Education Entrepreneurs: Why Teachers Make Great Business Owners
As a teacher, you likely got into the profession to make the world a better place. When in the classroom, you probably made an impact on many students while developing a wide variety of valuable skills. But if you’re anything like me, you also found that, while teaching is rewarding, it also can be so unsustainable and you may have started daydreaming about the life of education entrepreneurs.
As a teacher, I found there were so many things that needed to be fixed in the world of education. But who has time to devote to fixing major problems when you’re constantly burned out from giving your all to students?
Over the years, I’ve found that starting an education business can be an empowering way to help solve these problems. By starting Educator Forever, I’ve been able to help solve the problem of teachers not having sustainable career pathways. And I’ve been able to do this while building a sustainable and rewarding career for myself.
You might be thinking: A business?! I know I never imagined myself as one of a growing number of education entrepreneurs. But now that I am one, I’ve realized how many valuable skills educators bring to business. Through supporting hundreds of teachers to start their own businesses, I’ve realized that teachers make amazing business owners.
But before we get into why teacherpreneurs are so powerful, let’s take a look at what makes a great entrepreneur in the first place.
What Are the Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs?
When it comes to education entrepreneurs and business owners in other fields, there are so many things that make them successful. According to the Harvard Business Review, a few of the most important traits include:
Curiosity
Adaptability
Decisiveness
Comfort with failure
Persistence
Innovation
Focus
Team Building
Looking at this list, there is clear overlap between the skills gained via education experience and the skills needed to be a great business owner. It’s no surprise, then, that there are a growing number of teacher entrepreneurs looking to leave the classroom for new career opportunities.
So why do teachers make great education entrepreneurs? Here are just three reasons.
Why Teachers Make Great Education Entrepreneurs
1. We know how to learn
There are so many new things to learn as a business owner. Lucky for us, teachers know all about helping people learn. This extends to ourselves too!
Feel stuck about learning a new tech tool or building an online course? Break it down into small steps, just like you would for a student. Find the most accessible resources and enlist support. Approach problems as you would with students, staying committed to learning and growing. Adopting a growth mindset can help you approach new opportunities— and mistakes— as learning opportunities and is one of the most powerful things education entrepreneurs can do as they’re starting their business.
There truly is no one else out there more equipped to learn new things than teachers. Even if you don’t currently know how to develop the skills you’re after, you have all you need to figure out how to learn them. Because you can learn anything, you can be anything. Figure out what you want to focus on, then use your skills to make a plan to achieve your goals.
2. We want to make an impact
Businesses exist to solve problems - and education entrepreneurs often have truly impactful problems they’re trying to fix. As teachers, we are very used to solving problems. When I started seeing business as a way to come up with solutions to people’s problems, I started to realize how well positioned teachers are to do this work.
The first step is to get clear on the problem you want to solve and who you will help by solving it. Use your desire to make a difference to come up with solutions that truly enrich people’s lives.
When exploring education business ideas, tap into what made you passionate about teaching. Was it helping students with special needs? Breaking down big concepts into small, accessible chunks? Whatever it was, tune into your interests and skills. How could you use this passion to build a business that makes an impact in the lives of others?
3. We think outside of the box
No matter how many years we’ve been teaching, no student will ever be the same. We can have our teaching methods down, and in comes a student who struggles to learn a core concept. But instead of giving up, teachers are used to coming up with innovative solutions to help all students learn.
This innovation is exactly what’s needed by education entrepreneurs. By thinking outside of the box, you are exactly the kind of problem solver we need to tackle the biggest problems in education.
When starting and growing a business, there are inevitably going to be roadblocks that come up along the way. But these roadblocks won’t phase teachers! We’re used to things not going as we planned (children throw all sorts of twists and turns our way!). By continuing to think of alternative ideas, we are able to make big progress towards truly solving problems.
Ready to Join The Growing Number of Education Entrepreneurs?
If you’re feeling inspired to become a teacher entrepreneur and ready to build an education business, I’d love to invite you to apply to the next round of the Grow Your Education Business Accelerator.
This small, cohort-based program is designed to help you build and grow a business that makes a big impact in the world of education. Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
When you join the Grow Your Education Business Accelerator, you join a growing community of education entrepreneurs committed to moving past side hustles for teachers and using their education expertise to truly change the lives of others (and their own lives too).
Does this sound like you? Apply to join the Accelerator, and don’t hesitate to contact Educator Forever if you have any questions.