“We wanted to be the masters of our own destiny and have some control on our lives.”
Mark and Joanna Butler are the ultimate dream team. Happily married with two wonderful children, the couple also run their own very successful business together.
A world-ranking franchise to be precise. When Mark’s stock-photography business wasn’t delivering the same returns he’d experienced previously, he started looking for a new challenge. Tutor Doctor Reading was born in May 2014, with Joanna joining the business full time shortly after in order to keep up with demand for the service. Less than six years later, the Butlers now rank as the best performing office in the country – and there’s plenty more to come!
“We wanted to be the masters of our own destiny and have some control on our lives,” says Mark. “We’ve certainly achieved that! To now be told that we’re now the second largest office globally, in terms of revenue, is very exciting. But we’re just focussed on maintaining the same level of service in the business and growing to help more students in the region. Just because we’ve achieved the top spot, doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop striving for more.”
Mark was on the hunt for his next business venture and he discovered Tutor Doctor. He immediately saw the opportunity to create a lucrative business that would have a real impact in the local community. As parents themselves, both he and Joanna recognised the need – and the potential – for a top-quality home-based tuition service in Reading. However, it was the fact that they would be investing in an established brand with proven success that appealed the most.
“The support network was a huge driving force for both of us. We had been in our previous careers for so long that starting something from scratch was exciting and scary at the same time. Investing in a franchise gave us the perfect opportunity to take something and run with it, whilst knowing that there was support behind us at all times. The decision to go with Tutor Doctor was a no-brainer – we wanted to have an impact on the community.”
After conducting thorough due diligence and undertaking Tutor Doctor’s intensive new franchisee training programme, the pair were ready to take on the world! In May 2014, Tutor Doctor Reading opened for business and has been growing year-on-year ever since. Almost immediately, their impact was palpable - not only in their local community but within the Tutor Doctor network too.
Joanna's Experience with Tutor Doctor
“In our first six months, we were recognised as the fastest growing new franchised office, ever, within Tutor Doctor,” explains Joanna. “In May 2015 we approached head office with a desire to expand into two neighbouring territories, Wokingham and Maidenhead. Thanks to our commitment and the level of success we’d achieved to date, that request was granted. And so, Tutor Doctor Berkshire was created. After launching our second and third territories, the business went from strength to strength and it saw significant year on year growth. In the year 2015 to 2016, the growth was at 42% and that increased in the following year by another 42%.”
2017 saw Mark and Jo crowned as Tutor Doctor’s Global Franchisee of the Year, at the brand’s prestigious ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’ conference in Toronto. Although they didn’t know that they were shortlisted until minutes before winning the award, it proved to be another significant turning point for their business. Back home, the savvy duo continued to work on raising their profile and cemented themselves as both local business and education industry experts.
Thanks to their collaborative spirit and determination to help push the brand to new heights, Mark and Jo have become go-to franchisees for Tutor Doctor when it comes to implementing new initiatives into the network. The couple regularly sit on internal Thought Leadership Committees and were instrumental in the development of the brand’s now award-winning online tutoring platform.
“We’re extremely proud to be ambassadors for a brand that we wholeheartedly believe in and our involvement in the network has simultaneously helped our business flourish,” says Joanna. “We continue to mentor new and existing franchisees, regularly attend franchise exhibitions and open days to support recruitment and Mark has accompanied Tutor Doctor President, Frank Milner, on his recent UK roadshows. We take immense pride in giving back.”
In what was another big year for the pair, 2018 saw one of their tutors crowned ‘Global Tutor of the Year’ and expansion into two further territories. Operating across five territories, the Butlers’ business – Tutor Doctor Berkshire and North Surrey – now has the potential to reach almost half a million people. True to form, Mark and Jo implemented tried and trusted growth strategies which had an immediate impact on their two new territories.
“We officially launched Tutor Doctor North Surrey in September 2018 and it grew exponentially. By the following January, it had grown by 17%, with 50 clients signed up and over 1,500 tuition hours delivered. It was the right decision for us to branch out, as we were clearly seeing the results and the positive impact in students’ lives.”
Racking up the accolades, Mark and Jo qualified for Tutor Doctor’s ‘President’s Circle’ twice in four years – an honour which earns the top performing franchisees from across the globe an all-expenses paid destination holiday to celebrate with their peers. In the same year that the couple celebrated their fifth business anniversary, they were also shortlisted for ‘Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year’, a national award with the British Franchise Association.
“The success that we’ve seen in our business has been amazing. Tutor Doctor appealed to us as an extremely personal business idea, helping us to give back to our community. The room to grow was a major selling point – and that’s what we’ve done – number one in the UK and number two globally… there’s only one way to go from here!”
- Mark and Joanna Butler
