A new tutoring business created by a Solon High School student aims to take over the market at Solon. TopScore Academy (TSA), founded and owned by junior Luke Kim, is a tutoring business entirely run by students at SHS.
Currently, TSA provides ACT and SAT tutoring services but aims to expand into regular class tutoring in the future. Kim’s goal is to provide educational assistance to people in the Solon community at a lower cost.
“We exclusively hire from top 1% scorers, so as a result these tutors are very established and know how to do the test proficiently,” Kim said.
Another marketing point for TSA is that the staff and client base is entirely concentrated in one school. The employees are made up of current seniors and juniors at SHS–people you see in the school.
“If you went with a private tutor it might be someone that’s maybe your parents’ age, they might have taken the test decades ago, and for the most part, you don’t know them, and they’re entirely a stranger,” Kim said.
An additional selling point for the company is the price point.
“The regular market space charges exorbitant prices around $80-150 an hour,” Kim said. “And we’re coming into an accessible point between $35-$40 an hour. So, this comes at a significant discount, that discount is our prime marketing point. So it’s a win-win, it’s a lower cost and a higher quality service.”
Some of the tutors Kim has hired have extensive experience in tutoring. Senior Alison Kaiser, a tutor for TSA has previously been a peer tutor at SHS for AP Macroeconomics and Geometry, been a teaching assistant at a math summer camp at Case Western and has volunteered to help a Ukrainian student learn English.
“He encourages all of his tutors to put all of the money we earn towards pursuing higher education.” Kaiser said.
Tutors working for TSA are offered a multitude of benefits including “generous compensation for their work,” Kim said.
Kim began to develop TopScore Academy over this past summer. Due to how recent the company is, it is in a process of rapid expansion. Kim is currently hiring people that fit the required criteria, a 34 on the ACT and a 1500 on the SAT. He is also looking into different avenues for advertisement including targeted Instagram and Facebook advertisements.
“It all came with tutoring a friend, and after that, I found out that tutoring was enjoyable,” Kim said.
He originally started tutoring as a freelancing role in the summer. After posting an advertisement for tutoring on his Snapchat story, within the first hour 15 people swiped up and asked to be tutored. Kim then began to hire some friends and then TSA was founded.
“Because it’s fun for me, I enjoy it,” Kim said “It makes the stress of the business a little more fun.”
Balancing school and running a business at the same time has been difficult according to Kim. He has gone down many avenues in order to find tutors to hire. Some avenues include meetings with Principal Erin Short and Assistant Principal Carla Rodenbucher to discuss different angles he could use in order to find tutors and advertise.
“Right now I’m not taking home any income, so effectively I have put in hundreds of hours of work at a zero dollar per hour rate,” Kim said.
Kim said this risk for him is worth it though, if his business would help his tutors, clients and the general community.
English teacher Nanci Bush, someone who Kim has talked personally about the company with, thinks Kim has been hardworking and the company’s success depends on how much time and effort he puts into it.
“I think it has Luke at the helm, and I think that’s a very fortuitous occasion for the company.” Bush said.
