Ann Nyakinyua Gathura is the founder and director of Ann’s Math Club, a personalized learning resource that provides practical and innovative mathematics solutions for all ages to learn mathematics both online and offline.
I started this venture after I rediscovered my love for mathematics during the 2020 pandemic. Through my parents support, I decided to tutor four learners at our home garage. I received very positive feedback from the students and their parents and decided to convert into a business oriented mathematics club.
The club has now grown from four students to a thriving community of over 10,000 math enthusiasts. The club’s key focus is on the individual learner, providing a platform for members to connect, learn, and grow their love for mathematics.
In 2020, I was in that category of people who benefitted from the pandemic. It was within this period that Ann’s Maths Club was born. When you have been locked up in the house for an entire month, you ask yourself some hard questions.
“What is my passion?” “How can I leave an impact?” “How can I make the most out of this pandemic season?” And the one question which was easy for me to answer was the first question: I have a passion for Mathematics. And so I thought, why not start a maths club?
Initially, I had no revenue model in mind when starting the club. The key focus for me was first to build a community and then think on how to monetize it. The starting capital was spread over the first two months, investing in a whiteboard, lapel microphone, tripod, and stationeries.
The total cost was approximately Sh. 25,000. I continued to run the club on a free model for six months during the pandemic period and in the seventh month, I introduced a payment model. Within the first two months of launching the model, we had broken even and exceeded our revenue target by over 200%.
Since I started the maths club during the pandemic, we were on a hiatus at work, since our work involved physical training. By the time we were getting back to work, the maths club had grown to be my center of attention.
Since my work was very flexible, I could still work and give the club some time. But gradually I kept on allocating more and more time to the club, and as you guessed it, I now fully work on the maths club.
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Receiving feedback from parents about the students’ transformation in attitude and impressive results remains to be our greatest achievement at the club. This feedback confirms that we have achieved our core mission and delivered on our promise to provide high-quality math tutoring services and transform the learners attitude towards mathematics.
But one highlight moment for the club and also for me was winning the Zuri Awards STEM category in 2022. It was a recognition of our hard work, commitment, and dedication to providing quality math tutoring services that inspire our students to excel in STEM fields.
Looking back, I realize that there were missed opportunities to track the students’ progress from the very beginning. I would have introduced a tracking system to record each student’s progress from day one.
This would involve setting up a system that tracks each student’s initial assessment results, attendance, and their progress in each topic covered in the club.
Learning from this, we have set up a tracking system which helps not only the learners to evidently see their progress through time but also for the parents to see value for money, they’ve invested in their children.
One key money mistake I made was not planning my finances and having a structure on expenditure. I saw my personal and business expenses as the same, and this made it difficult to account for some business expenses. Now, I know better and get a salary from the business and then add it as a recurring expense for the club.
Growing up, my father always spoke of investing your money. So, when the club started to generate revenue, one of the initial intentions I had was to invest some of the returns. I opened a money market account and started saving an average of 7 to 12% of the revenue the club made.
Over the years, as the revenue streams grew, and I also decided to open a sacco account, of which I save 10% of my salary from the club.
I have learned that success is not just about achieving our own personal goals. It is also about helping others to achieve theirs. By sharing our knowledge, skills, and resources, we can make a positive impact on the world and leave a lasting legacy.
A version of this profile feature on Ann Nyakinyua of Ann’s Math Club was also published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.