From a young age, Ash Obhrai had been surrounded by educators. With his father as a GCSE Maths examiner, mother as an A-Level Art & Design teacher and aunt as a successful primary school teacher, it was only a matter of time before he too would venture into academia. After working as a tutor alongside his corporate career for 15 years, he decided to turn the tables and launch his own Tutor Doctor business in 2017.
“It was one day when my parents made me realise how fulfilling working in education would be,” said Ash. “They were responsible for changing the lives of students every single day, whilst I was working in the corporate world and it didn’t bring anything close to that same level of satisfaction. I knew I wanted to make a transition into something that would provide a greater sense of achievement – at Tutor Doctor, I get that every single day.”
Ash’s corporate career began when he graduated from UCL with an M.Eng in Electronic Engineering with Medical Electronics, taking him into various sectors including retail, traveller marketing and finance. It was from there that he moved into an international role, managing global luxury retailers such as Burberry, Jimmy Choo and Samsonite. This was when the conversation with his father happened.
Having also attempted to launch his own tutoring agency, Ash realised that the franchising route would give him a better chance of success. Tapping into the franchisors’ knowledge, combined with the wealth of experience that typically comes with a franchise network, he knew that his skills would allow him to truly thrive.
“I’ve always had a passion for caring for others and wanted to run my own business, meaning it was a toss-up between a care or education franchise. It came down to having past experience with tutoring and continuing with my family’s passion for children too. After thorough research of which organisations fit my personal values best, Tutor Doctor was the only one. My wife Shilpi was also very encouraging and supportive, wanting to manage the recruitment arm of the business.”
Tutor Doctor is the fastest-growing in-home tutoring franchise in the world. Franchisees manage a team of tutors and work closely with families to identify the needs of students. As successful business owners at the heart of the local community, franchisees help children to achieve their potential and change lives for the better. In today’s modern, hectic world, the tired old centre-based model lacks convenience and the personal touch. Tutors visit students at home or work with them one-to-one via an online platform for a truly bespoke, person-centred service.
Wasting no time, Ash flew to Tutor Doctor Home Office in Toronto for his initial franchisee training in August 2017. Although he was already prepared for the plethora of information he would receive during his 10 days, he was still surprised by the sheer breadth of the training material.
“The training was one of the best I could see in the market. Tutor Doctor genuinely cared about their franchisees and gave them all the skills to make it a success from the very beginning. That was evident as soon as I stepped into that training room – it was extremely thorough and set me up nicely to hit the ground running as soon as I arrived home.”
Immediately after launching, franchisees are actively supported by a business coach across all areas of business through structured training programmes, weekly coaching calls, weekly global calls and on-demand support as and when needed. Then, as the business grows, specifically designed support systems help to maintain growth, build momentum, and scale the business, allowing franchisees to achieve both financial and personal goals. Ash used this support network to bolster his own business.
Whilst in his training, Ash was already receiving leads from tutors in his Newham territory. This meant that when he had completed his 10-day programme, he was ready to put his skills into practice and start generating business almost instantly.
