Kenya - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Tutorgram is an online learning platform that teaches students how to apply their academic skills to solve complex and real life challenges in the society. We offer online courses in Business, Marketing, Engineering, and Technology.

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

Tutorgram is an online learning platform that helps students apply their academic skills to solve complex and real life challenges. We offer online courses in Business, Marketing, Soft Skills, Engineering, and Technology. These courses are available on our website and they are on-demand and self-paced. They are organize into modules which each module having quizzes to test a student`s understanding of the course. To access our courses, a student needs to sign-up and create a user account. The goal of our project is to equip students with skills for the 21st century marketplace.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Many university graduates join the job market without market ready skills. Many employers have been blaming institutions of higher learning for producing graduates who walk into interviews without market ready skills. This is because the current education system equips students with academic skills but o not teach them how to apply these skills in real life. When these students graduate and join the market, they cannot apply the skills practically. Approximately 30% of employers have been complaining of an incompetent workforce. This leads to low productivity in the job market. There is a huge gap between what the education system is providing students and what the market needs, a gap that our innovation seeks to close.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your project intends to provide (at least 3).

The major benefits of learning through our platform are: i) The courses are self-paced, therefore providing students with the flexibility of learning at their convenience. Ii) The courses are affordable iii) Students are taught how to apply their skills in real life

01.04 Please describe who exactly your project is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

The primary beneficiaries of our project are university students and employers. University students are seeking to acquire skills to apply in the job market. We are targeting this group to equip with the skills needed to perform in the 21st century market. Employers will also benefit from our platform as they will have access to a competent pool of professionals to hire.

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2023-03-01

01.06 How many other partners are associated with your business venture?

5

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

2

01.08 Please describe the profile of each of the other partners (skills, experience, etc.)

Alvin Maingi is a web developer with experience developing websites and user interfaces. He is in charge of web development and ensuring a smooth user experience. Barack Oginga is an android developer who is in charge of developing and maintaining our mobile application. Alice is an accountant with over six years in accounting, book keeping, and budgeting. She is in charge of finance. Millicent is a marketer with experience in sales. She is working on pursuing strategic partnerships. I am in charge of marketing, branding, and business development.

01.09 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link here:

https://tutorgram.co.ke/ | https://ke.linkedin.com/company/tutorgramlearn | https://www.instagram.com/tutorgramlearn/?hl=en | https://www.facebook.com/Tutorgramlearn/

01.10 Which industry best describes your project?

Other: E-learning

02.01.01 My project contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification

One of the major contributors to global poverty is lack of employment opportunities which is caused by lack of relevant skills. Tutorgram is equipping students with the right skills to make them employable and earn a living.

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

4

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

02.03.01 My project contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

4

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

Quality education is one that is easily accessible, inclusive, and one that equips students with the right skills. Our content can be accessible from anywhere hence bridging the geographical gaps. Our platform is also inclusive as it is accommodating to anyone regardless of their location and financial status, since our courses are affordable. Our content is aligned with the needs of the market, therefore equipping students with the right skills.

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

4

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

4

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

4

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification

02.08.01 My project contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification

By equipping students with the right skills, we are giving them the opportunity to access decent jobs. When they get decent jobs, these students will make a huge contribution to the global economic development.

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

4

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

4

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

4

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

4

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

02.14.01 My project contributes to the Life below water goal

4

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification

02.15.01 My project contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

02.16.01 My project contributes to the Peace justice and strong institutions goal

4

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

In our quest to promote the named Sustainable Development Goals, we are building strategic partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations. We are currently partnering with experts in various fields to create content in their areas of expertise. In the next 8 years, we have ambitions to partner with over 5000 universities, colleges, and other learning institutions across the globe to co-create accredited courses. We will also partner with private companies, NGOs, and government institutions to post our students in internships to put their skills in practice which will open up future opportunities for employment and career development.

05.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.02 The product/service we envision creating represents an entirely new type of product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.03 The product/service we envision creating could be described as a new technology.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.04 The product/service we envision creating is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.05 The product/service we envision creating could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.06 The product/service we envision creating responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.07 The product/service we envision creating is a new version of an old product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.08 Justification

Our product is an improvement of an existing solution. There are other platforms that offer online courses like us. Our project is improving the impact of online learning in terms of skills provided to students and professional development. While other platforms equip students with academic skills, our project aims to align those skills with the need of the current market. We teach students how to apply these skills to solve real life problems.

05.09 Who are your main potential competitors and what makes you stand out from them?

Our main competitors are Future Learn, Alison, Coursera, Udemy, and Udacity. They all provide online learning programs including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), online degrees, and nano-degrees. While our platform also seeks to provide such programs, we not only plan to equip students with academic skills but we plan to align our content with the needs of the current and future marketplace. We will achieve this by teaching students how to use their academic skills to address real life challenges including climate change, urbanization, food security, and cyber bullying, among others.

10.06 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

I have put in place policies to promote the role of women entrepreneurs. Women comprise 40% of my startup founding team. We also have a documented policy stating that women should comprise at least 40% of the company board and the management team. As my company grows, I have plans to put women in strategic leadership positions to promote their career and professional development. My long term goal is to achieve a 50-50 gender composition of my company workforce.