations. 

5. What advice would you have offered yourself when you first started your business? 

Well I am not yet 12 months in, however my fear of failure has always been there sitting on my shoulder telling me “No one’s going to buy these”, “Everyone’s going to laugh at how bad your product is”, “They only support you because they’re your friends”.

However after the first 6 months of sales, reviews and feedback have begun rolling in (from complete strangers). And it’s overwhelmingly positive. Hearing peoples personal stories on how much these cards helped them with their own coaching journey, has been heartening.

So the advice I would give myself is believe in your ideas, don’t be half hearted, don’t write yourself off too early, and if you really help just one or 2 people, that’s a win.

“You are one hundred percent successful as soon as you send your project off into the world. Regardless of how it is perceived.” - Rick Rubin

6. What is the best part of coaching kid games?

Getting to work with a diverse range of kids from different backgrounds and abilities. Getting together a few times a week, no screens, no social media. Building lifelong sporting skills as well as life skills such as respect, teamwork and working through adversity in a safe environment.

You also have the privilege of creating the best part of some kids week, or an outlet for others to feel part of something bigger than themselves.Junior sport is becoming one of very few remaining sanctuaries from the ever pervasive 24 hour digital world.

I believe junior sport is becoming more and more pivotal to youth mental health and it’s just great to donate some of my time in my little part of the world to help. And its good fun :)