Enterprise Nation

On a video testimonial for telecoms company Skype, Karen Hollands says her ambition is to build a global business. That business is called Toniks. It’s a foreign language teaching company, and she runs it from a head office at home.

When did you start Toniks?

In November 2005

What was your background before starting the business?

I ran a traditional language school in North East Brazil (in Sao Luis, Maranhao) with my husband.  It was our company, we employed native teachers and held courses aimed at executives and children.  I have a Law degree from Westminster University, and worked for American Express and First Choice, prior to working in the education sector.

How did you come up with the idea?

When we lived in Brazil we had difficulties in getting qualified native tutors to work there.  There were also significant costs.  We dreamt of having tuition delivered over the internet, so tutors could remain in their country, but provide a class almost as if they were in the classroom with students.

How do you find your teachers?

We recruit all our teachers through internet sites where qualified tutors register their details.  Usually the tutors are based in their country of origin (France, Spain, China, Russia etc).  We interview them using Skype video, and then provide training which also servers as a further check on their abilities to understand the technology and their teaching skills. 

After practicing with other tutors, they are then ready for their first lesson with a student.  We do make a point of only employing native teachers who are qualified to teach their language as a foreign language. 

We have 30 tutors working regularly with us, and a further number who we use on a very ad hoc basis.

How are you recruiting students?

Private students are recruited through our website.  We advertise on Google (using Google Ads), and get a lot of business through word of mouth.  Students come from all over the world, but mostly the US, UK and Western Europe.

In terms of schools, we mailshot them and follow up with telemarketing. This is followed by a visit and demonstration.

Would you have been able to start this type of business 5 years ago? ie how much has the cost and availability of technology helped this model become real?

No, we waited several years for technology to enable cost effective and high quality communication.  Only in 2005 did we think we could make it work.  This was driven first by the general availability of broadband (not just in the UK, but all over the world).  We need both student and teachers to have broadband for the video and virtual classroom software to work smoothly and to the standard we require.  At the same time, the standard of collaboration software such as web-conferencing tools greatly improved, further enabling online tuition as a proposition.

The emergence of VoIP services such as Skype enabled international communication to be free, keeping costs down.  Even a one to one lesson is a three way conference call (the student, the tutor and the tonics server which records the lesson).  Without Skype the costs would be prohibitive.

Do your family help in the running of the business?

My husband helped in setting up the business (he has a telecoms background and currently works for COLT Telecom).  He helps me troubleshoot the very rare technical problems we encounter.

What are your plans for the future?

We are focusing on penetrating the school sector more over the next 3 years as well as adding other subjects including Maths, English etc. The plan is to build a global business from my home. We’re on our way to achieving it.

Karen Hollands talks to Emma Jones

• Toniks