fbpx

This Is A Test And PrepClass Founders Aced It: Building A Successful Business Against The Odds

This Is A Test And PrepClass Founders Aced It: Building A Successful Business Against The Odds

Getting into college can be a daunting process in Nigeria.

Two young entrepreneurs, Ogunlana Olumide and Chukwuwezam Obanor wanted to make it easier.

The 24-year-olds created PrepClass, offering online test prep software, full-length tests, and a cognitive behavioral therapy experience akin to Nigerian university pre-entry exams. They also offer personalized home tutors in Lagos, Nigeria.

To launch PrepClass in 2014, Olumide and Obanor attracted funding from CRE Venture Capital, which invests in sub-Saharan African tech startups, and Nigeria-based Venture Garden Group, which describes itself as “audacious dream makers and bold transformers.”

Go to the PrepClass website and within seconds, a support window pops up offering help by way of a free consultation. There’s just one word for that: service.

Olumide and Obanor spoke to AFKInsider about how they built their business against the odds in Nigeria.

AFKInsider: How did you become partners?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: Olumide and I met during our diploma year at the University of Lagos. We were both entering for electrical engineering at the University of Lagos. We weren’t really friends back then, just acquaintances who knew each other’s names. I don’t even think we really liked each other back then in our diplomas days. But during the course of our study we got closer and worked on a few projects together. We had similar work ethics and it set the tone for us to work together in the future. And we took up the challenge of starting PrepClass.

AFKInsider: How does the company work?

Ogunlana Olumide: We connect clients with professional tutors and we are very particular about the process being seamless and easy such that the tutors we connect are able to deliver the level of quality that we promise our clients. To that effect, each of our tutors is physically screened. We have a huge pool of about 16,000 tutors whose profiles we vet based on their expertise, years of experience, qualifications and location. We invite them for a physical interview during which they take written tests on the subject. We also conduct personality tests and do a teaching practice session. Each tutor provides us with two guarantors to stand surety for them and two personal references that can testify to their good will and character.

Once all the information required about the tutor is ascertained and we carry out a due diligence process, then we assign that tutor (with) a client request that matches his or her specifications. The bulk of our operation is focused on filtering out the best tutors from the masses who just want a job and this is why our clients trust us. We invest very heavily in making sure they get the very best.

AFKInsider: Why do you feel the company was needed?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: When the Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board announced plans to move exams to computer-based tests we saw an opportunity: to create a test prep platform that would help students across Nigeria prepare for local exams and have the educational resources at their fingertips. However, as time went on we realized it would be much more impactful on students learning for us to connect them with physical tutors.

AFKInsider: How did you fund the startup?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: At the beginning we bootstrapped seriously. Both of us had worked for a while, so we had some savings which together probably amounted to about about $22,000US or so. We were young and naïve, but we were passionate and we just wanted to take that plunge.

We started by using Olumide’s house as our office. We convinced some friends to help us build a working product even though we didn’t have money to pay them immediately. We survived for the next six months burning away our $22,000 hoping as soon as our product was ready we would be making millions of naira.

It certainly didn’t happen that way; but sometime in February 2014, we won our first competition — the Techcabal Battlefield. It shot us into the limelight and gave us much-needed funds to survive for a significant amount of time.

AFKInsider: What were some startup challenges?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: We went through a phase of pivoting that forced us to redefine what impact means to us and the value we want to offer to clients. Pivoting is basically the process of changing the core business of a company. For us that was quite challenging because it wasn’t like we were going into something that had been extensively tested, but we knew it would be of more value and greater impact for our clients so we did. Raising funds was also a challenge because we spoke with quite number of potential investors, got a lot of rejections, but we kept on. We met some great guys who saw what we were building and actually had money to invest.

AFKInsider: What are some challenges of owning a business in Nigeria?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: Infrastructure is a huge problem in this part of the world, whether its power infrastructure, transport network infrastructure, or payment infrastructure. And these are things that practically every business depends on. Economic challenges have also affected business growth as inflation has eaten into the finances of several families.

AFKInsider: What are the positives about having a business in Nigeria?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: Well, interestingly the very challenges that make it difficult to build highly successful businesses in Nigeria, insure the few businesses that are successful and have somehow managed to stay afloat, survive and growth against future competition. Because it’s so hard to conquer the difficulties in this market, it’s almost an in-built security and makes it easier for the industry winners to grow to monopolistic sizes and claim most of the market potential.

AFKInsider: How do you market the company?

Ogunlana Olumide: Based on the excellent services we deliver, we have thrived on referrals. Once a client works with us they are motivated to recommend us to other people and by that we have been able to achieve a lot more because the chain of recommendation gets longer.

AFKInsider: What do you like the most about your business?

Chukwuwezam Obanor: Influence. Social impact. We have been able to provide jobs for a huge number of graduates , we have been able to proffer academic solutions and largely been able to improve the educational sector.