Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Josh Flegg, Co-Founder of Coding with CodeX, located in London, United Kingdom.

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

Coding with CodeX is an edtech start-up changing the way people learn how to code. We're creating the next generation of coders through our community-based curriculum. We're turning the way to learn how to code into a collaborative coding experience. With the core value being that anyone can code, we've created an accessible age-agnostic curriculum. Teaching to those aged 9 - 65 the valuable skill of the coding. Our tutors help ensure the course is adjusted to the needs of the student. But we're not stopping there. Not only are we working hard to change the way coding is being taught in mainstream education, but we also help professionals upskill during the digital revolution we're in.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Josh, and I started working on Coding with CodeX with two of my friends at University, Fore Obatusin, and Faisal Patel. We realized there is a huge skill set gap for IT in the UK at the moment, and the best way to start reducing that gap is by teaching people coding skills from a younger age. After researching ways people can learn how to code, we saw that all online courses are taught in 'your own time,' which works for an older generation, but younger people need to be taught more 'hands-on.' Thus, we created a collaborative learning experience.

What motivates me to continue to work for Coding with CodeX is our social impact. Every year we see 100s of young people getting the chance to learn how to code at our free code camps, which can only be funded through paid courses on our website. Knowing that I can help impact 100s of young people by completing my day-to-day work really keeps me motivated to strive for bigger achievements with Coding with CodeX.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

That's a tough one. I'd say it is between two things. So far, we've taught 7,500+ people globally, which is pretty surreal. Especially when you consider we started all of this out of a tiny room at the University of Nottingham. But then, on the other side of things, we've seen students take courses that had never coded before and then pursue Computer Science in higher education. And that direct impact is just hard to comprehend at times.

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

Time management is the hardest part of being a business owner. There are always a million and one things that you want to complete and achieve when owning a social enterprise. You have to be able to flag important deadlines and keep to them, as well as keeping track of all your ideas that you want to, one day, implement into your business. Trello has been a bit of a lifesaver for this.

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

  1. Just start. You can start your business in your spare time, 1 hour a day. Even if you have kids, are working full time, or studying, rather than putting on Netflix for an hour, try researching the business you want to create.
  2. Have a 'working doc.' This can be on GDocs or Word. We use Notion. Keep track of every idea, every sale, every objection, and anything else that happens in your business. Having a continuous flow of information about your business means you can search for items you may have thought about before or objections you may have had.
  3. Speak to founders. When starting up this business, I was too nervous to reach out to founders in similar industries about how they started because I thought they would be too busy to reply to me, and most of them were. But you will find the needle in the haystack that will allow you to ask questions. This is also the perfect way to start finding a mentor. Mentors are crucial for business and can really help you understand your business decisions better because 9/10 they have already had to go through with something similar.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about starting up a business or starting to scale your business. I love to connect with other business owners and see if we can help each other to grow even further!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://codingwithcodex.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodingwithCodeX
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codex_uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-flegg/

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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