A wacky start

When I rewind the movie, the start of Studied was actually quite goofy. The year was 2017 and I had just finished my vwo. Not only that, I had just registered my first company at the Chamber of Commerce. My associate and I managed and supported events in Maastricht and the surrounding area, especially in the techno scene. Exciting times, because that was where my hard-earned savings were and I had no experience as an entrepreneur yet. With time, however, both of those came good and I discovered a side of myself I didn't know before. After all, I come from a teaching family, so entrepreneurship wasn't poured in with the spoon. Anyway, my first business required a lot of night work so I decided to quit due to the start of my law studies at Maastricht University.

At the beginning of my studies, I went out a lot for several months, got to know many people and did my best to score good grades but still something kept gnawing at me. To avoid burning up all my savings during this period, I worked in the hospitality industry. That felt like a poor investment of my time. So I slowly started thinking again about how I could start doing something for myself again. Eventually, one of my old high school teachers asked me if I wanted to tutor. I liked the idea, because it was better pay than the hospitality industry and it was challenging in terms of content. I answered yes and started tutoring the student. After one of my tutoring sessions, a random student at the school's open learning center asked if I could also tutor physics. I couldn't, but I realized I could get to people who could. Although I was already teaching under the Studied banner and had a business plan, I think this was actually the day I started building Studied hard.

The roller coaster ride

Although the private education market is relatively quiet, it has been quite a roller coaster ride in recent years. We started by offering customized tutoring for high school students under a strong brand. Over time, we got the hang of that and the team began to grow. In the meantime, we were increasingly helping students from Primary education, MBO, HBO or WO. The choice to add them to our offer this school year therefore felt natural. I want to achieve the best results with the company, but I also have big ambitions. The sky is the limit!

That pursuit has produced good results and great experiences. We have helped many students. From guidance in the transition from TL to Havo to scoring a certain average for an exclusive education. We have been there! But, we have by no means seen everything. For example, I am enjoying our new experiences with elementary school students. What a fun target group that actually is. The kids who come in to us are often in between two levels for high school and are eager to get to the higher level of two. Talk about motivation! I can really enjoy seeing the student teachers realize this ambition with the kids. Is there probably education in my blood after all....

In addition to these good times, there were definitely bad times. For example, I am grateful that the past two years of the Corona pandemic are over. It brought a lot, but also took a lot. We had our best school year and realized many dreams, including the new corporate identity, website and web application. But, we were also quickly dragged back two feet into the next school year. This was our worst school year ever. I'm glad those times are over, because this school year feels pretty normal. And to be honest, I was pretty burned out from it at the beginning of this school year, too. I'm glad I sought help for this from Vivas Gym and Skills Coaching Academy. In fact, in the meantime, I'm pretty much back to my old self! 

The red thread

I frequently get asked where things are going with Studied. While I have plenty of wild plans, there is a common thread that we have been following since inception and that I am happy to continue to follow. Namely, we are neither a platform for tutoring nor a local homework supervisor with thirty students and a supervisor in a classroom. We just do our own thing by focusing on personalized tutoring. Over time, we have sometimes been called an alternative to institutes like the Luzac by clients. That's a great position that I'm happy to keep working on. Apart from the wild plans and the thread for the organization, the development of our team will be important in the coming year. My study period ends in a year and I would like to gain experience in my tax-legal field, so it is time to make the company less dependent on me. Therefore, I am happy to announce our new vacancies for 1) sales and marketing, 2) human resources and 3) business development. They are great side jobs for students who want to learn as well as gain hands-on experience while studying. The students will work under my management, which I am personally looking forward to. Can I go back to teaching...

Interested in our new job openings? Check www.studied.nl and contact us!