We were lucky to catch up with Chris Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
The biggest risk I have taken was the creation of Planting Seeds Tutoring & Test Prep. At the time, I was in my early 20’s just building my professional career and working additional jobs as supplemental income. At the time, I thought I was making good money for part-time work. However, I also knew these jobs were short-term and not part of my future long-term goals. Ultimately, I had to make a decision to either keep working multiple jobs or take a chance and create a profitable business that would give me the FREEDOM to live the life I truly want. I chose the latter of the too and it ended up being the most challenging but rewarding decision I have made to date! I highly recommend anyone else to take a risk, trust the process and go after what you want in life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Chris Jones, founder and CEO of Planting Seeds Tutoring & Test Prep. I have been in the educational industry for 11+ years helping students reach academic success! Planting Seeds Tutoring & Test Prep provides tutoring and test prep services for students Pre-K- College in all 50 states either in person or over a video call. We’re dedicated to helping students feel empowered and passionate about their education so that they can succeed as individuals beyond the classroom. Our goal is to make an impact in the community and touch each and every students live by sharing the importance of education.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When COVID struck in 2020, I had to immediately pivot my business in order to survive the uncharted times. During this time, I was able to integrate tutoring services fully online to accommodate students’ needs. We expanded by offering additional enrichment classes that we believed would keep students engaged and interactive. I even changed the format of my hiring to better fit the needs of students! In doing so, it allowed PST to weather the storm and stay focused on the upcoming school year. As the new school year approached we moved to in-person pod tutoring for small groups of students the entire academic year that allowed us to help a wider net of students at one time.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Fortunately, creating a tutoring business doesn’t t require much startup costs to begin! When I started the business, I was fresh out of college and starting my professional career so I used the little cash I had and set up the business legally, and then started spending money to market my services. Instead of using capital, I put more sweat equity into building my business by promoting my business in many different ways. By the 2nd year in business, I started making a decent amount of profit each month. The first 2-3 months I spent all the money on personal things (clothes, vacations, food, etc.) but I quickly realized doing this would not allow me to scale my business. This is when I started reinvesting back into my business with the profit I had made each month. By delaying my gratification, it allowed me to pour into my business and gradually build the business to the level it is at now.
Contact Info:
- Website: plantingseedstutoring.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantingseedstutoring/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plantingseedstutoring/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plantingseedstutoring#:~:text=Planting%20Seeds%20Tutoring%20focuses%20on,that%20centers%20around%20their%20needs.