Private School Administrators Network

I travelled with my second son to a private university for fresh registration and 'my eyes saw the back of my head'!😌
Here I was, thinking that registration in a private university would be seamless and easier than that of the federal universities.

To start with, I wanted to pay all fees online. I called one of the numbers on the bursary list and was told to pay only tuition and 3 others, which I did.
Got to school to pick up receipts and was told that we had to pay 15 other fees but would need to raise different tellers for them!! I almost fainted! I have never been stressed like I was yesterday in all my life!

With plenty of money paid, why can't they make registration easy for new parents without this type of stress?
I moved from office to office, photocopy centre, POS for cash, back to bank for extra payment and my boy joined the queue. From there, I went back to bursary to change tellers to receipts, then back to photocopy and back to bursary.😔

We had to visit two other offices but I just told them that my son would continue with them the next day because I was travelling back to Awka.

I want to ask, with this economy that is dancing 'alanta' on people's money, why can't businesses ease further stress on their customers?

A particular plastic company where we buy school items stresses customers like this too. I can't remember when last I visited them. I found a way to send money to one of their staff who would do all the protocols and waybill the products down to Awka for us.

Businesses should find ways to make their customer's purchases easy because if they don't, someone else will surely find a better way, and they will lose customers!

Private school owners from Nusery to Secondary school should create a system that enables a parent on enquiry or an older parent to get whatever information or materials they need in less than 10 minutes.
Stop keeping people waiting even applicants! People have things to do and may be in a hurry to go somewhere else.👌
Schools lose great teachers and intending parents because of this type of delays on a daily basis!

I trust that we can do better as business people.👍

*Have you experienced such delays in a private business before?

MAKE THE BOLD MOVE TODAY!

If you were given today and you weren't expecting it, what will you do with that amount of money? You have my permission to take out just 2 - 3 minutes to think about it. What will you do with that amount of money?

If you aren't prepared when opportunities come knocking, you may be the one to mess it up for yourself.
The change you desire should be championed by you!

Some say, "If I have money, I will start a business". And I ask, have you ever planned that business you wish to start on paper and in details? Are you waiting to do the planning when the money comes in? Do you even know how to write a simple business plan?

Some say, " When I get the job, I will pay for that training or I will learn the needed skills". What then will happen if you are required to show the same needed skills during the job interview?
Why do people keep procrastinating on learning new skills, making a new move, making necessary changes or doing an investment that will bring the ultimate change they desire in life?

I tell school owners, teachers, managers and business owners that I mentor, coach or train, that if all they do with their phone were to make and receive calls, send messages, go on social media and watch reels, then their smartphones aren't useful in their hands!
Do you know the amount of immense power and opportunities you have with a smartphone in your hand?

You're the CEO of your life! All you need to bring the change you desire into your life is within you - an unflinching faith in your dream, a burning passion for the value you shall offer, a positive mindset, proper prior planning and strategic collaborations!
You may have noticed that I didn't mention money. Money can come from different sources later but you've got to start first.👌

You have an idea right? Start first with planning on paper and working out those you will need to help you on your journey. If there are skills you will need for that idea to grow, go learn that skill now! Stop wasting time.

We once had a teacher who left our school post Covid because she got a job at a federal University. When she complained that they weren't being paid salaries by the university, I told her to think of a craft she would love to learn. She said she lovef Fashion and designing, so I told her to look for a great boss who is skilled and good at what she does and to register in their school of Fashion. When the started learning from this woman, there were times she wanted to stop going to the shop and I kept encouraging her. Then I told her to make Youtube videos her 'bestie' and to begin to watch videos of other designers, to learn other ways of making a design different from what her boss was teaching her. This lady listened and began to improve on herself. I then told her to seek to take up the difficult designs that come into their shop and to look for an online mentor who will train her online from time to time. I told her to get ready to pay the mentor. If you aren't willing to pay money to improve on yourself, it simply tells us that you aren't determined about your destination!

Fast forward to today, this young lady has graduated from the Fashion school and worked an additional 2 years with her boss before leaving to start hers. Some people will want to leave immediately they graduate to start theirs because they cant want to be their own boss. Some others will look for cunning ways to steal their boss' customers by telling them that they've been the ones seeing their clothes and that they sew better than their boss. Then they will offer to take cheaper fees from these clients on order to open their new shop with a lot of customers.😏
My friend, do not allow impatience, greed and disloyalty finish your destiny for you! Karma is unforgiving.

Do you know that the lady doesn't own a shop but works from home and she is being choked with so much orders?
Difficult designs which customers request for in her boss' shop are sent to her and her boss tells her to charge whatever she wants for the clothes.🔥 Some of the graduation dresses of our students were made by her and at a point, she said she couldn't take any more orders as her hands were full. I kept referring parents to her.😍

You too can change your life if you're willing to fold up your sleeves, put your ego aside and get down to real work. You should also have a mentor to guide you through to success at a faster rate.
Many Nigerians aren't willing to do the work or to pay for a coach or mentor. They want everything free. Free training is just a tip of of what the coach really has to offer!

Make the decision to become responsible for the change you need in your life! Then get to work without any delay. Delays are dangerous!

I look forward to a more successful you!👍

*For personal or business coaching, mentorship or consulting that brings you 10X success, call or WhatsApp my number today - ±2348033130456. Let's begin your journey with you and support you all the way to your success destination. If you've started the journey and you know you need support to enable you mastermind your way to success, then reach out to me now. Allow me to show you a better and quicker way to success through strategic planning. You don't have to walk that road alone or make a lot of costly mistakes until you get it right.
But note, that I take on only visionary people who know exactly what they want and are ready to put in the work!

Aragon! Become......!

Today is a great day to be alive!💯💃❤

School Business Owners (long post alert!):
School owners must think of sustainability when implementing any strategy against competitors in business. Do not start what you cannot continue!

Sometimes, business people sho.ot themselves in the foot trying to outrun nearby businesses.
If you allow anything now, you will have to continue with it. The day you decide to make a change, most parents will angrily reject the change by moving to another school!

Some schools do a lot of things to keep parents like - giving crazy discounts, free tuition for a second or third child or making the school bus transport free. Now don't get me wrong. You can offer incentives once in a while to your customers in business but you should have a standard and maintain it!

I don't want to talk about the gifts that are given to children during graduation or Christmas parties.😔 Most of these gifts are not even for the child's direct use! Parents now dictate to school owners the gifts they want for parties and whether you like it or not, you must buy these gifts to keep them happy.

Where and how did we go wrong with school business in our country? Where is the professionalism?
Daily, we see school owners running around and trying to please parents at ALL costs while forgetting that their school is a business entity - You have a business to run!

One major problem we have in the Education sector is the fact that there is no enforcement of guidelines, ethics or laws on school business operations in the different states. The government have decided to ignore us because they have nothing to lose. So they take all the taxes from private schools and do not provide the agreed amount of investment into Education by the UN.
The only hope which was supposed to come from parenting Groups/Associations has been dashed to the ground by the proliferation of different groups or associations.
Each fighting for a different goal. These associations have left off their primary duty which are: primarily advocacy with the government, supporting and regulating the activities of member schools. They are busy competing with each other!😏

One of the greatest challenge in Education is having people who lack the required skills, set up and run a school. This is the reason why they run schools like market women with the 'buy one and get one free' mentality.
Most school owners started their businesses without doing short courses on Business Administration, Strategic Leadership, Financial Accounting, Marketing, Communication, Crisis Management, Innovation, Business Operation etc.
Some have never read up on business ethics and national business laws. These are areas of study that will give you the needed skills to thrive in your business.
If you don't have these skills, then employ people who have the skills and allow them to run your school.
Otherwise, go and learn these skills if you intend to move your business forward.

Learning does not have to stop for you. "Don't be too busy working in your business, that you forget to be work on your business!"

You need to go back to studying in 2024. You've done this business for a while on your own, using the trial-and-error method. You cannot continue with your business in this manner. Start learning and keep learning.

There are a lot of free courses in different educational apps, some are paid for, most are free and for some free courses, you may need to pay for the certificate at the end of the course. Download these Apps/courses and make time daily after work or while in your office to study.

Most business owners have gone through and some are still going through a lot of struggles financially, and health-wise. Some marriages have been affected by these struggles too and most school owners don't understand how to keep their work-life balance.

You can learn these skills.👌

There are a lot of things you won't do if you have knowledge. So, get knowledge and in doing so, get understanding.
Learning should be a life-long goal!

If you're doing the right things for your school business in line with business ethics, do not join the other school owners who play dirty tricks and go so low just to get children into their school. If they like, they should admit one child and give 100% scholarship or discount to their parents for their second child. Maintain your standards and quality. Time will set you apart from them.

Are you learning any new skills currently?

What new knowledge have you added to yourself this year?

What plans do you have for PD(Personal Development) next year?

How much time and money have you budgeted for learning next year?

What are the areas of business in which you lack practical knowledge?
These should be part of your study goals come 2024.

Stand out.

Let's go there!

For the love of Education,❤
Melissa.Chukwuma. 28.11.23.

Dear School Owner,
Can you stop running your school with the 'Fire brigade' mentality?

Nothing just happens!

If you want a great term or session, you have to lay all your plans down and budget your way through it!
Next stick to your budget, making allowance only for circumstances which are unforeseen.

You need to stop stressing. It isn't good for your health.
Put all your bills, loan repayment (if any) and school growth bills into your budget.
If you want to buy any land, bus or equipment, put in savings for their cost into your budget too.

Have a plan please.
Don't jump into buying anything because you see others buying now. Plan yourself so that you don't get into financial troubles.

This long break is the time for:
*Evaluation (termly or yearly)
*Curriculum review (if needed)
*Yearly calendar broken into termly calendars with school activities.
*School growth plans and marketing plans.
*Recruitment and onboarding.
*Purchase of items needed in the school.
* Renovation and Repairs.
*Long Rest! This one is non-negotiable oo.🤩

To be sincere, some business owners and school owners started working on the list above since January this year.

But it's not too late to start.

Plan on paper!
Have a 'Plan' book.

Write down all you want to accomplish in the next 1 year, 2 years and in the next 5 years on this book.

Then follow through by writing down what you need to accomplish these goals whether finance, strategy, human resource, collaborations or materials.

Develop how to get started on each goal. Make necessary calls and determine the capital you may need. Then write down your budget for the session (business year) and break it down into 3 terms. Now you have a budget for first term, look through it again and review your plans to make sure you accommodated every need in your budget.

Begin to work out your plan using your budget.

*You can create a think-tank with a few members of your team to achieve this.

Do not do this alone. Get them on board.

Let the first term run seamlessly because you planned well and followed a budget.

"Any business owner who refuses to plan well has automatically planned to fail!"

Stop running around and panicking or thinking where the next salary or family meal shall come from!!!

Do yourself a favour - Plan, Budget, Collaborate and Implement.🔥

*Remember innovations too. Add something new each session to spice up your activities.👌😍

I love seeing growth in the Education space.❤

Melissa Chukwuma. 13.08.2023.