We were lucky to catch up with Cassy Carpino recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cassy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I was always tutoring and teaching. It was a great second source of income that I called my “fun money”. When I was pregnant with my son I told myself I would do nothing during maternity leave (I am a natural busybody). I finished all my tutor clients and went on maternity leave from the school board. 6 weeks postpartum a former client called and needed help with an application for her son. I should note I tutored all three of her kids previously and this was a quick ask. She then connected me to his educational councillor who helped partner students with tutors who looked past the normal curriculum and helped with executive functioning skills. He sent me many many clients and I started interviewing them and taking them on. Eventually, six weeks after giving birth I found myself with almost full-time hours again. She encouraged me to build a website and create a business. She owned a successful production company so I listened to her advice. I spent most of my maternity leave building my company and a business model to support the structure of how things would work. In June, 8 months into maternity leave I had a name, and website and was starting to promote for the upcoming school year. In September we grew from word of mouth and began serving 25 families with 5 staff under me. I was comfortable with an online business but I went back to teaching. I burned myself out and realized I could not do both. I did notice the demand for in-person so I raised capital, funds, and loans and we just secured an in-person space. We open our in-person location this Fall with a company just over a year old.
Cassy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was a teacher for 8 years but always tutored on the side. This business came to me on maternity leave but I think big factors included wanting to spend more time with my son, working for myself, and the general burnout of being a teacher post covid. The system is so broken, there is so much to juggle as a public educator that it became more and more challenging to go to work and be positive for a system failing students. I also worked for big tutoring companies where the focus was on getting a 90+ and just making the parents happy. THey hired anyone, not teachers or people familiar with the Ontario curriculum. So when it came time to run my own I made sure to set proper protocols in place to ensure the student was getting the most of the sessions and learning life long skills not just memorization.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
NO ONE wanted to fund me. I built the online business myself purchasing all the licensing and software and essentially everything the company was making monthly went back into the business to try and build the name. When it came time to acquire a physical space that has been over six months in the process Every bank said no since there were no numbers in person. I had no record of how well it would go. I have my online numbers but that was not enough to pay a downtown Toronto commercial rent monthly. I turned to alternative funding. I entered a program called Swoop. Here they matched my needs to Futurepreneur. This process was so long. It was paperwork, spreadsheets, and lots of phone calls. It all came down to a mentorship meeting that was 3 minutes too short. I had to backtrack a ton of work to make up for the missing time that was required and finally, we got approved. Once we were approved it took a few more weeks to get the loan. The loan was a mixture of a loan from them and a Canadian small Business Loan. During its whole process, we tried to find a physical space but every landlord had the same issues as the bak, whats your numbers/ How much capital do you have? We got denied 3 spaces and searched 50+ units. Our realtor stood by outside and assured us one would come. We found our current space and the landlord did insist on crazy bank values but instead, a sit-down meeting explained the business. He listened, asked questions, asked to show profit margins, and said yes based on the business plan. He gave us the chance we needed and we secured the place with our own personal capital. THe loan has helped us furnish the place and ensure we can open in the Fall ready to welcome all the new students.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My best decision for social media was to hire a Generation Y student. I hired a former student who was going to school for social media management. She grew my account in the first year to 700 followers on organic content. She developed a plan with me and we went for it. She closely follows trends and we ensure we get our content out there with what people want. We create a lot of funny REELs but also educational ones that help give some good advice. Our account at its largest had 60K reach and our one REEL went semi viral with 625K views. We hope with the physical location our account will continue to grow with promotions and community events. The best advice is to post daily, don’t look at the post and stress but get one piece of good content out every day or every other day. Also, engage with other accounts, comment, and like people’s stuff. In addition, follow 5-10 accounts a day so they follow you back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tutormetoronto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tutormetoronto/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassy-carpino-948459281/
Image Credits
@Dorothymayphotography