Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Raymond Kanevsky, CEO of StudyBuddy, located in New York, NY, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Studybuddy is the first on-demand student-tutor matching platform to use an objective-based algorithm to improve student outcomes in a subjective, unquantifiable market. As a marketplace, we serve two distinct customer bases: Students and their parents, teacher and tutors.
Tell us about yourself
Born and raised in NYC, I've always had tutors that I dreaded throughout my life. Fast forward to after university, I started my own boutique firm, RSK Tutoring, and saw a lot of success. My students loved our sessions, and I was getting more and more work. This led me to start thinking about why I was so successful when, as a kid, I hated every second of my tutoring sessions. Through painless hours of testing and theories, I came up with the fact that students learn better if they have a personal relationship with their tutors, and that's where the idea of Studybuddy came and our personality-powered algorithm.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I own another company called Two Travel which is an affordable luxury concierge company serving clients all over the world to help plan trips to Colombia and Mexico. We are the market leaders in B2C concierge and are on track to hit 3M in revenue in 2022.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I think leadership is by far the hardest thing. Working with many different personalities, skill levels, and emotional needs makes you have to be flexible and learn about your employees and how they need to be treated, not just to get the most out of them but to make sure they're happy.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Don't listen to anyone tell you you can't or shouldn't.
- Surround yourself with people who will support and help you grow.
- Work harder than the next person. No substitute for hard work. Period.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.studybuddynyc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studybuddynyc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studybuddynyc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StudyBuddyNYC
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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