What It's About
A college student builds the perfect $20 million tutoring hustle.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Shaan says that the key to success as an entrepreneur is doing what you know. At first he was frustrated with the advice, but when he took it to heart and started Prep Expert, he realized that when you’re an expert in a particular topic, you have the opportunity to provide a lot of value.
Fun Fact
The first mass administered IQ test was called the Army Alpha and was used in the recruitment process for World War I. After the war, it was updated in order to be used for the college admissions process.
Notes from Chris
Episode 996
Shaan Patel took the SATs for the first time when he was fifteen years old. When he got his results back, he wasn’t satisfied. Despite receiving a score close to 1700, Shaan wanted to do so much better. He had big dreams of earning a place in a college’s combined BA/MD program, but most students who were accepted into those programs scored closer to 2200—nearly 500 points higher than his score. He took the test a second time, but didn’t do much better. Of course, he was only fifteen. Shaan knew that there was an obvious way for him to improve his score: by studying for the exam. Those first two times he took the SATs he only studied the week before the test. He arrived feeling underprepared and nervous. Finally, when the day of the test came once again, Shaan felt calm and collected. He knew he was ready. That day, at 17 years old, Shaan scored a 2400—otherwise known as a perfect score. Shaan was amazed with all of the opportunities that opened up to him just with his SAT score. He says that he wasn’t a genius, he just became an expert on the test itself. Shaan knew that he could help other students dramatically improve their scores, so he decided to write an SAT Prep Book. Once he complied some material, he began pitching the book to all kinds of literary agents and publishers. He pitched the book nearly 100 times and was rejected over and over. Everyone told him that the SAT Prep Book industry was too competitive and that he wasn’t known enough to stand out in the market. With that, Shaan gave up on the book idea … but he still had all of the material he’d compiled, and he wanted to make sure that it didn’t go to waste. At first, Shaan was only tutoring students when he was home from college for summer or winter break, but he had so many people asking for help that he decided to transition to online classes. That way, he wouldn’t be limited to working with his new business, now called Prep Expert, in person. As time went on, Shaan continued to build up his business. He was even able to go on Shark Tank and pitch his ideas to the investors. Mark Cuban, one of the sharks, invested $250,000 in Prep Expert for 20% equity, and since then, the business has grown exponentially. In the three years since then, total profits have increased from $1 million to $20 million. With his devotion to creating his business around something he was an expert in, Shaan has been able to create a test prep empire and help thousands of students. In the future, he hopes to continue to build Prep Expert while he completes his residency and begins his full-time career as a dermatologist.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Prep Expert: Check out Shaan's website to learn more about his SAT/ACT tutoring courses.
SEE ALSO:
- English Teacher Turns Passion for Verbs Into Online Income: In search of extra income, an ESL teacher creates a game that shows students how to use phrasal verbs. Turn it up!
- Father of 9 Starts “Uber for Tutoring” Hustle: After being frustrated in his search for the right tutors for his many children, a busy father creates a directory that has generated more than 100,000 user profiles.
- Rocket Scientist Launches Out-Of-This-World Tutoring Business: A NASA rocket scientist engineers her students toward top-flight grades.
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Resources
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Quote of the Day
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