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Lito German: Bringing Filipino Brands to the Middle-East

SandBox Middle East is the largest Filipino-owned import and distribution company for grocery items in the entire Gulf region. It is the exclusive distributor of several legacy brands like Delimondo, Arce Dairy, B Coffee, and Frabelle Snacks, as well as upcoming Philippine brands like Plantation Prime, Pacquiao Coffee, and GreenFood.

At the same time, SandBox is the marketing and distribution partner of PDLT Global, the largest and oldest telecommunications company in the Philippines, for its proprietary platform named BayaDIRECT. This service allows Filipino expats living in the UAE to directly pay for their Philippine-based bills, mobile subscriptions and purchase e-gifts and vouchers for their families back home – all in the convenience of strategically located payment centers across the Emirates.

The Steadfast Leader

Since childhood, SandBox Middle East CEO Lito German was always fascinated with Marketing thanks to the influence of his father, a renowned spin doctor and advertising guru. So, as Lito grew up, it was no surprise that he pursued a career in Public Relations and Marketing.

I started in the family business for the practical reason that my parents insisted that they get their money’s worth after paying for my education”, he says with a smile.

“I had taken this as a given anyway, as I had spent a lot of my free time during my university days hanging out at my father’s PR and Marketing agency, being a casual observer and learning the ropes”, he explains.

Eventually, Lito jumped from the agency side and from working for the family business, to the client side after receiving an offer to join the BMW subsidiary in the Philippines as its Marketing and Communications Director. This step spearheaded Lito’s 15 year-long career in the automotive industry.

“Through the years, I was privileged to work across continents for the world’s leading car brands such as BMW, Toyota and Lexus. It was a magical ride”, Lito recalls.

Later in early 2021, Lito made another leap of faith by joining SandBox Middle East, a Dubai-based import and distribution company primarily focusing on various food and grocery items from the Philippines.

“For me, the main challenge of any CEO is being able to jump into different positions seamlessly and authentically, depending on what’s required by the moment. These days, I find myself switching from being a cheerleader to being a coach, from being a referee to being the squad captain. I stand in front of my team when there’s trouble ahead, beside them when there’s work to be done, and behind them when there’s praise and acknowledgment due,” Lito says.

A Fundamentally Different Organization

“We are not just traders we’re brand builders,” Lito emphasizes. As a Filipino owned and operated organization, we care about the brands we carry–more so because we grew up with most of them,”explains Lito. He adds that he was surprised to find that most of the importers and distributors of Philippine-made products in the Middle East have little or no connection at all to his country. “Most of the time, they view our country’s products as mere commodities to sell at the highest possible margin,” he says.

As opposed to that, Lito explains that SandBox Middle East carefully curates brands that they distribute, in order to present the very best products that the Philippines has to offer to a wider audience. This is the reason why his organization invests heavily in marketing efforts to create appreciation for Philippine products beyond its captive audience of Filipino expats.

A Breakthrough Year

Lito feels that 2022 has been a breakthrough year for the company. Not only has SandBox widened its product range by adding several brands like Plantation Prime and Veega, it likewise expanded its sales channels by reaching out to new markets across the Gulf region. A major milestone this year was also achieved with the launch of the BayaDIRECT payment platform, in partnership with PDLT Global.

“2022 strengthened our belief that we have what it takes not only to perform, but even to lead in the Big League,” Lito added.

Getting Ready for the Future

SandBox Middle East continues to aggressively expand to several markets across the Gulf region as evidenced by its recent start of operations in Qatar and Bahrain. At the same time, the company is diversifying beyond its offerings of processed food and grocery items by launching more BayaDIRECT payment centers across the entire Middle East through strategic partnerships with money exchange and remittance companies.

Additionally, it is launching specialty retail stores that offer direct B2C sales of its top-selling products, while serving as BayaDIRECT payment centers. SandBox Middle East intends to initially set up its stores in the UAE starting at the end of 2022, with the mid-term goal of establishing its retail chain across the entire GCC region.

MAKING IT HAPPEN: Tia Latrell is Founder, Owner, Floral Artist and Designer of Latrell Flowers, LLC

ENTREPRENEUR SCORES IN THE START-UP GAME: Tia Latrell is a detailed and passionate Floral Artist and Designer that strives for excellence in every piece of her work.

Latrell Flowers provides floral artistry for all occasions, specializing in crafting custom floral arrangements.

Tia Latrell of Latrell Flowers began her business in 2010 in Baltimore Maryland as a sole proprietor.

Latrell Flowers began their operation in their Maryland home basement.

Tia Latrell of Latrell Flowers always knew what her vision was and aspired to obtain and operate from her self-owned storefront location, along with many other goals that she has brought to life.

All of these goals did not manifest without unspeakable hardships.

Latrell Flowers started as a floral artistry company providing custom floral arrangements for all occasions.

After four years of Latrell Flowers operating as a sole proprietor, Latrell Flowers began its operation as an LLC.

Roughly a year into Latrell Flowers becoming a LLC, they expanded their services.

BRANCHING OUT: Latrell Flowers began to customize sports items for all occasions.

Tia Latrell of Latrell Flowers always had a vision of working with sports teams where not only the flowers of Latrell Flowers would be showcased, but Tia Latrell always knew that her creative idea of customized bedazzled balls would give her a fighting chance of being recognized by the NFL, particularly the Baltimore Ravens being that Latrell Flowers is based in Maryland.

Latrell Flowers also had aspirations of working with various NFL Teams which she has also brought to life.

In 2016, Latrell Flowers partnered with the Sports Marketing Company for the Baltimore Ravens Sports Players where the Custom Made Floral Designs and Custom Designed Bedazzled Footballs and Sports Paraphernalia of Latrell Flowers have been displayed and featured with the Baltimore Ravens at various celebrity events.

The Custom Designed Footballs have been featured on the Nest which aired in the year 2016 on ABC2 News with Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver, Steve Smith Sr.

Latrell Flowers worked closely with Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver, Steve Smith Sr. and was honored to work on behalf of various Steve Smith Sr. affairs, and various Baltimore Ravens Events.

Latrell Flowers was most honored to service the Retirement Party of Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver, Steve Smith Sr. with Latrell Flowers Custom Floral Arrangements, and Steve Smith Sr. was presented with a Latrell Flowers Custom Designed Bedazzled Diamond Football.

A TRACK RECORD OF RECOGNITION: The Floral Designs of Latrell Flowers have graced various forums and stages.

Latrell Flowers was honored in being the Floral Artist for the year 2011 for the largest Funeral Home Directory, Funeralhomes.com.

And holds the 2015 Trailblazer Women’s Award for Women in the New Era Making a Difference in Today’s World for Leadership, Commitment, and Inspiration

In the year 2016, the number one Educational and Entrepreneurial Resource Magazine for Minority Young Adults, B.O.S.S. Magazine featured Latrell Flowers in issues 28 and 30.

Latrell Flowers was also the winner of the 2016 Global Influential Businesswoman Awards and is featured in the Acquisition International of England and Wales as the Best Small to Medium Enterprise Businesswoman of Baltimore.

Latrell Flowers was also the 2016 Businesswoman Elite Awards Winner of Maryland from Corporate America Magazine, the Voice of Wall Street. Latrell Flowers was recognized as the 2016 – 2017 Best Woman Owned Florist of Maryland and was awarded for Excellence in Custom Flower Designs.

In the year 2017, Latrell Flowers introduced their New Women and Men’s Apparel, Accessory and House-ware Line. In the year 2017, Latrell Flowers was also recognized Globally by Acquisition International as the Most Outstanding Customized Floral Designs & Arrangements – Maryland.

In the year 2018, Latrell Flowers received a Global Excellence Award being named the Most Trusted for Wedding Floral Designs and Arrangements – Maryland by Acquisition International of the United Kingdom, the voice of modern business.

In the year 2018, Latrell Flowers also made numerous appearances on Radio One Baltimore, where their wide range of services were showcased, and their steady involvement in the community was highlighted.

In the year 2019, Latrell Flowers partnered with the Baltimore Ravens Former Safety ED Reed Foundation and was honored to sponsor the “Ed Reed Placards”, for the Ed Reed Hall of Fame Golf Tournament.

In that same year, Latrell Flowers added many more accomplishments to their Brand. Latrell Flowers became an Ambassador for the Peoples Shark and Star of ABC’s Shark Tank, Founder and Creator of FUBU, “Daymond John.”

Latrell Flowers became an Ambassador for the USA National Best Seller, “Powershift”, by Daymond John with Daniel Paisner.

In the same year of 2019, Latrell Flowers was named and received recognition as one of “Baltimore‘s Best Flower Shops for Flower Delivery”, by Flower Delivery Reviews based in Canada.

Latrell Flowers was then chosen to establish and operate an Amazon Storefront as an Amazon Influencer.

After the success of becoming an Amazon Influencer in 2019, and establishing a full service Amazon Storefront, Latrell Flowers was faced with unfathomable back to back family losses.

Through the Grace of God and faith, Latrell Flowers remained determined and diligent in continuing with the operation of business after the loss of her father in 2016.

After the third family loss we were going into the year 2020, and little did we know that the world would be faced with the unthinkable pandemic.

The world soon shut down in every sense of the word. Throughout that turbulent and trying time, Latrell Flowers continued to remain steadfast in the safe operation of business.

It certainly was not without heartache, pain, strain and an insurmountable amount of stress. It was only through faith that Latrell Flowers continued to persevere throughout the unimaginable pandemic and revamp operations in order to continue business.

Like the saying goes, there can be no success without turbulence leading to triumph.

THE BIG APPLE: In the World changing year of 2020, the efforts, diligence, operation and artistry of Latrell Flowers did not go unnoticed.

In the summer of 2020, Latrell Flowers and partner, Cynthia Hudson-Laney was chosen for a Live Billboard Promotion in New York City’s Times Square.

Latrell Flowers was displayed on four Live Billboards in New York City’s Times Square.

That was the fuel that was needed for Latrell Flowers to continue in the fight in the year 2020.

Tia Latrell’s motto is every detail matters because you never know who is watching.

Not long after the Time Square Billboard Showing of Latrell Flowers in September of 2020, Latrell Flowers was Spotlighted by BBB Greater Maryland.

The article reads:

“Today we would like to shine the spotlight on Tia Latrell, who is a proud African American business owner! She is the founder of Latrell Flowers and strives for excellence in every piece of her work.

In the same month of September 2020, Latrell Flowers, LLC was honored for our sponsorship to be included in the Founders Walkway at the “Ed Reed,” Baltimore Ravens Hall of Fame Inductee St. Rose Public Park located in Ed’s Hometown of St. Rose, LA.

 

What Are the Best Compound Interest Investments?

If you are interested in learning more about the best compound interest investments, you have come to the right place. You can learn about various investments, from savings accounts to stocks.

What is compound interest?

Compound interest can be a beneficial tool for saving and investing, and knowing how it works can help you make better decisions for your money. The formula for compound interest is quite simple, but the amount of interest you earn can vary.

The most apparent benefit of compounding is that it can be leveraged to make you more money. Compounding is the process of adding more and more interest to a deposit or loan. You can also find accounts that allow you to compound the interest every day, such as a 401(k) or savings account.

The amount of interest you will earn depends on how much you deposit and how frequently you compound the interest. Generally, your investment grows more rapidly as you increase the time you leave the money in the account.

Certificates of deposit CDs

Certificates of deposit (CDs) are safe investments that offer higher interest rates than savings accounts. They also provide a guarantee of receiving a certain amount of interest for a specified period.

When deciding which accounts are best for your needs, make sure to consider the following:

A CD is a certificate of deposit issued by a bank that guarantees the investor a specific interest rate and duration for a set amount of money. However, the actual APY, or Annual Percentage Yield, will vary.

The higher the APY, the more return you will earn on your money. This can make a big difference for more significant amounts of money. Online banks and credit unions offer the best rates for most people.

Another advantage of a CD is keeping money out of your reach for a long time. Most have a minimum opening deposit of $500.

Individual stocks

Investing in individual stocks can be challenging. You must understand your risk tolerance, research the companies, and manage your portfolio. It can also be expensive to diversify. But the benefits of compounding interest can pay off.

One advantage of investing in individual stocks is tax control. This means you can avoid paying capital gains taxes on your investment gains. However, it would help if you kept an eye on the overall economy. For example, suppose you have a portfolio with a high concentration of individual stocks. In that case, you may need to sell some to keep it properly diversified.

You need to have a strategy for buying and selling shares. This is important because individual stocks can be very volatile. The price of a share is influenced by many factors, including the company’s performance and market sentiment.

Real estate

Compound interest is one of the best ways to grow wealth. This is because it is an investing strategy that takes periodic profits from an investment and puts them together to multiply returns.

Real estate is an excellent place to invest for compounding. While it differs from earning high interest on your savings account, it is a great way to achieve capital growth without actually investing your own money. Using real estate to compound your earnings can result in significant wealth in the long run.

When it comes to compounding in real estate, there are two main strategies. The first is called the cash flow strategy. It involves using the money you earn from a rental property to buy another. Buying more properties can lead to exponential growth over time.

High-yield savings accounts

The best high-yield savings accounts offer a higher interest rate than traditional ones, which can help you reach your financial goals. You can find these accounts at banks, credit unions, and online banks. You can also link these accounts to brokerages.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures these accounts up to $250,000. While the rates vary, these accounts usually have an annual percentage yield (APY) of 1.50% to 2%.

The rates can be adjusted based on changes in the federal funds rate. These changes are typically a result of the Federal Reserve raising or lowering its rate.

Some of the best savings accounts offer no minimum balance requirements, while others require a small amount. Some high-yield savings accounts even provide ATM cards.

Some financial institutions require you to keep a certain amount of money in your account to avoid penalties. In addition, the interest rate may be compounded daily, weekly, or semi-annually.

Conclusion

Investing in the right compound interest investments is wise if you want to increase your net worth. While most people think of stocks and bonds as their go-to investments for generating high returns, many options exist.

The best compound interest investment is the one that produces the most money in the long run. For this reason, it’s essential to start investing early. The sooner you start, the faster you will reach your financial goals. The power of compounding interest is one of the main reasons many people choose to save for retirement.

Unleashing the Power of Technology

Prasad G Palla is a technology executive bringing new business strategies to life through the application of people and technology. With over two decades of experience in technology at leading global enterprises and early-stage companies, Prasad now serves as the Chief Technical Officer at Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd, which is India’s largest used auto platform business organizing the market by demand and supply. Presently Mahindra First Choice has the largest pan-India used car retailing network and several fast-growing partnerships to procure used vehicles efficiently.

Since the start of his career, Prasad has led several digital transformation initiatives across multiple companies to leverage technology for new solutions and enable data-driven decision-making. He has also managed technology teams across 8 different countries and set up a 200+ engineering team in India, which consistently ranked among the most motivated teams in multiple internal surveys, with a lesser attrition rate than the industry standard.

Prasad started his career with i2 Technologies and went on to serve several other companies like Microsoft corporation, Talisma, Ocwen Financial Solutions, Informatica, Avagmah, and QS Quacquarelli Symonds. He played a key role in the core company leadership at Informatica, Avagmah, and QS. In 2013, he moved back from the U.S. to India to establish Quark Science and Technologies, a science education company to provide world-class science education at affordable prices for lower-middle-class Indian students. However, after spending two years on his venture, Prasad moved back to the technology sector and joined Avagmah as its CTO.

Currently, at Mahindra First Choice, Prasad is a part of the management committee and the group-level Technology Leadership team for the 19 billion Mahindra Group of Companies.

“Mahindra is one of the most respected brands in India and has the highest levels of trust and integrity as part of the work ethic. I relish working in such an environment,”- he said. “This company is at an inflection point and has started a journey to leverage technology to become the dominant player in the market. This is an exciting opportunity for me as the CTO of the organization.”

Over the years, Prasad and the products he managed have received several awards, including, SIIA CODiE Award, Startup 50 best technology award, Informatica R&D Innovation Prize, Informatica Cloud- Excellence Award, Informatica Cloud- Extreme customer focus award, Informatica R&D labs award, Truss Award etc.

Serving the Growing Automotive Sector of India

Mahindra First Choice Wheels is one of the key companies of the Mahindra Group, which is a $19 billion conglomerate. It operates in after-market services of the automotive sector and is mainly focused on the used car industry, which is a largely unorganized sector in India, with a market size of around $23 billion.

Mahindra First Choice is working on organizing the used car market by aggregating demand and supply by leveraging technology.

Currently, it has the largest pan- India used car retailing network, large and fast-growing partnerships to procure used vehicles efficiently, and the major share of the enterprise solutions market for banks, NBFCs, OEMs, and insurance companies.

Mahindra First Choice now offers various services, including used car sales and procurement, E-commerce for new and used vehicles, support for launching electric vehicles, yard management solutions, auto inspections, an auction portal for sales and procurement of vehicles, India Blue Book, and Carandbike, a major Autoportal in India.

Creating a Sustainable Model

Currently valued at $23 billion, the used car market in India is projected to grow at double the rate at a CAGR of 19.5% till FY 2026-2027. Key factors contributing to this massive growth in the next few years are the rising middle class and the growing youth population. This massive growth in the used car market has prompted multiple organizations to enter the sector. However, the primary issue with the used car market in the country is the lack of organized players. The unorganized and Semi Organized participants take up nearly 45% of the total market share, and Consumer to Consumer sales take up 35%, leaving only 15% market share for the organized sector, which often leads to a highly supply-constrained market. This also means there are no set standards for vehicle inspection, and the price of a car gets determined in an ad-hoc manner with little or no clarity. In most cases, buyers are robbed of the satisfaction and excitement of getting a fully certified car with a detailed inspection.

So, Mahindra First Choice strives to transform the used car landscape in India by making transactions simple, efficient, transparent, and equitable.

“Most of our competitors do not have a good revenue model and rely on investor money to scale operations and become profitable. This might not be a sustainable model in the current macroeconomic environment,”- explained Prasad. “Mahindra first choice has multiple businesses that are generating revenues and can create an organic growth engine for the company to grow in a reliable and organic way. It is also backed by Mahindra, which inherently adds trust to the customers.”

Looking at the Future

Mahindra First Choice aspires to become the most customer-centric auto tech company. As the CTO of the organization, Prasad is working on creating a series of digital transformation steps to integrate the islands of technologies and operations and create an efficient suite of applications, built technology platforms that allow for agility for operations and automate a lot of repetitive tasks, standardize the data definitions and build a data platform for data-driven decision making at every stage, and develop the teams into agile and self-managed squads to speed up development.

Anish Daryani: Accelerating Commerce for Brands

Anish Daryani established M&C Saatchi Indonesia in 2018 to Disrupt the communications industry in Indonesia. Born and raised in Kolkata, India, Anish went to St. James’ School. He later attended St. Xavier’s College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Initially, Anish was chosen by a modeling agency that had come to his college campus looking for fresh talent, and after joining the agency, Anish landed a few modeling assignments.

However, he soon recognized an opportunity to start a business in the same space and launched his modeling agency named ‘Creations’ at 19.

After establishing ‘Creations,’ Anish also had his first brush with advertising professionals, where he became fascinated by how they worked with consumer insights. In a heartbeat, Anish realized this was what he was born to do and exited the business to get an internship in an agency.

Since then, advertising became the only profession Anish has been in. He says, “I do it all day, every day. A career in building brands has taken me places, literally… as I got to work and live in Mumbai, Nairobi, Lagos, Bengaluru, Ho Chi Minh City, and now Jakarta, where I’ve anchored my ship.”

Establishing M&C Saatchi Indonesia

As a veteran advertising professional, Anish had the privilege of building his professional career with several big network agencies, including Ogilvy, Rediffusion Y&R, Leo Burnett, and Lowe. This eventually gave him the chance to get a closer look at the industry and understand that it was slowly crumbling. Advertising is all about people and their talent. However, many traditional advertising agencies had forgotten that, and finance professionals started running the show, and soon people became numbers on an excel sheet. Upon realizing this, Anish decided to build a new-age, future-proof agency focusing on people and talent, both within the agency and its clients.

On establishing M&C Saatchi Indonesia, Anish positioned the agency as an “Accelerator of Commerce”. Its advertising services translate Brand Purpose to Commerce. Its digital services convert Content to Commerce. Its Shopper and Experiential services elevate Brand Experience to Commerce, and its PR Services transform Brand Reputation to Commerce.

Anish says, “Our’ agility” is the main ingredient behind our success… our ability to lead, create and manage meaningful change, and deliver solutions and ideas with our principle of “Brutal Simplicity of Thought.” We brought in the freshness that the market required. We don’t just identify the problems; we solve them. As a team, we harness our collective energy to give the best solutions to our clients. And lastly, we deliver exceptional results to our clients, which has led to a 90% client retention rate. Our agency model is of the future, and every strategy we follow is always in line with tomorrow.”

Mission and Vision M&C

Saatchi was established to simplify brand building during the age of change by navigating, leading, and creating meaningful change. The organization creates ‘Simple Solutions that Spark’ using meaningful data, actionable strategies, and simple experiences powered by significant changes.

Altogether these have led to the creation of solid agency culture, which Anish is very proud of.

  • People Power: M&C Saatchi is entirely talent-led, and the agency is all about its people, those who work in the agency, and those who work with the agency (clients and partners).
  • Diverse Collaboration: From having an agile workplace to simplicity in process, everything Anish and his team does is aimed at harnessing the power of collaboration among internal teams, external specialists, partners, and clients.
  • Playful Curiosity: As the agency’s founder, Anish encourages his teams to enjoy their work, seek innovation, and empower them to take risks without fearing failure. M&C Saatchi Indonesia ensures complete job security so that no members could be sacked due to a lack of performance.
  • Performance Driven: As an organization, M&C Saatchi Indonesia ensures all of its services are aimed at generating results for its clients and itself.

The Asian Business Environment

Anish believes Asia is the heart of business and innovation. With the emergence of several significant economies like India, China, and Indonesia, Asian businesses now propel the world forward. Today, any global business will fail to succeed if they fail to perform in any of these markets. Also, several smaller economies like Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines have so much growth potential that they can’t be ignored. While many larger economies are slowly stagnating, Asia still enjoys a healthy growth rate. Even with strong headwinds, the solid fundamentals and self–consumption story make Asia far more insulated from the adverse effects compared to other severely impacted regions.

Preparing for the Future

Anish says, “Since I decided to start this company, I had envisioned a certain place in the world for it. I want to build M&C Saatchi Indonesia as one of the most effective agencies in the world. When operating a business in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, you can access the talent, clients, and resources to achieve that. Making your teams accountable to your clients is the key. This is why we have focused all our energies towards creating a real impact on our clients’ businesses.”

As a young company, M&C Saatchi has won more awards and accolades than many businesses might have earned in decades. As the agency’s founder, Anish aspires to build one of the most reputable agencies, not just in SouthEast Asia or Indonesia but the world. In 2022, the agency was recognized by Campaign UK Magazine as the global Social Media Agency of the Year 2021. It is also the Campaign Southeast Asia Social Media Agency of the Year, Indonesia Creative Agency of the Year (Gold), Southeast Asia Agency for Best Culture (Bronze), and Indonesia Digital Agency of the Year (Gold) for 2021.

Under Anish’s leadership, M&C Saatchi also won Indonesia’s only Cannes Lion in 2020/21, which was also Indonesia’s first-ever Cannes Lion in the Sustainable Development Goals category.

Karen V. Ordones: Leading the change in the Tutoring industry

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Karen V. Ordones is the CEO and Founder of Tutor.id, which is constantly looking for ways of transforming the education industry, growing tutoring businesses, and enabling novel ways of income for both tutors and their students.

Tutor.id was born as a management tool for tutors because Karen noticed most management software in education was targeted at schools, and the system was too complex and costly for a one-person business. As a full-time private teacher, Karen needed a simpler, more affordable tool to manage her own tutoring business with 100 students. She had more students than she could have comfortably managed with excel sheets, so she decided to create a product for herself and her peers who were experiencing the same problems as her.

Tutor.id’s first version was released in late September 2016. Karen thought it was a big risk for the edtech company as it had no competitors at that point of time, and the team was afraid that they might have launched this innovation too soon. It is always risky when an organization spots a market need even before consumers know it. In cases like these, companies need to educate the customers, which can be very expensive and time-consuming.

After creating an easy-to-use management solution for the tutors to manage their business and students, Karen, together with her co-founder Murillo Ichikawa, decided to add the marketplace to Tutor.id’s product in early 2019, creating a holistic solution never seen before in the tutoring industry. Tutor. matched tutors and students while supporting both throughout the entire learning journey, which paid off massively and led to 900% higher retention than its closest rivals.

Thanks to its history of starting as a management tool for tutors, the edtech platform had built the first marketplace keeping teachers in mind. Tutor.id’s full suite management software (payments, scheduling, lesson tracing tools) helps individual tutors launch and grow their business hassle-free and adds a lot of value to its marketplace.

Presently the edtech firm works with two business models:

  • 20% revenue share from marketplace transactions
  • Subscription(10-40$/monthly) for management tool for tutors

Currently, the organization comprises more than 7.8k tutors registered from 119 countries.

The Leader

A Brazilian of Italian descent, Karen V. Ordones has always been very interested in understanding human behavior, which led her to study Social Sciences with a concentration in Political Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. This also motivated her to experience several different cultures and societies.

Additionally, Karen holds a Master’s Degree in Baltic Sea Region Studies from the University of Tartu, Estonia.

Karen’s journey as an educator began with her family, which has been involved in education for at least three generations. Her grandfather and his brothers founded a very popular music school in São Paulo and actively organized Modern Art Week, a revolutionary event that changed Brazilian art forever.

Karen says, “I don’t have a specific event that activated my “Education genes,” because since I was a school kid, I enjoyed teaching my peers. As an adult and having taught both in schools and privately, my positive and negative experiences led me to create Tutor.id.”

Motivation to Establish the Business

Initially, as a tutor, Karen faced several challenges managing students with excel sheets. Her primary motivation was to solve her own pain as a solo tutoring business owner.

She was way too overwhelmed to manage a whole business on her own. She always wanted a professional tool that could automate extremely time-consuming tasks. She wanted to focus on preparing great lessons and supporting her students.

With time and growing demand, Tutor.id’s product evolved into a marketplace on steroids and extended its mission to helping students to keep track of their learning and be more motivated to learn. “It is extremely challenging to bring individual learning assessments to scalable tech, and we are excited to take up this task to figure this out!”– she explains.

“It is time to bring more innovation to Education. We have been digitizing reality, but it is about time to create novel ways for the new generation to learn faster and better to build a better world.”

Karen also wants to empower people to become the best version of themselves. Tutor.id’s primary mission is to make the learning process much easier, faster, effective, and exciting. The edtech firm aspires to help students enjoy the learning process and achieve their academic and professional goals with its qualified tutors. The firm has also built several tools to help students track their progress, gain confidence and motivation to keep learning new things, and succeed in whatever they set their minds to. Karen is aware of the fact that she and her team play a crucial role in helping people learn more about how they can effectively learn at a faster rate and how to retain that knowledge long term. Although challenging, Karen still finds it very rewarding to see people being directly impacted by her products.

Additionally, as a startup, Tutor.id works closely with the community of users. Karen says, “If we change one person’s life with our product, we already feel a huge sense of accomplishment and aim to scale from there. We aim to build something users love and cannot live without.”

With its growth, Tutor.id plans to work with organizations that will enable the company’s impact on different parts of our beloved planet. With Tutor.id, these organizations will have access to remote communities that could benefit from the quality and remote education.

Tackling the Pandemic

Karen states, “My favorite and the most exciting market trend is the Metaverse and any sort of augmented reality technology. Wouldn’t it be amazing to learn biology while walking in the Amazon rainforest with your teacher and classmate?”

Since the first quarter of 2020, the world has witnessed a deadly pandemic, leading to many deaths, lockdowns, work-from-home orders, and closed schools. This pandemic, however, brought an increase in Tutor.id’s access by 4000%, which eventually triggered a series of instability in the product. This situation allowed the CTO Murillo Ichikawa and his team to quickly identify technical weaknesses and rebuild the platform for faster growth. Thanks to its brilliant results and positive impact during such emotionally draining times, Tutor.id closed its biggest funding of 500K EUR from angel investors of Estonia, Denmark, Canada, and the United States.

Preparing for the Future As the organization’s CEO, Karen would love to see Tutor.id as a brand that people recognize and know that its values are deeply rooted in empowering education for both tutors and students. She states, “Our plan to get there is really focusing on providing value. We aim to ensure learning is measured, so students and tutors can track their progress. This is something that has not been achieved by any company yet, so we would like to be the pioneers in adding this value to the industry and create the gold standard of learning assessment.”

Actionable Tips To Unleash Business Data On A Budget

Data is the most powerful asset for modern businesses because it uncovers valuable insights that lead to the best decisions. But entrepreneurs often fail to miss out on the information resources on their customers, operations, and finances. It translates into lost opportunities to increase efficiency and profit margins in the long run. Fortunately, leveraging data is easier than you imagine. You only need the right approach and roadmap to handle what you have and leverage it to your advantage without breaking the bank. Here are a few actionable tips to unleash business data on a budget

Start small 

Data collection can be overwhelming for business owners, considering the sheer volume and variety available. Trying to go too far too soon can get you off track with inaccurate numbers or the inability to use the information effectively. Moreover, you may fall short of resources when it comes to collecting information from various sources. Choose a couple of metrics to measure when starting from scratch. You can add more data later as you gain experience with the process. 

Identify the information you already collect 

While starting small is the best tip, you can dig deep to identify the information you already collect. Surprisingly, you may be doing a lot of work, even without an intentional strategy in place. For example, most companies collect marketing information such as customer demographics and data on internet traffic. Likewise, almost every business keeps details of its finances for tax and banking purposes. You can save a lot by using the information you already have. 

Outsource expertise 

Data collection and management entail complex processes. You cannot expect to cover them with the right expertise on board. The best option for business owners running on a tight budget is to outsource data engineering expertise because it is far more affordable than hiring an in-house team. You can go the extra mile with the savings by opting for offshore services from regions like LATAM because tech talent is available at a low cost here. 

Be selective 

Another valuable piece of advice to make the most of your information is to be selective and measure things that eventually affect your customers. For example, retailers should keep track of metrics like queue wait times and abandonment rates because customers look for shorter queue times. Service providers can focus on data related to service time and travel time to jobs as they affect customer experience. Know what matters to your customers to stick with only the most valuable insights. 

Use data for decisions 

This one is a no-brainer because data offers value only when you use it to make better business decisions. The hard work collecting and analyzing goes to waste if you fail to utilize it to improve your processes, enhance customer experience, and boost your profits. You can even rely on it to fine-tune your business strategy in the long run, so do not miss out on the opportunity. 

Unleashing business data is the best thing you can do for your business. You should not have qualms about spending a bit on setting up a system for the collection and analysis of information. Follow these tips to achieve the goals on a budget.

How to Stay Productive as an Entrepreneur

As an entrepreneur, more often than not, you will have too much work and very little time to finish it. Let’s face it, juggling between tasks can also get overwhelming. This is why making the most of every minute and striving to be productive is imperative for any successful entrepreneur. If you are not productive, it is a matter of time before your business crumbles. So, how can you ace productivity as an entrepreneur? Here are some essential tips on staying productive as an entrepreneur.

Develop a Work Routine  

Routine instills discipline and prevents time wastage. Therefore, develop a routine for your work. Set aside hours that are solely dedicated to working only. Every day, start working and finish working at the same time.

Make the Most of Your Morning Hours  

How you spend your morning hours will dictate the productivity of your day. Start your day by determining the tasks that need your attention. Categorize the tasks as critical and urgent and those you can delegate. Start by tackling tasks that are critical for your business’s growth. Your morning hours are the power hours, and you should leverage them for the tasks that need more focus and attention.

Leverage Technology  

Today, technology is a critical factor in the success of any business. As an entrepreneur, I need to hack tech to ace productivity. You can improve your processes, services, and products to optimize productivity and enhance profitability through technology. The remote access features can enable you to access and control your office devices from any gadget or location. If you have a Mac, you can learn productivity hacks like how to access and control it from any location and device as stipulated by this guide how to access your mac remotely. It will help you boost your ability to collaborate with your time. With the help of technology, you can also improve your customer service and gain a competitive advantage.  

Avoid Multitasking

Contrary to the belief that multitasking helps save time, it is a time waster. Multitasking distracts your mind and attention. As a result, it kills productivity because you can hardly focus on a task. Therefore, if you want to be productive, avoid multitasking, especially in tasks requiring full attention.  

Take Breaks Between Work  

Taking a break between work can help you to boost your productivity. Breaks will help you recover from work stress, and therefore you will be able to focus better. Moreover, the breaks can restore your energy levels and reduce fatigue. Therefore, you will perform your tasks better.  

Manage your Team   

Manage your team to ensure that their productivity is optimum. Lead by example and work hard, and your employee will follow in your footsteps. Encourage collaboration and teamwork among your employees, and they will work together to give the best results. Create a work environment that supports open communication and employee feedback. Moreover, motivate your employees by recognizing their effort and rewarding their hard work.  

Wrapping up  

Staying productive is very paramount if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur. Productivity will boost the growth of your business. You should also strive to create a system that enhances productivity in your workplace. Remember, time means money. The more productive you are, the higher your income in business.

 

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