If there’s one thing business owners have noticed this year, it’s how rapidly the world is changing. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been running businesses with so much uncertainty. One way that I’ve found it easier to know how to adapt is by listening to my community, who frequently tells me what types of changes they’d like to see and what’s really working for them. This community-listening model has allowed me to take data-backed leaps of faith that have, in large part, paid off.
Presently, I serve as the CEO of Novel Education Group, a private homeschooling service that I started after private tutoring in Los Angeles. Through my experiences working in private tutoring, I saw the need for schooling services to a community of kids who wanted to get an education while also pursuing their dreams and goals. Although this was the stepping stone for me to build an education business model that catered to them, it was hard in the beginning to find this kind of community and support when I was solely working one-on-one with clients and in education. You don’t have that sense of community like you would in an in-person school because it’s a very unique and specific niche business. It’s definitely a field where sometimes it’s hard to find relatability.
When I started, there was so much stigma around homeschooling that I knew I’d have to break to gain clients. From the start, I implemented a community-listening model that allowed me to understand the needs and concerns of my clients. Largely, I learned that the word “homeschool” is essentially unregulated, and for many clients, this uncertainty made them question whether it was right for them. For example, the knowledge level of a child in high school who’s 14 years old and has been homeschooled may be a high-school freshman or they may not. In the typical homeschooling system there’s no way to tell where they are, what they studied, if they’re on par with their peers, or if they’re on track to go to university.
Because I heard this feedback, it was incredibly important for my business to be regulated. We’ve partnered with an online private school and students have a teacher to guide them daily. On top of that, we have graders for each class that are constantly checking the work that the tutors do with the students. This has allowed me to break down the stigma and get people to understand that online schooling, homeschooling, and virtual schooling are trends for the future. It is highly accredited and a highly standard form of education.
We’ve also continued to see a growing trend of families who live in communities such as Los Angeles or London, where they didn’t want to be in one place for an entire school year. For them, our partnership with private schooling and implementation of their curriculum allows a student, who let’s say had to travel for two months out of the year, to continue their education path as remote learning.
All that to say I am proud of my entrepreneurial journey and it all happened because I was ready and willing to adapt to change or pivot. Today, I have a full-time staff who gets health benefits, and I’m also able to watch students graduate and accomplish their goals. Although change can be difficult mentally and emotionally, you just need to take it one step at a time and understand that things that are happening for the benefit of your business and its customers.
Here’s some pointers that helped me stay on track and continue to grow my business:
1. Do not make changes unless it adds value to your business. There is a right time to pivot your business, and it has to be organic and filling a need.
2. Take some time to reevaluate your customer base and pay attention to their changing needs.
3. Always think of the most efficient and cost-effective way to operate. I work with a Small Business Banker at Bank of America who has helped me gain insight into business loans, and which ones are right for me. They also have a Small Business Resources site that provides helpful tools and information for business owners, such as, which benefit options are right for employees.
4. If you find you are missing out on business because of a road block, try and change it or work around it.
5. Be patient and conserve funds. You know what they say. Good things come to those who wait.
About the author: Tiffany Sorya founded Novel Education Group in 2014. She is a renowned influencer and thought leader in the education industry, widely recognized for spearheading a fundamental change in the way young people engage with education in the digital age.