Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamal Burt.
Jamal, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I had worked as a middle school and high school English teacher for a while. I would tutor students in-home or at the library when they needed extra help. Once I left the classroom in 2009, I was between jobs, so I put up a sign on my corner for tutoring. I was just going to do it until I could find something more stable. That was eleven years ago. We [EBO] opened up our first center two years later in 2011; we haven’t looked back since.
Students often need more than what they get in a classroom. Teaching one-on-one makes so much more difference because it enables the tutor and student to establish trust and respect while learning. The positive relationships we build through happy clients and referrals has sustained and grown us over the years. I call them the EBO Family – we treat our clients like family, so in turn, they keep us in the family.
The impact we’ve had on our students’ academic performance is awesome and blessed. Our goals are simple: Teach and mentor the students to become the best version of themselves they can be. We help them find confidence in the classroom, which helps them gain confidence in their lives. We have had the opportunity to help Pre-K students all the way up to grad students, raise SAT & ACT Scores, and coach students for the ASVAB & GED tests. Currently, we are online, and EBO is growing again! We are excited to see what happens as we open up to a national audience. Look out, world!
Has it been a smooth road?
I had a lot of associates tell me that a tutoring business won’t catch on. People don’t value education that much, so who’s going to pay for it? Getting over that doubt was difficult at first. When I first started off, I had to hold down other jobs to make ends meet. Once the business started growing, it grew fast, and I couldn’t always keep up with the pace. We had to move to three different locations to keep up. Plus, I couldn’t afford a full staff, so I had to do everything myself. Receptionist, Head Tutor, HR, Brand Ambassador, Marketing, etc. It was tough, but I had to find a way to make it work. Thank God for my wife, who picked up a lot of the slack, but it was growing so fast. I was becoming overworked.
They always say when you start a business, you’ll work harder than having a job. I needed help, so I finally decided to hire tutors, and it made all the difference. Meeting the many expectations of my clients is always a challenge, but having a strong team helps a lot.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are full-service online tutoring and test prep company, covering Pre-K to grad school students. We have served 1200+ students in our area, and we get referrals from counselors in almost every school in our district. We are known for our ability to raise grades, test scores, and study skills in all of our students. Due to a stringent hiring process, my tutors know their various subjects very well.
Most importantly, we help raise the self-confidence of our clients. By mentoring and building long-standing relationships with all of our families, we coach our children to excellence in the classroom and in life. My tutors and I have many students who we have kept for years because of the bonds created during the sessions. They keep us in the family because of younger siblings who may need us after the current sibling is done (or we have siblings who tutor during the same period). We’ve attended graduations, weddings, birthdays, baby showers, and other client family celebrations because we care about them. We love and encourage our clients, and they stay around. It’s that caring, personable, personal, one-on-one touch that sets us apart form most other tutoring services.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The Metro Atlanta area is fantastic for a tutoring business. Georgia schools (and schools nationally) need help. We are here to aid their bottom line: increase the graduation rate, close the achievement gap. In turn, we increase our students’ chances of success in life – more opportunities. As long as school systems struggle to meet the bottom line and the academic achievement gap continues to exist, EBO will be there. If students need a post-secondary education plan, EBO will be there. College, military, or trade school, EBO’s got you.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1335 McDonough Pkwy
McDonough, GA 30253 - Website: www.ebotutoring.com
- Phone: 404-777-3955
- Email: j.burt@ebotutoring.com
Image Credit:
K.Renee Photography
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