A growing number of individual teachers have started to teach online, bootstrapping different tools and services providers, to reach more students, save time from commuting, and thus give more lessons.
Qwerteach offers them an integrated working environment: showcasing their profiles, providing the virtual classroom and payment security… Teachers can then focus on teaching!
Luxinnovation spoke with Stéphane Panier Qwerteach CEO:
How did you first hear about Luxinnovation and our Fit 4 Start programme?
At a networking event, we ran into Michel Duchateau, who had been one of our mentors. We had first met him during another start-up program, called Boostcamp, organized by the Microsoft Innovation Center in Brussels. As he’d been involved in previous editions of fit4start, he’s the one who told us about the program.
What was your biggest achievement?
Overall, we’re proud of the platform we have developed, and knowing that we’ve setup an efficient tool for online teaching. Hearing the feedback from our students, who managed to find a teacher through Qwerteach and improve their grades is one of our biggest joys.
Name 3 things you especially like about the Fit 4 Start programme?
- The setup of the steering committees, although hard sometimes, is a good preparation for investors meetings
- The atmosphere and cohesion of the group of start-ups participating in the program. We help and learn from each other a lot.
- All coaches and judges are willing to help us succeed, particularly we appreciate the fact that they’ve opened their networks to us.
What did you learn so for by participating in the Fit 4 Start programme?
We’ve realized how little we knew about who our customers were, and why – really – they used our product. We got to talk with them a lot more, and in doing so, could fine-tune our offer to their needs. Also, there’s no such thing as over-communicating.
What are the upcoming challenges for your start-up?
We have a tool up and running, but marketing is lagging behind. We need to improve our sales funnel to bring down our client acquisition cost.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Don’t try to do everything yourself. There’s a lot of tools out there, ready to be used – no need to re-invent the wheel! Build your own tools only if it is central to your business.
Company details
Name: Qwerteach
CEO: Stéphane Panier
Founding date: Nov 2013
Contact email: hello@qwerteach.com
Website: https://qwerteach.com
Social media profiles: Facebook