Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Paul Nixon, CEO of Virtual VP, located in Huntsville, AL, USA.

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

Virtual VP is a unique education consulting company because we focus our attention on the adults in education. Teachers are the most important school-related factor in education, yet too often, teachers are on their own in the classroom, having to do the difficult work of educating students alone. At Virtual VP, we provide customized, affordable support solutions for busy educators so they can focus more on their students.

Our customers are teachers, schools, and school districts who need help. We work with public schools, private schools, and charter schools. We also provide support and professional development for instructors and professors on the college level. Teachers help students, we help teachers.

Our team of skilled professionals offers a variety of services, including Registrar Support, Professional Development, Teacher Coaching, Administrator Coaching, and more! Our teacher coaching program is one of our favorite services to offer because it is so different from the way professional development for teachers is typically done. Teacher coaching focuses on the person instead of the curriculum, and it is customized to help reduce the teacher's workload.

Tell us about yourself

I am a career educator who has worked in a wide variety of educational contexts as a high school teacher, a university professor, an instructional coach, a lead teacher, and a vice principal. It was while I was working in administration as a vice principal that it one day occurred to me that, in many cases, there is little to no help for teachers as they do their important work in the classroom. I searched for a solution and couldn't find one, so I made one.

I am motivated each day to do this work because I am surrounded by educators, so I can clearly see their need for support. The people we help are outspoken about the value of our service, so it is easy to see why it's important to keep doing what we do. Many teachers do not realize they have support available in the way we provide it, so our unique service helps teachers see that they don't have to be alone.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I believe my biggest accomplishment as a business owner is assembling a team of highly qualified and skilled professional educators to work together to help teachers. I have built programs and written curricula before, and I have managed teams in the past, but this is the first time in my career that I have started from scratch to put together the whole operation. Our team is so skilled that I like to think of us like a group of superheroes. And since our product is our people, I believe it's extremely important to have a great team on board. This gives teachers confidence that they can rely on Virtual VP to provide the support they are looking for.

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

It's difficult to balance the work of providing service with the work of running the business. As a career educator, I can do the work of coaching teachers and supporting administrators pretty naturally, but running the business side of the company is not something I ever thought I would do before I started Virtual VP 5 years ago. But I have learned a lot about how to run a business through the trial and error of actually doing it. It has been really interesting to see how having a solid business structure gives potential clients the confidence in your company to do business with you. Being able to do the work that clients need is critically important, but almost as important as looking like you are able to do the work that clients need. The two things work together to engender confidence in potential clients.

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

  1. Be clear about what you want to do. Start-up businesses are a dime a dozen these days, so you can get swallowed up in the white noise of all these businesses if you aren't clear about what you want to do and how it will be different from everything else that's out there.
  2. Be willing and able to sacrifice some comfort for a while as your company gets started. Starting your business will cost you something - it could be money, time, peace of mind, or something else entirely. But if you're serious about the business you want to start and the gap you want to fill, you need to be willing to give something up, at least temporarily, before your business begins to fill the gap you envision.
  3. Surround yourself with people who are willing to disagree with you for your own good. There is a difference between people who seem like they're in your corner because they're always cheering and people who are actually in your corner because they'll tell you when no one should be cheering. You are going to make some mistakes, and you need people close to you who won't pretend like you're doing everything perfectly and who will help you see and correct your mistakes without abandoning you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.virtualviceprincipal.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVirtualVP/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevirtualvp/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virtualvp/

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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