Today we’d like to introduce you to Ajmal Saleem.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In my corporate beginnings as an IT consultant, although I developed technical competency, I found myself yearning to be personally engaged in the community through my work. In my consideration of life paths, I thought back to what I truly found fulfillment in, and came to the realization that it was the experiences I had with teaching others that meant the most to me. I changed my field of focus to education, in which I was able to interact with young and curious minds and help them tap into their potential to accomplish success.
After working with several students in a one to one setting, I was made aware of the magnitude of influence that supplemental studies have on a student’s education and found that there was a significant need for private tutoring in the community, which spurred the start of Suprex Learning in 2010. After completing 1 on 1 tutoring myself, I started hiring other tutors to work under me so that I could reach out to more students. Sure enough, we continued to grow as I served more and more students. One of my first students was an 8th-grade student diagnosed with learning disabilities including ADHD, dyslexia and a math learning disability.
His mother thought she would never see him graduate high school. However, I was determined to help the student conquer their learning barrier and guide them to the success I knew they could achieve. Seeing the transformation in her son’s academics and confidence, the parent encouraged me to start my company with a special emphasis on learning disabilities. Sure enough with dedication and hard work in 2016, her son graduated high school and was accepted to Stephen F Austin State University. It was an honor to take part in my student’s graduation, as it is the close bond with my clients and families that I sincerely value.
It is moments like these that assure me that my cause is truly making a difference in people’s lives. After getting my license to practice Educational Therapy for students with learning disabilities from the National Institute of Learning Development, I was able to help several other students overcome their learning disabilities 1 on 1. One of the students that I helped was homeschooled, although I quickly realized that she needed a more structured environment with core classes. The idea of a full-time school for learning disabilities, Excelsior Academy was born.
Since 2012, we have been helping students with learning barriers overcome their difficulties and mold them into life-long learners who can apply themselves in any academic setting. Our future goal is to program a software as service that helps us manage our tutoring company. We are designing it so other instructional types of businesses can use it and pay us a monthly subscription fee.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Education is very hands-on. There are a lot of variables and moving parts with tutoring. You have to interview and meet tutors to hire them on, you get calls for all kinds of situations. You get inquiries from all different parts of town and all different types of subjects and availability. You have to match the few tutors you have with all the inquiries you have coming in. And that’s a challenge because all kids have different needs. The nightmare of having to go through that.
Clients don’t understand the challenge of placing a tutor with a specific student. We have to go back into our database and interview them in person and let them do the background checks. Some parents don’t even want to enroll until they know what teacher they’re going to get. So we would find these tutors and many times the client didn’t sign up again after doing all that work. Now our website is fully eCommerce and our clients pay upfront. Before that time, there were just too many variables to deal with and a lot of drop-offs.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Suprex Learning – what should we know?
Suprex Learning LLC is Houston’s leading in-home K-12 tutoring company. We provide in-home and in-center tutoring, coaching, college prep services and educational therapy to students from grades K-12 and college. Suprex Learning has proven to be a leader in the academic support industry providing affordable and quality tutoring and coaching.
Suprex provides Academic Tutoring, Test Prep, Learning Disability Therapy, and has a private school division for students with learning disabilities, Excelsior Academy. We teach in all subjects including math, science, English and social studies in Greater Houston. Suprex Learning provides tutoring/therapy at our center, in-home, at a local library, or at a school.
Our private school division, Excelsior Academy, is a school for students with learning disabilities serving grades K-8 located in Southwest Houston, Texas. Excelsior Academy began as a homeschool center in 2012 serving students in a 1:1 setting in Sugar Land. We have helped students from elementary to high school successfully transition into college and secondary school. Our full-time elementary school began in August 2014. Excelsior Academy Private School provides individualized instruction, educational therapy, and small classroom sizes to students with learning disabilities.
These disabilities include ADD/ADHD (trouble focusing, hyperactivity), Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, and other difficulties with regards to reading, writing and arithmetic.
Excelsior Academy Private School provides an alternative learning solution for students who face academic barriers by showing learners how to learn and through practical application. Our staff is able to achieve this by utilizing methods from the National Institute of Learning Development (NILD) that have helped improve visual and auditory processing and cognitive functioning skills. I am most proud of the high levels of achievements and gains my students have been able to make by specializing in individualized education.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
A good friend of mine, Rizwan Moton, has helped me tremendously since the company’s growth phase. Riz developed and honed his digital marketing and design skills through working with my company initially. His taste for design and ever-growing knowledge of search engine optimization have allowed Suprex Learning and Excelsior Academy to reach top rankings for targets education-related keywords that parents may be searching for (e.g. private tutoring; learning disability school). Riz’ website development have allowed Suprex to have world-class user experience for an education e-commerce platform.
Pricing:
- Private Academic Tutoring: $45-$70 per hour
- Online Academic Tutoring Starting at $35 per hour
- SAT/ACT/ISEE/GRE/GMAT Prep: $65-$90 per hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 104 Industrial Blvd, Suite Q Sugar Land, TX 77478
- Website: www.suprexlearning.com
- Phone: 8329009660
- Email: tutor@suprexlearning.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suprex-Learning-LLC/178652172172029?sk=info
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuprexLearning
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/suprex-learning-sugar-land-2
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