Starting business after a launch

herthabsc

I am new here. I am setting up a business which will involve me and a few others doing Skype grinds in various leaving cert & language subjects. I have got the word out locally but feel I need some sales expertise.

I have had the "launch" which was a milestone really that we were ready and am now trying to drum up business. However I admit that when the launch was over I did not think what happened afterwards!

I must admit that I lack the experience as well though all feedback has been favourable. What advise do people have regarding what they did after a launch and secondly does anybody have any tips they can give? I feel like I am "stuck in mud" and moving nowhere!!

dbran

Hi

Now comes the hard work.

You need to spend all of your time working to get the name of your business out to your customers.

Perhaps join your local chamber of commerce, referral network and meet folks who would be likely to engage in your services.

Invest in a good website and practice your elevator pitch often.

Always be open to trying something new until you find a method of gaining customers that works.

Hope this helps

dbran

Peterdalkey

Skype grinds seems like a good idea,. I would have thought Facebook and other social media that connects with the target demographic would be good. Do some market research with leaving cert students?teachers/parents and ask where they would go to find grinds teachers and promote your services there... could be local shop noticeboards etc. The schools themselves... but I have no idea what typical school policies are to the whole issue of grinds.

con1982

I tried out skype grinds for a language course last year (not leaving cert related) but it didn't feel natural for me. Maybe maths, history, etc works better online. The skype grind was 15e an hour and my face to face private lessons are 20e. If the skype grind was half the price I may have given it a longer try.

I think that the level of competition out there may seriously affect your rates, especially considering this type of work is generally cash in hand.

robertdoyle

Con makes a good point. The quality of the grinds must be excellent in order for it to work as there are plenty of young teachers out there working for less than €20 per hour. Your target market will be parents as they are the ones who will be typically paying for the grinds, thus there is no point in advertising to the students (for fear they might not tell their parents about your service as they do not want to get grinds). What do parents do in their spare time? Answer that question and you will know exactly where to advertise to build business.

ironclaw

Speaking personally, I wouldn't' see the value in Skype grinds. Half the point is having someone sitting there that can take up a pen and show you where you went wrong, or ask a question on the fly. That direct link is whats important. If you were doing a screencast of say 'The Top 10 Math formulae for Calculus' then you could probably charge and have a 10 min QA at the end for people to ask questions. My price point would be sub €15, even less for a screencast.

herthabsc

Whatever way it goes for myself, one thing for sure is that Skype or something like this will be the way to go for the future. Classroom teaching will be still around but more and more I forsee that technology will be the way to go as people seek convenience of learning at home and value for money.

As for starting up my own business, its tough but you have to believe in it and the way forward. Rome was not build in one day and getting the message out by networking, SEO etc is the way to go! Its a challenge but life was never easy:)

ironclaw

herthabsc wrote: »

Whatever way it goes for myself, one thing for sure is that Skype or something like this will be the way to go for the future. Classroom teaching will be still around but more and more I forsee that technology will be the way to go as people seek convenience of learning at home and value for money.

Unlikely. Video calling has actually been around since the advent of screen's themselves and pre-dates mobile phones. Its never caught on. As a teaching aid, its of little value. We're programmed to learn from paper and books, not tv's and laptops.

micromary

Well I beg to differ and already elearning is outpacing classroom learning whether you except this or not.

ironclaw wrote: »

Unlikely. Video calling has actually been around since the advent of screen's themselves and pre-dates mobile phones. Its never caught on. As a teaching aid, its of little value. We're programmed to learn from paper and books, not tv's and laptops.

enviro

ironclaw wrote: »

We're programmed to learn from paper and books, not tv's and laptops.

What research into human learning is that statement based on or is that your opinion?

All of the leading Universities in the world are successfully using online learning portals for years now.

In many cases the most recent research papers are only accessible online to begin with. I take it you haven't heard of Mintel or other electronic databases if you are suggesting that laptops are not a learning tool.

The advantages are numerous, consider the vast amount of information available electronically and now try gather all that information with books only. Impossible, I would suggest.

Most academic projects and at times even exams are completed and submitted electronically. In other cases educational and academic notes in paper form have been phased out and replaced by electronic uploads to the aforementioned online learning portals with secure access provided to students and lecturers.

Sorry to go abit off topic here OP but I would suggest that the statement that I have quoted above is misinformed.

mad turnip

I got a question, DO you do maths grinds and how do these work over skype?

I've always found maths to be a sitting down and doing exam questions kind of subject. Using MS paint or word is not going to cut it in maths. So have you plans on doing maths or only languages and similar subjects?

herthabsc

Only languages and similar subjects to be honest with you. I agree with you regarding Maths and we have had similar difficulties. We are looking at ways at coming up with solutions for this.

No worries about going off-theme with this topic. I know it was originally about starting off after a launch. However my own gut feeling is that most learning will be online in the future.

UBERTILT

ironclaw wrote: »

Unlikely. Video calling has actually been around since the advent of screen's themselves and pre-dates mobile phones. Its never caught on. As a teaching aid, its of little value. We're programmed to learn from paper and books, not tv's and laptops.

This is wrong on so many levels. I've recently completed a month long intense course via an online e-learning site. My only gripe was that the course was based in the US (unavailable in Europe) and I had to endure lectures at ungodly hours due to the time difference. eg. St. Patricks night I had to login at Midnight for a 5 hour session. Not the 5 hour session I had in mind!

I found it engaging and much more interesting than sitting in a classroom.
I guess it's each to their own..

ironclaw

enviro wrote: »

What research into human learning is that statement based on or is that your opinion?

All of the leading Universities in the world are successfully using online learning portals for years now.

In many cases the most recent research papers are only accessible online to begin with. I take it you haven't heard of Mintel or other electronic databases if you are suggesting that laptops are not a learning tool.

The advantages are numerous, consider the vast amount of information available electronically and now try gather all that information with books only. Impossible, I would suggest.

Most academic projects and at times even exams are completed and submitted electronically. In other cases educational and academic notes in paper form have been phased out and replaced by electronic uploads to the aforementioned online learning portals with secure access provided to students and lecturers.

Sorry to go abit off topic here OP but I would suggest that the statement that I have quoted above is misinformed.

Hold the horses there. No need for the direct attack!

I'm speaking from a personal standpoint and also from reading a few articles on it myself. Its an aspect of technology I actually work in and as such I've always found of interested (User Interfaces, ease of use etc) I've been to college and studied to a Level 9 so I've experience eLearning and paper based work. I piloted Moodle (An eLearning enviorment) in my secondary school as part of a pilot program, it failed. Not technological or lack of support but rather from student and teacher learning feedback.

Speaking personally, and probably from a generation standpoint, I learn better from paper. Its a physical act that is proven (At least in the mid 90's) to be easier for a human to retain information from. However, I grant you that kids up and coming will have less experience of paper and more online / virtual interaction. I'd be interested to see a study in 10 years on it.

The key point however is many people (Especially in the Leaving Cert age bracket) predominantly learn in a teacher - student environment and on paper. They simply asssociate paper and books with learning and data retention. The same is not true for anything presented by screen. The data retention from watching TV and reading a book are different. They use internet access mainly as a social aspect. With no one physically sitting beside you and most internet access on our own, students are unlikely to be as focused (Sure, i'll just check in on facebook for 5 mins) than if they had a tutor sitting beside them.

Just my two cents. By no means hard and fast fact. But I'd know many people who even if a course is online, will print it. Simply as they retain it easier. I'd be really interested to see a recent study actually as it would be good to see how technology is making inroads at such a basic level.

enviro

Hold the horses there. No need for the direct attack!

Direct attack? This is just a discussion, no attacking going on as far as I can see

I'm speaking from a personal standpoint and also from reading a few articles on it myself.

Hardly enough to base the statements you made on. To be fair you did state that

"As a teaching aid, its of little value"

Where is the evidence? links to the articles maybe? I would be really interested in reading them. If it is indeed just your opinion, well maybe add "in my opinion" to the statement to avoid confusion for the readers.

"We're programmed to learn from paper and books, not tv's and laptops."
Once again; where is the evidence? If again it is just opinion, it should be presented as such and not as fact as was done. In my opinion it is the title of a great debate and should be researched further to discover the pros and cons of each method. Without doubt there are advantages and limitations to each method. However will results differ significantly?

I've experience eLearning and paper based work. I piloted Moodle (An eLearning enviorment) in my secondary school as part of a pilot program, it failed. Not technological or lack of support but rather from student and teacher learning feedback.

I recently completed a degree that used Moodle for delivery of the majority of the additional academic material, exam revision and the dissertation process. Pass rate in the group was 100%. Safe to say that Moodle had a positive influence on that group. Moodle certainly hasn't been a failure. It is being used successfully today.

Its a physical act that is proven (At least in the mid 90's) to be easier for a human to retain information from. However, I grant you that kids up and coming will have less experience of paper and more online / virtual interaction. I'd be interested to see a study in 10 years on it.

There are ways to see it's success today, anyone who has completed an academic program in the last few years, certainly since 2009; has had exposure to the e learning experience. It is being used by a vast number of academic institutions. From a personal perspective it was about 80% of my learning process outside of lectures. Maybe others who have completed studies can comment on their experiences, I can only comment regarding 2009 onwards as it is all that applies to me personally.

Another simple example is the driver theory test. You can revise for that with a book and also with an interaction cd rom. Are the pass rates that different for people using the different methods. I am sure people have passed using solely the cd rom method as have people using the book method. Just because one method suits others more so than the other method, it doesn't mean the disliked method is useless.

The key point however is many people (Especially in the Leaving Cert age bracket) predominantly learn in a teacher - student environment and on paper.
I'm not familiar with the current learning processes at Leaving cert level so can't comment on that. As regards to third level, the same is not true in my experience. A simple snapshot; I can recall approx 50% taking notes in lectures on laptops with the majority of the rest taking handwritten notes with a small few using voice recorders.. Most then proceed to transfer the data to laptops and pc's. A common practice is to email around your notes to others to have them critically analysed for gaps in knowledge or misinterpretations of the lecture session. In my opinion this helps with the learning and retention process. Probably in the same way that repeatedly writing out the notes would do; different methods but similar results.

They simply asssociate paper and books with learning and data retention. The same is not true for anything presented by screen.

I have to disagree here, especially the part in bold, is that backed up by research? It appears to be an opinion and not fact to me.

The data retention from watching TV and reading a book are different.

Are they? interesting area...Obviously the delivery methods are completely different but are the retention levels that different? I wouldn't be qualified to comment on this at all. From a personal point of view I can retain information from a program on the National Geographical channel in a very similar way to the articles I have read in their geographical journals. Another great title for a research paper to be fair.

They use internet access mainly as a social aspect.

Ok that is a very sweeping statement. What demographic are you referring to here? The statement is a little stereotypical in my opinion. I know there are hard facts on the internet usage in Ireland and every other country in the developed world. It is just a matter of sourcing the material. I 'm a bit limited time wise at the moment but might get a chance later to search for it. As a side note to that, I have experienced certain sites being blocked in lecture halls and libraries when using the local network. Probably to limit the social use of academic resources that you speak of.

But I'd know many people who even if a course is online, will print it. Simply as they retain it easier.

Do they retain it easier though? Have they tried it from a screen and compared? Let put this in simple terms. They are both reading text, however one is text in the physical form of a paper page while the other text is on an electronic screen. Can the difference really be that different?, it is pretty much the same action from the neurological side of things.


I'd be really interested to see a recent study actually as it would be good to see how technology is making inroads at such a basic level.

I agree, definitely a huge area where I suspect there is a lot of information available on the various elements and delivery vehicles of learning via both electronic and traditional methods.