Alan Manly OAM is an accomplished entrepreneur, published author and renowned company director with over thirty years of experience in technology and education.
After building a successful career in information technology, he moved to education where he established a computer college that would serve as the foundation for what is now the Group Colleges Australia (GCA) - a range of higher education training institutions. As a founding director and chief executive officer, Alan is responsible for the governance of GCA, which has since expanded to include the Universal Business School Sydney (UBSS).
His success throughout his career serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs, and his continual and active involvement in the education sector makes him a role model not only to those who attend UBSS, but the wider business community as well.
Alan is also an accomplished author, having written a book about his journey as a budding entrepreneur, as well as another about his 10-year legal battle where he represented himself to victory in the High Court of Australia. He continues to publish articles on entrepreneurship, business insights and commercial advice to this day.
Published Articles
4 Mistakes I Made When Starting a Business
Starting a business can feel like a leap into the unknown. You’re filled with enthusiasm and hope, eager to bring your idea to life. However, as I’ve learned over several decades of entrepreneurship, there are many pitfalls along the way. As Vernon... Read More » 3 min read
Why Being an Entrepreneur is a Lifestyle Decision
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” Mark Twain famously remarked. Yet, many people find themselves trapped in jobs that feel more like a “day prison” than a fulfilling career. They suffer from... Read More » 3 min read
5 Ways to Ensure You Have Cash Flow When Starting a Business
The decision to transition from comfortable employment to starting a business can be both daunting and exciting for the entrepreneur. However, the reality is that 80% of startups fail within the first year, and many of these failures can be attributed to a lack... Read More » 3 min read
The Five Key Skills of All Successful Entrepreneurs
Once the decision is made to follow a certain career path there is one question to ask - what skills will be needed? In the case of skills to be a successful entrepreneur perhaps the secret is that there is no secret. Skills can be innate or learnt, while... Read More » 3 min read
The 5 Toughest Business Lessons no one Tells you
When you’re winning, people perceive that you’ve learned the required lessons, and that is certainly true for me. My entrepreneurial journey started in my mid-thirties with endless enthusiasm, just enough confidence and a little knowledge – a... Read More » 4 min read
6 Key Steps to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset
With the world has changed dramatically in the space of two years thanks to the pandemic, the opportunity for new ideas and businesses has never been greater. The way people work, the technology they use and problems that need solving are already evolving at an... Read More » 3 min read
How to make your business thrive in 2022
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the COVID pandemic as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That offers business a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support the recovery. While ongoing transmission suppression and social and economic recovery are... Read More » 3 min read
Time is Money: How & Where Should Business Owners Spend the...
There is one resource that we are all given equally: time. What you do with yours in business can be the difference between success, failure, or plain old mediocrity. Many business owners decry a lack of resources to grow, chief among them being time. Whilst it... Read More » 3 min read
