Yesterday we had the privilege of a visit from Ann Dolin, the founder of Educational Connections. She also happens to be the mother of one of our students, Will Dolin. She shared her story of moving from teacher to stay at home mom to tutor to entrepreneur. Ann talked about how she turned her passion for teaching and helping students into a thriving tutoring business.
As her in-home tutoring business grew, her neighbors complained that their street was overcrowded by a steady stream of cars coming to her home. She had obviously identified a need in her community and it was time to scale the business.
Ann described the challenges she faced as she went from a tutor to business owner and advised the students to know their own weaknesses and hire the best people to help them. For their businesses to be successful, she said, they must treat them with legitimacy, not as a hobby. Metrics, for example, are an essential tool in terms of growing a business. Track and study customer acquisition methods so they can build on what is working and change what isn't. Ann also suggested that students form helpful relationships with other business to benefit from reciprocal referrals. Especially important for growth is also to set goals and evaluate progress toward those goals, track demographics, and market to key customer types.
Ann's overall message was for students to find their niche and figure out how to make their businesses different. Ann encouraged all of the students to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship despite the difficult times that they will surely face. She reminded them to take control of their own destiny and put in the work to build a business they can be proud of.
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