New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Former Ministry Worker Starts an Educational Coaching Business That Has Grown Into a Workforce of 20+

This profile features CollegePlus!, an education coaching company that was launched "intrapreneurially" inside a parent company

Name:

Ryan Yamane

Family Description:

Oldest of 3, grew up on a family farm in eastern Washington State. I've been married for 4 years to my beautiful wife Julianne, and have 2 children, Hallie and Maggie.

Business Name:

CollegePlus!

Business Description:

Through a unique one on one coaching service, CollegePlus! guides students through the process of earning an accredited bachelor's degree in half the time and for a fraction of the cost of traditional college avenues. Our clients are typically homeschoolers/homeschool graduates.

Location:

San Antonio, TX

Formal education/training:

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Excelsior College

Prior work experience:

• Learned work ethic by working with my father and grandfather on the farm growing up
• Served in volunteer Christian ministry for 5 years in various roles including: counselor for troubled youth, Staff Dean of Men, Northwest Regional Customer Support Representative for large international ministry, national customer support manager for same ministry, conference developer and coordinator for international conference circuit

Forming the Idea:

CollegePlus's parent organization is Global Learning Strategies. GLS was formed by Brad Voeller after he had discovered a new way to earn his bachelor's degree in a very short amount of time for a fraction of the cost of traditional means. He then wrote a book called Accelerated Distance Learning, and from there came speaking invitations. This is about the time that I joined him in his effort.

As we continued on the speaking circuit, the common feedback we received was that people were excited about the idea, but didn't have the ability on their own to carry out the strategies presented. Once we identified this need, CollegePlus! was born to aid and coach these students through the process we described in our seminars.

How you got started:

Because CollegePlus! is a service oriented business, we were able to start with very little capital. We also have been able to leverage interns who work in exchange for coaching and degree costs, which is a win/win for everybody. With such low start-up costs, we were able to weather some unsuccessful experimentation at the beginning.

Once we had a basic plan in place, we developed some marketing materials, which primarily consisted of a website and brochures. We then marketed to our existing GLS database that we had built up from a few years of the speaking circuit.

Our primary source of marketing has been and continues to be speaking at seminars, conventions, and trade shows. This has positioned us as experts on the subject and gives us the opportunity to reach literally thousands of potential customers in a single weekend.

What was it like in the beginning:

CollegePlus!, like many new organizations, had very humble beginnings. We have never used venture capital or debt, so our growth has been slow. When we first started, we failed to conduct sufficient market research and the service we offered was too expensive. We had to quickly cut our services and our price by over half. Once we did this, we were able to gain more of a footing.

In the beginning, We had 3 coaches. Myself, my wife, and another employee. Again, we were able to leverage interns for many of the office tasks which was a tremendous assistance with very little cost.

What stage the business is at now:

Between our office staff and our coaches, we now have 20 people within our organization. Most of these are part time and work remotely from home. We currently serve approximately 200 students. Now that our basic service is providing steady income, we are continuing development to expand our offerings. In 2007, we are focusing much of our resources toward marketing in order to further build our customer base.

The biggest challenge you’ve faced:

The biggest challenge so far has been matching visionary ideas with available resources. We have realized we can't do everything at once. We continue to strive to have realistic expectations for what we can accomplish in a given time frame. It has been difficult to discipline ourselves and not stretch ourselves too thin in order to accomplish more, jeopardizing the whole organization.

Another huge challenge has been staffing. We serve a very niche market which requires specialized training and a high amount of integrity and character in our coaches. These people are hard to find.

Key steps that made the difference:

• Mentorship: As young entrepreneurs, we have realized the importance of learning from others' mistakes. We have been able to establish an outstanding network of counselors, not the least of which is our Board of Directors. These men are oozing with business experience and wisdom and each has a mentor's heart. We have seen a direct correlation between the time we brought the men on the board and when our organization started to significantly grow.
• Staffing: Having the right people has makes all the difference

Lessons Learned:

These are not necessarily lessons learned, but lessons still in the process of being learned:

• Don't be afraid to fail. If you do fail, take the time afterward to evaluate why you failed.
• Don't be afraid to ask others their advice. Most people are flattered that you would ask and are more than willing to offer their counsel.
• Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Examine your budget/plans in a worst case scenario. Never budget for best case. 
• Schedule time for periodic strategic thinking. If you don't schedule it, you will never do it because you are so involved in putting out day to day fires.
• Continue learning. Read a book. Take a course.

The best advice you received:

Surround yourself with those who are smarter and more experienced than you are.

What your work and family life was like before:

I was single and worked more hours than I do now.

What your work and family life is like now:

By God's grace, we have been able to maintain a good family structure. It has helped that for the past 2 years I have been able to office from home. This is changing now, but my office will still be less than a 10 minute drive. It is rare that we don't eat dinner as a family and spend significant time together in the evening. We are grateful for the times we are able to get away as a family as well. My work has allowed much flexibility in my schedule in that I am able to attend important events like Doctors visits for my wife's pregnancies, etc.