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| Mercurius Saad speaking on campus in March |
‘I get to wake up every single day and work on solving a problem I deeply care about with people I admire and respect. On the other hand, it’s by far the most challenging adventure I’ve ever started’.
Mercurius Saad graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2017 and is now pursuing his business full time in London but it has been quite a journey. During the Coronavirus lockdown we invited Mercurius to give an update about his business, the challenges involved and the importance of adapting.
Progress always takes longer than you hope and expect. To put that into perspective, I had the idea for Tutorbloc in January 2017, I met my co-founder in May 2018 and we officially launched in February 2020. Therefore, it’s vital that you love what you do.
Tutorbloc is a two-sided marketplace devoted to empowering
parents & students with the tools to instantly book lessons with verified
tutors based on subject preferences and weekly availability.
parents & students with the tools to instantly book lessons with verified
tutors based on subject preferences and weekly availability.
Three years ago I had finished my
last tutoring session of the week and on my way home I had a light bulb moment.
I started questioning all of the frustrations I had from not being paid on
time, to drowning in admin, from having to use more than 5 tools to run my
operations to answering emails from new parents/students who reached out from a
recommendation they received. It was a chaotic time to say the least and this eventually led me to stop tutoring (just after graduation) as I was overwhelmed with how much time and energy the non-teaching elements of the job consumed.
last tutoring session of the week and on my way home I had a light bulb moment.
I started questioning all of the frustrations I had from not being paid on
time, to drowning in admin, from having to use more than 5 tools to run my
operations to answering emails from new parents/students who reached out from a
recommendation they received. It was a chaotic time to say the least and this eventually led me to stop tutoring (just after graduation) as I was overwhelmed with how much time and energy the non-teaching elements of the job consumed.
I spoke to hundreds of parents and tutors as well as
conducted market research to support my assumptions before designing any
wireframes. As I journeyed down this path it became increasingly clear that
there was demand for an end-to-end platform that was safe, fast and simple to
use and so Tutorbloc was born with a mission to integrate learning into
everyday life.
conducted market research to support my assumptions before designing any
wireframes. As I journeyed down this path it became increasingly clear that
there was demand for an end-to-end platform that was safe, fast and simple to
use and so Tutorbloc was born with a mission to integrate learning into
everyday life.
The three main problems we are solving are as follows: 1)
Booking a personal tutor today, relies on combing through multiple online
directories and sending messages back-and-forth; this can take hours, sometimes
days. 2) Safety is an important concern, yet identity checks & DBS
certificates aren’t mandatory. 3) High tutor commissions (30-50%) encourage
offline payments which fragments the post-booking relationship.
Booking a personal tutor today, relies on combing through multiple online
directories and sending messages back-and-forth; this can take hours, sometimes
days. 2) Safety is an important concern, yet identity checks & DBS
certificates aren’t mandatory. 3) High tutor commissions (30-50%) encourage
offline payments which fragments the post-booking relationship.
I wouldn’t be where I am today
without the B-Enterprising team. From the very first time we crossed paths they
have been incredibly supportive and understanding. They’ve thrown a number of
different opportunities my way which helped improve my confidence and
ultimately equipped me with the skills I needed to start my own business. I
honestly couldn’t be more grateful.
without the B-Enterprising team. From the very first time we crossed paths they
have been incredibly supportive and understanding. They’ve thrown a number of
different opportunities my way which helped improve my confidence and
ultimately equipped me with the skills I needed to start my own business. I
honestly couldn’t be more grateful.
My biggest takeaway so far has been…create your own path instead of letting the world dictate how you should live your life – you’re in control, never forget that. Today we have over 150 tutors signed up on our platform – we’re always looking for people who have a passion for teaching to join our growing community so if you’re interested, head over to https://tutorbloc.com download our app and create an account!
With thanks to Mercurius Saad
Edited by Bob Lee, B-Enterprising team
Edited by Bob Lee, B-Enterprising team