The new scholarship ESA (education savings account) program in my home state of Utah is called Utah Fits All. The name of the scholarship makes reference to its mission of helping all Utah students find their right “fit,” alluding to the reality that education is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor.
As a microschool founder, I am passionate about this concept of helping kids find a good fit. At The Treehouse, I serve students who have not been a good “fit” in the public school system for a variety of reasons. One student said she felt stupid there; another was bored. Some have felt the school week is too many hours, interrupting precious time to be together in family and to instill family values. I love that these students and families have found their fit at my microschool!
I believe strongly that education isn’t one-size-fits-all, but as a business owner, I often find myself wanting to make it work for everyone. My educator heart wants to help everyone. My can-do attitude says we can make anything work. And of course, my business mindset says, “Don’t turn customers away!”
However, successful businesses don’t try to be all things to all people. In business, this specialization is often called niche marketing. Here are the challenges that arise when we try to be everyone’s right fit:
- Diluted message and lack of clarity about what your school is all about.
Weak branding makes you appear generic and therefore not able to stand out to people. For example, if you plan to be the classical education school in your area, be the very best school for that philosophy, but don’t also try to be the place for self-directed learners.
- You simply can’t have the capacity to excel in every area.
You will inevitably fall short in one area, and perhaps compromise your ability to shine in your real area of expertise. Resources like time and energy are finite, no matter how big our hearts are.
- It is hard to market to a general audience.
When you know what specific service you’re providing, and who your ideal customer is, you can tailor your message to their exact needs, challenges, and desires, as well as know where to find your customers.
In my first year as a microschool founder, I have worked on clarifying my message about who I am and what I offer. I have reminded myself that I desire every child to find his or her right fit, and that might not be me. I always try to offer people other recommendations that I think they might like to check out. In the end, I want each family at The Treehouse to have made an informed choice to be here.
Despite the fact that I strongly believe in helping kids find their educational fit, my own ego was put to the test at the end of my first year, when I learned that one family would not be returning for our second year.
I have to admit, this news caused me to spiral a bit. I wondered what I had done wrong, what I needed to improve, and contemplated some shifts in my structure to be more of what I thought this family wanted. I had to train my mind to focus on the fact that I had five happily returning families, and a waitlist of other interested families, in order to keep the feedback from this one family in proper perspective.
In the end, their feedback helped me see systems that could use refining, including better orientation of new students and families, more consistent use of our agile learning tools to empower learners, and a more thorough family interview to determine philosophical alignment before enrollment. However, I did not need to throw out the whole system in favor of a new one, and it was okay that my program is simply not the right fit for this family’s learning goals. In fact, this experience has led me to commit more fully to my philosophy and systems, to develop further what has been working well for my five returning families.
Once I took my own ego out of the equation, I could see that there was no reason to take this family’s decision personally. Instead, I celebrate that this family has the freedom to find their right fit, and I can now continue to improve my service for the families who do align with my program.
Microschools can serve niche populations with very specific needs and values. One of the benefits of being “micro” is the ability to have regular feedback through interactions with students and their families. As an educator, I use that feedback to do all I can to meet the needs of my learners. But as a business owner, I also have to discern when I can be of service, and when it makes more sense for a family to seek a better fit.
