Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi Jay, Thanks for the response.

Let me try to answer some of the questions.

Rather than trying to target all the children in the US in grades 1-12, can you narrow it down a bit?
We start with elementary and middle school and then move to high school.


How will your service be better/different from hiring a local tutor? How will it be better/different from using the free Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/)?

A local tutor will not have all the topics and a structured way of teaching and they would be expensive on a per hour basis. They would also not be allowing a student to learn at his/her own pace.
Khan academy is a library of resources/videos with simple practices and fancy reports. It does not guide you what you are weak at and where would you need more practice. There is simply no starting point to understand for a student or parent or no intervention. There are no tutors to help the student with and no challenge. We are trying to build a portal that would gauge the student's level and create a customized plan accordingly and then show them various videos (including khan) to understand the concepts, learn by repetition, challenge them with real-life problems and then once a week, have them connected to a tutor to understand their progress.



What segment of the students can your service serve better? How do you know? What about technology issues (do they need a browser, a phone+computer, skype, etc.)? What sort of guarantee can you offer (i.e., why should parents entrust their kids to you)?
We would serve students in grade 1-12 and target Indian and Chinese ethnicity to start with to get more traction and then move to others. Yes, they would need a browser, internet connection and microphones. NO phone or skype. The portal will have the voice chat and whiteboard facilities.

What do you recommend should be our marketing strategy ?

Hi Carol Blaha

Thanks for the response.

Dont you think schools would be overloaded with such requests ? It would become a very difficult sale convincing a school that some of the students would need extra help.

Also, its not just about helping the students who are weak or may need help. Its about preparing the students for better math for the future.

Do you think all the students going to Kumon or Huntington or Sylvan are weak ? Its about learning extra that every parent wants from his kids.

Thanks

Given your responses to Carol and myself, it seems like you're struggling to figure out how/why your service is better than the existing choices students (and their parents') have (including such online choices as: https://www.1-1tutor.com/, https://www.tutapoint.com/, https://www.ehighpoints.com/, https://math.tutorvista.com/, etc.). This is vital for you to understand - why should someone choose your service.

If you're considering targeting Indian and Chinese students, then focus on what you can do differently (native language tutoring?). With this understanding, consider a pay-per-click model (for services people are searching for) to better find yours'. Or, reach out the your target community in specific regions (to media that they read).

Of course you will have competition. But certainly not the type of competition you'd have selling common school supplies. Yet, one rises to the top and gets the business. And that is what you are going to have to do. You just arent' going to do one or two tactics and wait for the phone to ring.

A student learning at his or her pace may not be a good thing. They do need to keep up with the class. If they do not accomplish necessary class work milestones, they can be held back. As a parent, I want my child to learn not only a particular subject that is giving them a tough time, but good learning habits that will carry them thru college. I'd want a tutor/coach/motivator. And I would have paid more for it-- it would be an annuity for the tutor. Being a resource like that will put you out of the group that only "tutors".

Do a SWOT of your competitors. Know them in and out. This will help you find the answer to Jay's questions of "why you". You will find the answer of where and how to market will bubble to the top.

I am sure every tutoring company will go to the math teacher as a resource for their struggling students. You certainly do need a reason to choose you over others. But I wonder how many of those tutors are going to the athletic coaches. Here we have good players held back from college scholarships because of grades. My daughter, who graduated magna cum laude in Finance is heading to grad school-- and hiring a coach to guide her for that awful test she has to take to get accepted (that my right brain can't recall). So it's not just the poor students that would hire a tutor, its those with a plan for the future

As Jay states, determine your niche, and be lazar sharp in marketing for it . You'll get the child who can't get geometry, but your sweet spot may be something grander.

Hi Jay and Carol,

After getting some great inputs from you I went back to the drawing board and started thinking of differentiations, did SWOT analysis for competitors and think what we can do best is

1. Understand your child's weak and strong Math areas
2. Train them on weak areas
3. Intervene with tutors (online) whenever needed
4. Prepare them for next challenge (be it a gifted program or critical thinking)

All this at a fraction of cost that others/local tutors charge.

Does this work ? What about marketing strategy now ?

Thanks
Hardik

Thank You Carol and Jay for your response