Identifying problems in the education/tutoring industry

[beres8011]

I feel that I am in a position similar to the one MJ found while driving limousines. He identified problems in that industry and developed a system to address the problems. I am in the education/tutoring industry. Can I do the same by researching the good points and bad points of this industry both in this Country and world wide? I live and work in the industry every day and should be able to use my insight to identify the major problem(s) common to all of the companies tutoring students.

What do you think.? I invite your comments.

 

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[GW@GCA]

A lot of entrepreneurs spend a ton of time trying to find a problem to focus their effort on. Being an industry INSIDERS would certainly help with finding the problems that cause the most impact.

I'd definitely encourage continuing to research the issues in your industry to try and find pain points that you may be able to address and monetize. Do be aware that education can be very region specific and oftentimes comes entangled with bureaucracy/government (this is not to discourage, but just to warn). If you can find and address a problem that would address tutoring efforts worldwide it sounds like you may be onto something that could be worth something.

I would recommend quantifying the impacts of the problem in the industry to attempt to determine how valuable a solution is and who would be buying the solution. Is it the tutors themselves? Is it the students? Would it be the companies that provide software to the tutors? Answering these should help determine how to move forward with potentially building, pricing, and selling a solution.

I should warn that the virtual education market has gotten a lot of attention lately and there are probably a lot of people vying for a piece of it. But even if you aren't able to find a super strong pain point to sell a solution for, the practice of analyzing an industry, determining customers and ways to reach them will be useful for any entrepreneurial endeavor.

 

[beres8011]

A lot of entrepreneurs spend a ton of time trying to find a problem to focus their effort on. Being an industry INSIDERS would certainly help with finding the problems that cause the most impact.

I'd definitely encourage continuing to research the issues in your industry to try and find pain points that you may be able to address and monetize. Do be aware that education can be very region specific and oftentimes comes entangled with bureaucracy/government (this is not to discourage, but just to warn). If you can find and address a problem that would address tutoring efforts worldwide it sounds like you may be onto something that could be worth something.

I would recommend quantifying the impacts of the problem in the industry to attempt to determine how valuable a solution is and who would be buying the solution. Is it the tutors themselves? Is it the students? Would it be the companies that provide software to the tutors? Answering these should help determine how to move forward with potentially building, pricing, and selling a solution.

I should warn that the virtual education market has gotten a lot of attention lately and there are probably a lot of people vying for a piece of it. But even if you aren't able to find a super strong pain point to sell a solution for, the practice of analyzing an industry, determining customers and ways to reach them will be useful for any entrepreneurial endeavor.

Thank you for the response. I will consider the points you made.

 

[Andy Black]

@Isaac Odongo and @Fox have progress threads related to education.

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Could you make something in the industry simpler, more effective? Is there a gap that needs to be filled? Better product. Better services. More up to date and effective.

There will always be. Formal education has the reputation of being decades out of date. It is also largely filled with irrelevant information.

Problems that could be solved to value skew are ignored or glossed over. So long as pay checks come. Therefore, the gap is normally huge.

Performance is paramount. A number schools and learners want distinction and A performance. Does your solution help them achieve that?

And in the private sector and in traditional giant schools there is stiff competition. Solving problems here is an indispensable value skew, especially in the private sector.

 

[beres8011]

Could you make something in the industry simpler, more effective? Is there a gap that needs to be filled? Better product. Better services. More up to date and effective.

There will always be. Formal education has the reputation of being decades out of date. It is also largely filled with irrelevant information.

Problems that could be solved to value skew are ignored or glossed over. So long as pay checks come. Therefore, the gap is normally huge.

Performance is paramount. A number schools and learners want distinction and A performance. Does your solution help them achieve that?

And in the private sector and in traditional giant schools there is stiff competition. Solving problems here is an indispensable value skew, especially in the private sector.

This is an excellent post!!! Could use it as a blueprint for my next steps.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Are you from the US?

Many ethnicities or origins.

Asians, African, Hispanic, Caribbean and so forth.

This differences sometimes cause problems in the education sector.

 

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