Arik Olakunle Awodein of TeachersAroundMe.com tells us how they provide quality education.
Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded TeachersAroundMe.com.
Arik Olakunle Awodein: I am a young passionate serial entrepreneur; whose keen interest is to make life better for the general masses. I founded a couple of businesses and helped grow a couple of others, including multinationals, and realized there’s a lot to do for humanity, especially to curb the menace that rages around the world. After rigorous research on how to go about solving numerous problems such as illiteracy, language barrier, immorality, insecurity, poverty & unemployment that exist not just in my home country Nigeria, but across the globe; from one center, I observed that EDUCATION IS THE SOLUTION to it all; moreover, considering the about 13.5 million out of school children in Nigeria, I realized that is a disaster in the making; so I founded TeachersAroundMe.com (an online digital edTech platform that helps source, screen and connects professional educators – Teachers, Linguists, Counsellors and Skill Trainers, with those in need of their services). I believe the world’s problems boil down to lack of Quality Education, and if that is tackled on time, the society would be structured in the right direction, as against how deteriorating it is presently; which unfortunately would affect all, one way or the other.
Do you have small habits that made a meaningful impact on your life and business?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: I have a habit that makes it hard for me to look away from things that aren’t going right or well. I love everything or, let me say, many things to be done well and right because I get super worried when they’re not how they’re meant to be. I worry about you, about the generations yet to come, than I worry about or care for myself; because I’m of the opinion that I would automatically be fine when everyone is fine. But when I’m fine, and people out there aren’t, then it’s just a matter of time for me to be tormented by them. I think that habit was part of what led to the founding of TeachersAroundMe.com, whereby an army of educators would be deployed to the society to fix their various communities & reach by inculcating Quality Knowledge in people’s lives. Although lots of people have told me the world can’t get better, it’s the end time, but I believe we can still reshape it a bit rather than watch it deteriorate fast.
How does TeachersAroundMe.com market its product/services online?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: Oops! Well, that’s a tough question; because we don’t, or let me say we hardly advertise. But wouldn’t it be funny if I say we don’t advertise, because which business exists without advertising {chuckles}; even the TeachersAroundMe.com website alone and social media pages are online advertisements in disguise. Okay, I think the best way to put it is: we don’t do paid advertising, but we are still focusing on growing organically. So we adopt words of mouth advertisement and hum referrals.
What is your hiring policy/process, and how do you retain your employees?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: We are a bit strict and result-oriented when it comes to hiring. Although we care less about gender or race; as a matter of fact, we love to have people of diverse backgrounds who would contribute such diversity to the growth of human development; but we love to have people who already have a bit of our culture (with the ideology of Working To Make Things Right) in them naturally, because that would make the evangelism a bit more easy, cos we won’t need to teach them the right ways of life, they already have it in them, and willing to inculcate such in the lives of others.
Again at TeachersAroundMe.com, we treat everyone equally, with love & respect, as well as paying them well, seeing to their needs, and training them for personal & global growth; and I think that has also helped in retaining employees.
How are you funding your growth?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: Hum, well, we are self funded.
How do you plan to stay in the game?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: We plan to stay in the game by offering unbeatable value and excellent service.
Tell us a customer success story of yours.
Arik Olakunle Awodein: There was a time a client requested the service of a tutor, and we delivered the same day. Basically, we do reach out to our users, both service providers and clients, to have their feedback. In one of our routine checkups, a client told us she was impressed with the educator we connected her with. As a matter of fact, something got spoilt at her place, and when the educator we gave her saw it, he used his money to fix it, even though he wasn’t the one who spoilt it. She said that got her.
Your final thoughts?
Arik Olakunle Awodein: I’m of the belief that “what you think doesn’t concern you will one day, one way or the other, affect you directly, or indirectly.” There’s cancer in the world called “I DON’T CARE.” And because this cancer wasn’t long treated, it’s now affecting many more people and pulling them into that same “IDC syndrome,” where people care less about others and how they live their lives but cry foul when those people’s way of life, now affects them. Why not stop cancer from spreading, rather than feeling the pains all around after spreading? I’m trying to say that all hands need to be on deck for the good growth & development of the world at large. And that growth can only happen through Quality Education. And remember, education is beyond sitting in a four-wall room called class. Education is the right inculcation of knowledge. Let’s All Focus On Getting Better and clamp down on immortality so that we can live the life of our dreams in peace & unity.
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