Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with James Liu, Founder and CEO of Bowei Strategy LLC., located in Boston, MA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I run a business coaching business that helps teachers go independent and get their own students online and charge a higher rate. Our customers are mostly ESL (English as a second language) teachers who teach English to non-native English-speaking students. We focus on helping these ESL teachers develop and improve the teaching, marketing, and sales skills that they need to run a successful online teaching business.

Tell us about yourself

I grew up in China and came to the US after college to pursue my graduate study in the US. I spent the first ten years in the US in academia and received my Ph.D. in biophysics and MBA from Wake Forest University and did my postdoctoral training at Harvard. I made a transition from academia to management consulting in 2016 and spent two years, from 2017 -2018, helping pharmaceutical, biotech, and MedTech companies with their marketing, sales, and pricing strategies. Towards the end of 2018, I happened to help my own ESL teachers who had been helping me improve my English. I helped them market their own business and get their own students. The work with my own ESL teachers inspired me to help more ESL teachers out there, given how underpaid and undervalued they were in the market. I started the business in Jan. 2019 and have helped over 3500 teachers in the past three and half years through 1-on-1 coaching and group coaching.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My ebook was downloaded by over 70K teachers in the past three years, and we managed to work with over 3500 teachers in the past three and half years. Many of them have quit their full-time job and become independent with their own business that allows them to get students every month and charge over $100 an hour teaching online. Some of them have reached six figures and make over $10K a month. Our teacher's clients have also brought great results to thousands of their students and helped their students get better jobs, secure promotions, improve salaries, change careers, relocate to different countries, and achieve their dreams.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The hardest thing is to grow the business. It only took me a few months to start the business and get consistent results in the business to reach six figures. But it has taken me much longer than I thought to grow the business to the next level. It is not because I haven't been taking action to grow it or because I was scared of anything. It is because there are so many learning curves for me to climb in order to grow the business. Not only that I have to learn how to put together and manage teams, hire people, and delegate tasks, but also that I have to learn different marketing and business strategies to grow the business and implement. No wonder many businesses don't fail when they start. They fail when they grow.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Find your passion - Being a business owner is tough, and you will not be able to make it to the end if you are not passionate about what you do and the results you can generate with your business.
  2. Remember your commitment- There will be times that you want to quit and move on. You need to constantly remind yourself of the commitment you have made to your own business. As entrepreneurs, we take responsibility for our actions and business. We don't give up easily because we commit.
  3. Learn to disconnect - it is so critical that you can have a life-work balance that is healthy and sustainable. I still struggle with it from time to time, but I'm learning how to disconnect myself from the business. Set rules to help you, such as don't allow yourself to bring your business laptop outside your office, having a business phone for the business, taking vacations, and don't bring your business with you on vacations, etc.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Thanks for the opportunity, and I hope my story can inspire others. Entrepreneurship is great not only because we can change the world by implementing our great ideas and helping others but also allow ourselves to become a better version of ourselves. I have grown so much in the past three years, both professionally and personally. I see this entrepreneurial journey as a trial to test myself and grow.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://teachers.boweistrategy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesliuboweistrategy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesliu_bowei/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jamesliu_Bowei
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesliuphdmba/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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