• Who: Andrew Zmolek
• Website: mathtutorpro.com
• Course Topic: Math Education
• Interesting Stats: Earning tutoring revenue via Zoom

Who are you and what course have you created?

I’m a Ph.D.-level chemical engineer who is pursuing a career as a teacher. I created MathTutorPro.com to help with regard to this goal. More importantly, I created it to help students learn important math concepts.

What market does your online course serve?

This course serves the online math education marketplace. There are many other sites that have large followings and even millions of pageviews per month. But I still think that there is space for innovation with regard to math education. In terms of specific topics within the math education space, I am still looking to hone in on the best subjects. I continue to generate new information about what content is used most on the site. And I also email students who visit the site. This helps me to know what to focus on, such as Algebra or Trigonometry.

What’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?

The site provides students with custom-built and valuable math content that offers students real-time evaluations of their answers. This allows students to effectively train to solve important math problems as other methods may not be as efficient. Many problem sets also allow students to like problems as they work through them. Some also use the hint feature to help them think about the problems with the right mindset. These features aren’t available with many other courses and sites.

How did you get into the market?

I wanted to build a career in education, and I thought starting an educational technology company would help in that pursuit. I knew that there were other websites that offered math content. Still, as I studied these sites and also other resources, I thought my idea to offer problem sets generated by using random number generators in order to provide a wide array of available problems would be value-added and unique. The site can currently generate well over one million unique problems.

Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?

I knew that I could generate interesting math content for a website as I had worked on a number of difficult computational engineering problems, such as modeling the distribution and degradation of pharmaceuticals in small animal models. With that in mind, I then thought that I would be able to learn enough about client-side coding for web development to be able to show the problem sets in ways that students would easily be able to read and use as they study. Due to the nature of websites being easily accessed from much of the world, I thought this would be a strong platform for starting an educational technology company. I would like to continue to improve upon the content that is currently on the site, and I think that there is a lot of opportunity to do so.

Did you have any moments of doubt before you created/launched it?

I was definitely nervous when I first announced on social media that I had launched a math tutoring service. Gratefully, no one criticized the idea, and several of my friends commented and said that they thought that it was a good idea. I have messaged a number of other math websites since I launched the site as well, and I have definitely also been nervous when talking on video conferencing calls with individuals from several of these companies as I am still somewhat apprehensive that others won’t see the value of the site.

If so what made you turn it around and do it anyway?

Several students have contacted me since I launched the site over a year ago to say that they think the content on the site has helped them study for their math classes, and this has been motivational for me.

What’s your online course like?

The problem sets on the site are written to show a wide variety of important math problems for subjects such as Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus. The problem sets are written in either Javascript or PHP at the moment, but I am working to write content in other programming languages as well. There is also an associated YouTube channel that has helpful math videos.

How long did it take you to create your course?

I have slowly worked on the site over time since October 2021. I first officially launched the site at the end of the 2021 calendar year, and when I listed “Founder of MathTutorPro.com” on my professional networking page, a number of peers contacted me to congratulate me and also state that they’re interested in collaborating.

Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).

One of my largest accomplishments with the site so far was working with a Boston-based non-profit organization during the summer of 2022 as I tutored a number of students who were associated with this organization via Zoom. I showed them how to work through problems on the site and also used a document camera to stream a video of me writing out solutions to math problems at times when that was value added.

Do you have a lead magnet?

I don’t have a lead magnet.

What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?

Overall, I’m still looking to optimize the traffic strategy to the site, but I did buy two other .com domain names that were previously used for different educational purposes. Those domains currently redirect to my site.

What online course platform are you using?

I’m not currently using any of the listed online course platforms. I custom-developed the problem sets that are showcased on the site, and these are written in Javascript and PHP. I’m looking to branch out to using other programming languages as well, such as React and Angular, to better show important math concepts to students.

I also explored the possibility of using the Python programming language to display problem sets, but a virtual private server (i.e. VPS) is needed to interpret the Python language. This is much more expensive from a hosting perspective. I haven’t yet developed this content. Overall, Python code could be used to show problem sets in the field of data science.

Do you like it?

Yes, I’m glad that I developed the platform.

Are there any features you wish it had?

I’m currently developing a number of additional features. I would rather not disclose these at this time.

What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?

I wrote the majority of the code that’s seen on the site. I’m not using an externally developed platform, such as WordPress, for publishing content. I think that the custom development of the site is what makes this site unique and valuable.

What other tools do you use to run your online course business?

I use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to understand the traffic patterns of visitors studying math on the site.

What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?

I’ve enjoyed reading The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and Zero to One by Peter Thiel. I think that I’ve been able to apply some of the principles that are discussed in these books in order to make this site.

Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?

Gratefully, I haven’t yet made any big mistakes with regard to the development of the site. I have filed the site under the business name of Math Tutor Pro, LLC so it is listed as a domestic business in the state of Pennsylvania. My understanding of the LLC status is that it provides liability protection in the event that legal issues arise.

Please share some idea of revenue.

There is revenue for the site via Zoom tutoring with students who are studying mathematical topics. - Andrew Zmolek Click To Tweet

I would ultimately like to add subscription-based problem sets to the site and also work with school districts to develop problem set-based content for them, but this would be at some later time in the future.

Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.

The money that I’ve earned from the course hasn’t yet been meaningful in the sense that it has been life-changing. I still think the development of this site is useful. I think that the content is helping students learn important math concepts.

In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?

There aren’t any other numbers that I’d like to share at this time.

What has creating your course done for you personally?

I do think that this site has helped me pursue my career in education. I’ve had teaching roles where I have been stationed in middle school, high school, and college educational settings over the last two years. This has been separate from the development of this site, but I have still referenced the site to some extent.

Do you have a story of a transformation from any of your clients?

I have tutored several math students over the last few years. - Andrew Zmolek Click To Tweet

I think that the best “transformation” story is that I helped a high school student pass her Pre-Calculus course. This enabled her to graduate from high school. Without passing this class, she would not have been able to graduate. She would’ve needed to enroll in a GED program or wait until the following year to graduate.

What advice do you have for people just starting out?

I wish that I knew more about the sheer number of educational businesses that exist. As I’ve searched for collaborations, I have found dozens of sites that are similar to mine in that they aim to teach K-12 math concepts, but none of them are exactly identical. If I knew more about how many sites are in the educational marketplace, I would’ve spent more time researching before making my own site in order to ensure that I wasn’t duplicating an existing idea.

Learn more about Andrew Zmolek of mathtutorpro.com:

• Website: mathtutorpro.com