Teaching and entrepreneurship are two entirely different things. One is a profession rooted in academics which follows stringent rules and syllabus, while the other has nothing to do academically.
Nevertheless, there are things you can learn from teachers as an entrepreneur. In one way or another, at least one teacher may have played a major role in our lives. Maybe it was your school teacher who feel seen and successful. Or maybe it was a coach or mentor who guided you when you most needed it. And, this Teacher’s Day, as an honour to the teachers in out lives, we are writing about the lessons you can learn from teachers as an entrepreneur.
Are you looking to start a teaching business online? At the end of this blog, we have also written about 3 entrepreneurs who are teaching online successfully.
Contents
5 Business lessons entrepreneurs can learn from teachers
1. Set big goals and break it down
Traditional school teachers have the entire year planned out. They know what their students need to know by the end of a semester or year. Based on that, teachers plan lessons, assignments, and tests. They break these big goals into smaller ones. How many lessons need to be in a week, a month. How many tests the students will need, and so on.
Similarly, in business, you need to have both long-term and short-term goals, precisely planned. Start with an end goal in mind and work backwards. Here are some examples of setting big goals and breaking them into digestible bits:
- Instead of just posting daily on social media accounts, set a 6-month goal: how many followers you want to get, how many leads, etc. Then, set a content strategy and create a content calendar that will help you reach the goal.
- Increase sales by a certain percent can be your yearly goal. You can then come up with tasks that help you achieve that goal such as optimising your website for search engines and other marketing. Create your weekly schedule accordingly.
2. Add a bit of fun
School syllabuses can be boring. That’s why most teachers bring in a bit of fun into teaching every once in a while. Some teachers host fun activities and games that also help students learn. This way, students get a unique experience.
In entrepreneurship, you don’t have to do everything by the book. It’s true that some technical tasks needs to be done in a certain way. But you can still squeeze in fun.
For your customers, add some fun in your communication. Post just-for-fun content on social media occasionally. Send creative thank you emails after sales.
3. Assess constantly
Teachers conducting exams and quizzes is a constant part of learning. Regularly evaluating their students lets teachers know how well they’re doing and how to adjust the teaching process.
As a business, you need to constantly analyse if your strategies are working. Here are some things you can analyse:
- Revenue generated on your online store
- Social media analytics
- Customer retention rate
- Customer satisfaction rate
Here’s a guide on eCommerce metrics to track.
Tracking business metrics and analysing it constantly helps you make better decisions regarding different aspects of your business. You will get a clear idea of what’s working (and not working) and optimise accordingly.
4. Discipline and consistency
Teaching can be tough especially when dealing with different kinds of children. Yet, teachers are consistent in their works and put in constant effort to enable children to learn better. Entrepreneurs can learn discipline and consistency from teachers.
You might have started your business out of passion. And over time, it might get more challenging. But to build a sustainable business, you need to stay disciplined and put in consistent efforts. As an entrepreneur, discipline means being organised in your actions and having a healthy mindset.
5. Prepare to adapt and evolve
This might seem counterintuitive, but changing strategies is also something you need to do when growing a business.
Teachers are one of the most stringent planners. And sometimes even they need to pivot to adjust to new needs and unexpected hurdles. The problem might be that students need more tutoring on the topic and lesson hours need to be extended than expected or a batch wants a different method of teaching altogether.
For entrepreneurs, such issues might come up and instead of sticking to the plan, analyse what went wrong, acknowledge the mistakes, and make pivot.
For example, you might have started as a social media business and decided to collect all orders via chat. But when the volume of orders started to increase, you couldn’t handle the manual work. So, you will need to put in an investment and get an online store to collect payments and schedule orders.
Online teaching: 3 entrepreneurs to inspire you
Ecommerce has opened a wide scope for businesses. And that includes coaching and tutoring businesses as well! Here are 3 entrepreneurs who use Instamojo online store to teach and earn.
CA Karan Sir
Karan is a chartered accountant who sells CA courses online. He teaches various subjects and topics included in the CA syllabus. You can find his recorded sources and other study materials on his online store.
Grammar Ganga
Rajeswari’s aim is to make English grammar easy for native Tamil speakers who want to do well in interviews and competitive exams. She has a passion for the English language and wants to share her wisdom to the world. She initially started her venture as a YouTube channel. Then, she started to train people through courses and materials. You can find them here.
Woodle Doodle
Who doesn’t love doodles? Woodle Doodle Designs was started by Sumouli Datta, a passionate digital illustrator and animator. She teaches designing through online workshops and courses. Check out her online store here.
Thank the teachers in your life
Over time, we might forget the teachers who lit the spark in us. But, let’s take some time to appreciate what they did for us and let them know how much they have helped. After all, teaching is a huge service and most teachers don’t get the appreciation that they deserve.
