People, Passions & Projects #9: tutor4

J = Jinal
R = Rahul

J: Why did you decide to set up a tutoring business?

R: Three main reasons: firstly, I'd always been casually interested in business and entrepreneurship (I watched enough YouTube!) and was attracted to the idea of financial semi-independence. Secondly, having side projects in general helps me to actively destress from my degree - you could call it productive procrastination(!) - so that was another motivation. And finally I really enjoy teaching, and the satisfaction when a concept you're teaching clicks in a student's mind is fantastic.

J: How did you decide what subjects to teach?

R: I picked the ones that I was most interested in at school (like English, Biology and Chemistry) because these were the ones I'd enjoy teaching most, and also the ones I struggled with but managed to find effective ways of learning (like Physics and Maths), as these were the ones where I could probably give most value to a student. I also focus on medical school applications and the entrance exams needed to get in such as the BMAT and UCAT for companies, access initiatives and privately which I love because the students are always super driven.

J: Are you working with others on the business? How are you finding that?

R: Once the number of students became too high to manage with the rest of my schedule, I decided to grow the tutor4 team, and we now have four other regular tutors, three of whom are close friends. Mixing business and friendship is controversial, and different people have different takes. I'm lucky and grateful to be in a position where I'm not dependent on the business so have the luxury of prioritising friendships over it if and when necessary and not risk losing friends, which allows me to have a really good time working with them and getting their valuable takes on our work! Managing the whole enterprise is also easier if you really trust your colleagues obviously.

J: What have you learnt from trying to set up tutor4?

R: A great deal! Apart from developing valuable soft skills such as time management and organisation I've enjoyed learning more about effective marketing and improving my teaching skills. Dealing with students' parents is always a good learning experience too - as you can imagine we get the full range of involvement, reliability and...pushiness.

J: Have you had any setbacks when trying to set it up? What made you want to keep going?

R: At first a lot of people took the mick! Tutoring can be quite cliched. It required a thick skin but ended up alright in the end obviously. Tutoring is quite seasonal so you deal with quite dramatic workload changes which isn't always fun, but the satisfaction of seeing something grow and succeed is worth it!

J: The market of tutoring is already quite saturated. How did you manage to make yourselves known?

R: Sooo saturated - I read somewhere there were 800 maths tutors in Cambridge alone 😳. We tried to set up with the USP of university-student tutoring, with the tutors acting like mentors to the students. This has worked pretty well, as often students relate better to someone closer in age to them so the lessons are more fun and more productive for them. Setting up a website early and posting on lots of local community FB groups was also very helpful when we first started. Zoom has made it easier to tap into markets in other countries as well, Dubai and Canada especially for us. Word of mouth then goes a very long way!

J: How do you find time to fit it around your schedule as a medical student, as well as accommodate for the different time zones?

R: I think in general tasks can fill to fit the time you allocate to them (within reason), and I quite like planning out my weeks in advance. The time zones sometimes act in your favour, as the students often want lessons early in the morning or late at night, allowing you to have most of the day free so you can commit to other plans (especially social things). I'm very conscious of burnout and make sure not to compromise on sleep!

J: What advice would you give to people trying to set up their own business? Would you recommend it?

R: Try it! Especially if you know you enjoy and get satisfaction from making and executing long-term plans. For a lot of business ideas there's also not a lot to lose just by giving it a shot.

J: Thanks for being part of the series! Where can we find you on the web?

R: Check out www.tutor4.co.uk!