He overcame failure to build a thriving online tuition business

Co-founder of learning centre sees frugality as a strength that helped him cope in lean times

- Timothy Goh

Mr Jerry Lee knows that the road to financial independence is rarely smooth.

He and his business partner lost more than $100,000 in the early years of running Grade Solution Learning Centre, which he set up in 2012 as a physical tuition centre in Kovan.

"Our syllabus was solid and our teaching techniques were sound, but we didn't know how to market ourselves or attract parents," said Mr Lee.

"I also wanted to move to a fully online model to keep fees affordable and ensure that even families with financial constraints could benefit from our programmes. Without the overheads of a physical centre, and with pre-recorded courses available at any time, students could learn at their own convenience."

Between 2012 and 2016, Mr Lee sank a significant sum into various online tuition ventures, all of which failed. He even considered returning to the corporate world, where he had worked as a management executive at a marine construction firm.

To turn things around, Mr Lee, who holds a degree in materials science and engineering from Nanyang Technological University, took up digital marketing courses and studied books on copywriting and sales to learn how to promote his services online.

In 2016, he founded Writing Samurai, an online platform offering pre-recorded creative writing lessons, with just $700 in capital.

Enrolment picked up from 2016 and surged in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online learning.

"Enrolment shot through the roof. We couldn't go back to physical classes as we had too many students, and the majority of them preferred online learning," he said.

"We tried a hybrid model for a while, but it limited our growth, so in 2021, we decided to go all-in on online learning."

Writing Samurai now operates as a subsidiary of Grade Solution Learning Centre.