Hi! My name is Ffion Kellegher. I founded my company – LinguaTute – very recently in November 2022, as I realized that I wanted to be my own boss. Having studied Russian and Spanish at the University of Oxford, I wanted to create an environment which supports students who are applying to study languages at Oxford and Cambridge (collectively, ‘Oxbridge’), while also providing top-quality private language tutoring.
1. What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
I was really not enjoying my previous job and I just reached a point where I’d had enough, so I quit – with no savings, no safety net, no plan – and launched my business the very next day. I knew it was a huge risk and that it wouldn’t be easy, but I also knew that I couldn’t wait for the ‘perfect moment’, because that moment would never arrive. I decided that I would try to find a way to make things work, so I have been working part-time while running my business. It has not been easy, but it’s been the best decision I’ve made so far.
2. Tell us about your business.
LinguaTute has two main purposes – 1) To provide high-quality language tutors who have studied languages at Oxbridge, and 2) to provide the resources, opportunity and support for students who are applying to study languages at Oxbridge.
3. Where is your business based?
I’m based in London, but at the moment we offer online tutoring only.
4. What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
Researching how to start a business! I just googled and watched YouTube videos on what exactly to do – then I created a business plan with a 5-year roadmap for the business (it’s already outdated, as my product/service has been constantly changing), I decided on a name, and then I incorporated it while following a YouTube tutorial on how to register your business with Companies House.
5. What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Personal networks – people trust you if they know you, and they trust other people who know you. Advertisements, email marketing, even flyer distribution – it all pales in comparison to personal testimony and actually knowing the person behind the service and/or product.
6. What have been your biggest challenges so far?
I have struggled with a sort of Imposter Syndrome, in that I don’t believe that I fit the framework of what an entrepreneur looks like or how an entrepreneur should act. We are bombarded with these images of young men working 100-hour weeks to get their businesses started, and while that may work for them, it doesn’t work for me. I’m also a woman, which plays on my mind sometimes – like ‘maybe I am ‘too weak’ or ‘too emotional’ to be a businessperson,’ ‘maybe there’s a reason why there are so few businesswomen,’ ‘I’m not assertive or confident enough, why would anyone listen to me?’, etc. This type of thinking has affected me much more than I anticipated when I started the business.
7. How did you overcome these challenges?
I’m just trying to be kind to myself. I must remind myself that I am good enough to do this, and that the sexist stuff I was told as a young girl – about how girls are inferior, weaker, stupider, and generally worse than boys – is not fact, it’s pure fiction. Everyone faces challenges; the most important thing for me is to be resilient and persistent.
8. What is the best advice you have received recently?
“Remember to appreciate what you have achieved, to look back at how far you’ve come and say to yourself ‘well done’”.
9. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Just keep showing up for yourself; getting out of bed in the morning; be patient, don’t give up – and eventually you’ll get there.
10. What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
I am currently working on creating a database of video resources for language students, which will provide them with the opportunities to explore languages beyond the curriculum and get feedback on their submitted work from an Oxbridge-educated tutor. This is a new and exciting challenge for me – I need to figure out how to upload or stream videos via my website, how to create a payment portal for these videos, and what would be the best things to include in the videos 🙂
11. What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
I have been really leaning into the Oxbridge admissions side of my business lately, and I would like to develop the language tutoring side a bit more, so that people are instantly aware that we do both when they read the flyers or look at the website. Honestly, I’m constantly developing everything – the service, the website, the brand – so the goal is just to always think ‘how can this be even better?’
12. What is your favorite business tool or resource?
Home Page (enterprisesteps.co.uk) – Enterprise Steps was a free support programme that I joined when starting my business, it was really useful! (It’s based in London).
13. What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
- Facebook: @LinguaTute
- Instagram: @linguatute
- Linkedin: @linguatute
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