When he started elementary school, Maria Washington’s son had trouble sitting still and being attentive. “The teachers wrote him off,” she says. “They told me he couldn’t do this, that, or the other. They told me he wouldn’t amount to anything.”
But the Washingtons disagreed. Maria’s husband, Aaron—a former chemistry professor at the University of South Carolina Aiken—began tutoring his son. They quickly discovered that he learned higher with visual cues, so they adjusted the schedule to his needs. By the end of fifth grade, “my son’s teacher told him he should move to mainstream classes,” Maria says. “He ended up with all the perfect grades.”
So when the Washingtons decided to start a business, it was Aaron’s success tutoring Maria’s son that drew them to the Tutor Doctor education franchise. “We thought we could replicate our experience for other families,” Maria says. Their Evans, Ga., location opened in 2022 and served just 37 clients in its first 12 months. By 2023, that they had 195 clients and tripled their revenue. Here, Washington talks about leveraging government resources and the unmet needs of her community.
How did you manage to triple your turnover between the first and second 12 months?
The first 12 months, we focused on individual families and learned more about the Tutor Doctor model. I had just had a newborn and was learning how to juggle a baby and a business. But my husband had talked to someone who mentioned that schools had access to federal money through the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) program. So I registered our company as an EANS provider in Georgia and at least seven other states so we could gain exposure in schools.
Then in January 2023, I got a call from a private school that had signed up about 50 students for services. Another school contacted me in the summer to ask about 30 students for one-on-one tutoring. Establishing partnerships with schools is what really gave us growth.
What challenges did you encounter as you began to grow what you are promoting so quickly?
The primary challenge was recruiting prime quality tutors. I had to become more selective. I asked more behavioral questions during interviews which was a game changer. My process now includes an interview with a dedicated tutor recruiter, followed by 45 minutes with me to review a PowerPoint presentation that I designed to make sure all candidates understood the requirements of the role and the impact we hope to have on our families.
How has owning a franchise impacted your life?
I have flexibility in designing my schedule. I can take my kids to doctor’s appointments. I can have lunch with my first grader at school. I can go out to see my son’s swim team. I do not have to miss those key events. Then I can come home and work from 10:00 to midnight to process payroll.
What other areas of potential growth do you see for your company?
We want to offer tutoring as an HR profit for large corporations. Everyone has kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews. Maybe the company pays 50% and the family pays 50%. I understand that this is something that hasn’t been done before, but I like to do recent things. If we are able to get a larger company to offer tutoring support as an HR profit, that may be huge.
And your son? How is he feeling?
He is entering ninth grade and finished eighth grade with five A’s and two B’s – and two of the courses were credited toward highschool. He is now self-taught. That is our goal with all of our families. Many of our success stories not require tutoring.