Do you have a child who is struggling to understand new material in school? Is there a promotion or better paying job you want, if you can only pass the required exam? Allen Ziga has the solution with Two Times Tutoring. He shares his story of fulfilling a dream to have his own business. Along the way he created a unique tutoring service that meets the needs of students with learning and attention disabilities as well as ambitious adults seeking upward movement in their careers.
Visit his website.
Emmalou Penrod
I’m talking to Alan Ziga today, and he is the business owner and founder of Two Times Tutoring. Alan, welcome.
Alan Ziga
Hey, Emmalou glad to be on your show.
Emmalou Penrod
And I am looking forward to hearing the story of how you came to found a tutoring company.
Alan Ziga
I started my business about four years ago, but it really started about seven years ago, my dream to be a business owner that is. I originally started college as a physics major. And I wanted to be a nuclear physicist and quantum physicist, discover the secret to the universe, and that stuff still fascinates me. However, about halfway through college, this would have been seven years ago, about halfway through, I just stopped having a passion for it. I don’t know what it was, but I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I wasn’t into physics anymore, like I used to be. And I was looking up different ways or different career options. And something that I found was being a business owner. And I never knew that even was an option. Like I knew people own their own business. But I just never learned that it was a thing. And so I looked a little bit more into and I discovered, you know, the people who are successful, like really successful. . . So basically, I’ve looked up how people became self-made millionaires, because I became fascinated with millionaires and how they got their money. And I found out around 80% of self made millionaires in the world are business owners. The other 20% get the money from other ways, like maybe they’re a good salesman. I found out that less than 1% actually get their money from inheritance, or winning the lottery, etc, less than 1%. So I’m looking like, 80% of self-made millionaires get it from being a business. Well, shoot, I want to be a business owner. And that’s really what sparked my interest. And then, I won’t go into too much detail, but I found it’s a whole mindset. It’s a whole change in who you become. So fast forward about three years, I was graduating school, I got my physics degree. And when I graduated, I still wanted to be a business owner. And I basically refused to get a regular job. So I’m like, Huh, what can I do if I wanted to start a business like, right, right then and there, right. But I didn’t have any ideas. Or if I just didn’t have the moment. I don’t know what it was. But I didn’t start a business right away. And I went to tutoring actually for this company because I had to make money somehow. But again, I was trying to avoid getting a regular job. So my idea was to start tutoring for this company, make some money, and then come up with a business idea. That didn’t happen. Unfortunately, I just didn’t pursue a business idea. And I wasn’t making enough money, tutoring. So I was having to get a sales job. I knew nothing about sales. I had no experience with it, and it went terribly. I made almost no money. So I’m like, shoot, well, then I had to get another job. So then I wound up getting a job working at a lab, which was within my major. But I absolutely abhorred the job. I hated going there every day. I’d have to wake up at four in the morning. I’d have to get there by six. It was an hour away from where I lived. It was terrible. And I lasted there for about a month and a half. And then I had to get another job. Because you know, I didn’t have enough money to sustain myself. So then I wound up getting a third job. That one lasted three weeks. And then I got a fourth job, which was all within less than a year after graduating. By the way, getting a fourth job going door to door knocking on doors. And I actually was okay at that. I wasn’t great, but I was okay. And a couple months into that I’m like, okay, I can’t keep doing this, like this is gonna drive me crazy. I actually have to start a business. And that’s actually when I started this business Two Times Tutoring. This was about four years ago. And just because I started the business doesn’t mean I had money popping out of my wallet right away. So my first couple years of having the business I didn’t really take it seriously. And you know, when you treat your business as a hobby, it pays you like a hobby. Very little, as you know. So I just went back and forth between job and going full time into my business, job, business. The first three years after graduating, I went through nine jobs. And on my ninth job, this was two years ago. By the way, two years ago, I was like okay, I can’t stand this, I can’t keep doing this. I am never getting a job ever again. I’m going full time into my business and I’m never looking back. So what I wound up doing was I wound up quitting my job, I had very little money. And I went all in every day, all day for three months straight for 18 hours, cuz I sleep six hours a night. So 18 hours straight. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, I did nothing but grow my business, I did nothing but cold calls, networking events. I did nothing but all day, every day. I did a couple other things too, for three months straight. And within that time, I tenfold with my business, and made enough to be able to support myself full time and to my business. Around that same time, I also hired other tutors. Because there’s only some I could help with math and science. So I hired other tutors to be able to help with different expertise. And really, so in that three month period was the biggest growth that my business had ever seen. And I decided to keep going through that. And I had my ups and downs. And then around, I believe it was November of last year, I actually doubled my business, again, from doing the same thing, I decided I wanted to go all in again, because my business was starting to dip a little bit. So I decided to do that same thing again, I only did it for a month, and you know, 18 hours a day did nothing but that all day, every day. I cut out everything else except for my business and wound up doubling my business in a little over a month doing that and kept growing it and then February of 2020 was my best month was doing really well. And then when the pandemic really spread in the US and we got quarantined, I lost 96% of my business in the course of four days. The second week of March, just like that, oh it felt like it was overnight. And it was crazy. Because like, it’s just when I built my momentum, was really starting to make good money. I think I had around 50 clients, or so I was doing really well. And then literally like overnight, I lost the majority of my business like just gone because nobody knew what was going on. It was a time of confusion. It was around spring break. And so April was really rough. You know, the second half of March, April, very slow months, but I decided no, I’m not going to just give up. You know, it’s not what happens to you in life. It’s what you do with what happens to you and how you interpret what happens to you. So I decided that I’m somehow going to grow from this. I’m going to grow my business from this. So I figured out like hmm, you know, because the height of the quarantine, few things were open. So I knew that hospitals were open, I knew that grocery stores were open and some other essential places. So I just cold call them I cold call all those places, I would stop in there, give them my business card, and was growing my business through that. And currently today my business is not what it was before the quarantine, but it’s doing pretty well. And the majority of my clients, now I say two thirds are new and 1/3 are returning clients from before. So that’s where I am now. And I definitely want to keep growing. So that’s the story of how I got to who I am today.
Emmalou Penrod
I like that story, that you have this passion and drive to have your own business. You use the skills and talents you had, clearly you’re good at math and science. So probably are well qualified to tutor there. And then you just started building a team. Now what age group do you serve?
Alan Ziga
Yes, so age group. So because I have a team of tutors, we’re able to help with all age groups, because everyone has a different specialty with that.
Emmalou Penrod
And so, college level, I believe you help prepare people to take the GRE
Alan Ziga
Yeah, that is correct. Yeah, we help with the college level. And what a lot of people don’t know is that we help with adults as well. Because people, when you hear tutoring, you automatically think kids.
Emmalou Penrod
Yeah, that was my thought.
Alan Ziga
Almost everybody thinks that. But yeah, we are able to help with adults as well. The oldest student we’ve helped was 53, actually.
Emmalou Penrod
Didn’t you also say that sometimes there are tests required for some government jobs, passing some licensing requirements. Have you gotten into those much?
Alan Ziga
So yeah, I know for some jobs, they have a pre-employment test. And that’s a test that they give you just to make sure that you’re competent and qualified for the job. And we are able to help with that. The pre-employment tests, whether that be for a government job, I know some software engineer jobs. I learned this pretty recently. They require you to take one and I had a tutor help a gentleman through that actually. He passed it and got the job.
Emmalou Penrod
That is huge, because a lot of people, once they know there’s going to be a test, it’s like, Whoa! They withdraw their application. That really inhibits them. But if you look at the increased income, you add that up over several years, that, it’s a shame to miss out on that potential earnings, just because you’re afraid of a test. So it sounds like, exactly. And you you hire other tutors, I’m assuming you can work remotely.
Alan Ziga
Yes. So with the remote, yeah, we offer both in person and remote tutoring. I would say right now in person. People have requested more in person tutoring, because I think a lot of the students are tired of the virtual learning. Some students love it. Like some students love being at home. I don’t have to be around other people. I can you know, some students absolutely love it. I’ve talked to a couple, but a lot of them, they’re not a fan of it. And so I noticed a lot more people are wanting in person tutoring right now, despite the pandemic. I’ve noticed.
Emmalou Penrod
Now, do you have an office that they come into?
Alan Ziga
So we go to the students. So we’ll either go to the student’s home, or we’ll go to the library that’s most convenient for them. And again, if they prefer virtual tutoring, we got that as well. Or maybe they’re too far away, because we’re in Northeast Ohio. So if they’re maybe in California, or Texas or something like that, we can have virtual tutoring offices.
Emmalou Penrod
So in person, you can handle all of Northeast Ohio, correct? And virtually anywhere?
Alan Ziga
Mm hmm. Yep.
Emmalou Penrod
I love that. So it’s good to know that there’s that option. Do you tutor more adults or school aged children?
Alan Ziga
You know, currently I’d say it’s about half and a half. If you count college students as adults, then I would say it’s about half and half right now.
Emmalou Penrod
Well, and I know that for many high school students getting a high score on that SAT or ACT, is really important. There’s a lot of stress for that.
Alan Ziga
Yeah, that’s huge. Because if you score good on the ACT or SAT, that’s 1,000s of dollars in your pocket right there in scholarship money. And even now with the pandemic, because, you know, a lot of people think right now that colleges aren’t looking at SAT or ACT scores anymore. That’s not necessarily the case. I know, some aren’t. But even ones that aren’t looking at it or don’t require it, if you score really good, you still want to give them your score, because there’s additional money available for you.
Emmalou Penrod
As a high school teacher, what I learned is that a high SAT score can compensate for low grades.
Alan Ziga
And that’s true. I talked to people all the time. If your GPA isn’t the best, you got under a 3.0. And if you do really good on the ACT, that can outweigh that, maybe not so good GPA.
Emmalou Penrod
Because, quite often, high school students are more interested in social life than academics.
Alan Ziga
Mm hmm. Yep.
Emmalou Penrod
And then they’re a senior and trying to make up for a couple of years of goofing off.
Alan Ziga
That’s usually how it goes. I know someone I think they had a 2.6 GPA, 2.6 or 2.7, but they scored a 34 on the ACT. And they wound up getting, not a full ride but close to a full ride, to one of the schools around here. I’m trying to think of what it was, but that just goes to show you like if you score high enough on the ACT, if your GPA isn’t the best, that almost doesn’t matter within reason. You can’t have like a 1.0 GPA.
Emmalou Penrod
It’s good for families to know this service is available. If the adult wants to improve their income, get a better paying job that requires any kind of test or go back to school to get an advanced degree, high school students getting ready to take that SAT or ACT or just any students struggling and you know, that affects their self esteem. If they can get just a little bit of support. Then, and I’m assuming you’re probably looking for people like you who could very easily tutor in whatever area of expertise and are familiar with the tests they’re preparing students to take?
Alan Ziga
That is correct. Yep. They work within their area of expertise. Mm hmm.
Emmalou Penrod
Great. So how do people contact you?
Alan Ziga
Yeah, this are a couple ways. They could call or text 440-494-6284. And I’ll even say it one more time in case. So it’s 440-494-6284. And again, they can text or call and they’re more than welcome to email me as well. Company email is info@twotimestutoring.com. And it’s all spelled out. So like, Two Times Tutoring, because everyone thinks the number two. And then like, I can’t find your website. So it’s Yeah, I always say spell everything out, Two Times Tutoring.
Emmalou Penrod
Yeah. Now that’s an interesting name Two Times Tutoring. How did you come up with that?
Alan Ziga
Yes. So I came up with that, because I have two options for tutoring. So one option I have is to have two tutors work with the student. And that’s great for students who have trouble paying attention like those with ADD or ADHD. Because going back and forth between two people speaking, each time you do so it pings the brain’s attention and allows the student to pay attention longer. It’s also great for learning concepts quicker and getting more done. And so that’s one of my options. Then my other option is just traditional one on one tutoring, one tutor one student. And it just depends on the student. Like some students, they benefit from having regular one, one on one tutor.
Emmalou Penrod
So, you can accommodate students with special needs. You have the very bright ADHD, high school students. That is really good to know. I love that.
Alan Ziga
And one thing I didn’t mention at the beginning, because I had a lot to cover in a short period of time. I had a business partner as well. I originally had a business partner when I started the business, which is why we had the two of us. But he stepped down about two years ago because he just said owning a business is too stressful. It’s just not for me. And I was like okay, that’s fine, you know, and I was just kind of left to do everything myself. And I was okay with that. I understood and we still get along today. But one thing he tells me, he’s just like, “Do not talk about the business in front of me. It gives me PTSD.” And I was like, duly noted, I will not mention it in front of you. That’s fair.
Emmalou Penrod
You brought up a valid point, owning your own business isn’t for everyone. When you have the drive like you do, when you can see that vision of the services you can provide, then you can handle the stress. So when he did work with you, then that’s how you came up with the two times.
Alan Ziga
Exactly, because it was two, cuz he wanted to be unique. Because, you know, there’s a lot of other tutoring companies out there, like what’s gonna make us stand out? And the two Yes, yeah.
Emmalou Penrod
Well, I wondered if that technique was what you learned from your first tutoring assignment, when you were working for another company, that of having two tutors and and therefore keeping their attention?
Alan Ziga
I actually learned that after starting the business. I was researching benefits of having two people and everything. And I wasn’t really coming up with much. But I knew that I figured we would kind of get more done. I figured if we offer a couple of different perspectives on a particular topic, the student would likely grasp on to one more than the other. And then also I did some research and I found out that students typically learn best when you teach them visually, kinesthetically, and auditorily. I don’t know if that’s a word. But, you know, verbally, I should say. And I realized that having two of us would be able to do that more efficiently. And so I noticed students did pick up on things quicker when we had two people. And then the attention part though, like going back and forth. I actually found that out a little bit after starting the business, after talking to this gentleman. He worked with autistic children for a decade. And he’s like, “Hey, you know, another benefit of that is the attention thing.” and I’m like, Whoa, I never thought about that. He’s like, “Yeah, that’s great for kids with ADD, ADHD. Sometimes we use that in our service, too, when communicating with a child.” And I was like, Huh, I didn’t even think about that. And after doing more research, I realized that’s how our brain works. Like if you have someone, especially if they’re boring, you have someone who’s talking for more than 30 seconds, it could be if they’re boring, your mind’s already going elsewhere. If you’re thinking about dinner, the kids, if you have them, your Facebook, whatever else. The average American loses their attention six or seven times a minute. And that’s because your brain, if you’re listening to the same thing over and over and your brain gets used to it, and then wants to conserve energy, so it makes you go in your head and stop paying attention. What if you were to take that stimuli and switch it with a different one. The brain pays attention to new stimuli. So if that boring guy is speaking, and then all of a sudden, there’s a different speaker who goes on the stage, all of a sudden your brains like, Oh my god, there’s something new here. Let’s pay attention to it. And then that person starts talking. But then if they talk too long, guess what? You’re gonna stop paying attention. But if you keep switching back and forth, your brain is going to keep seeing it as new. It’s gonna keep paying attention.
Emmalou Penrod
That is brilliant. I love it. I love it. Thank you, Alan, thank you so much for sharing this and I appreciate what you do.
Alan Ziga
Thank you. Yeah. And I appreciate you having me on your show or your podcast. So whatever you want to call it. Yeah. I appreciate you having me on. It was an honor.
Emmalou Penrod
All right. You have a great day.
Alan Ziga
You too, Emmalou. Thank you.