From teenage founder to running one of Australia’s top franchises: Success Tutoring CEO Michael Black shares his journey

Like many transformational entrepreneurs, Michael Black bootstrapped his startup from a spare bedroom in his parents’ home. But unlike others, he was just 17 years old.

A Sydney startup jostling for elbow room in the cluttered education sector has well and truly made its mark, now quietly plotting international expansion after achieving solid growth on home soil.

Success Tutoring has been growing across the nation under a franchise model that gives hundreds of university students job pathways that don’t involve flipping burgers in the fast-food sector.

Launched in 2017 by Sydney’s Michael Black, Success Tutoring offers personalised tutoring for students from kindergarten to year 12 in English and Mathematics. It is now among Australia’s fastest-growing franchised education providers and has sold in over 100 territories across Australia.

Black was just 17 when he bootstrapped the business out of a spare bedroom in his parent’s home with a vision to motivate, inspire and uplift students to reach their full potential. When he launched the business, he was a university student studying for a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in management and law.

Now 25, Black admits that launching his own business was always his plan. “Business is my passion in life. That’s my way of giving back to the world, and I’m lucky to have found my calling in life at a young age.”

The growth trajectory is impressive. Success Tutoring has opened four new locations in Sydney and plans to expand into New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK early next year. Black has been named one of Australia’s top 10 franchise executives by the Franchise Council of Australia.

“Tutoring is a very saturated market, from freelance tutors and private businesses to franchised businesses like ours, but I was adamant that my plan took a different route. We’re the only tutoring company in the world that does a membership-based model based on the national curriculum. We also award points and give out prizes throughout our sessions,” he says.

While tutors transitioned to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face learning has been an important differentiator for Success Tutoring. Black says there’s no room for error because the educational journey is based on the national curriculum, so anyone can deliver it.

“The learning process and motivation levels are much higher when face-to-face learning occurs. Students come to one of our centres, grab their folder, connect with their out-of-school friends and then get stuck into learning,”

-Michael Black

Black has recently overseen a period of innovation in the business, including a website rebrand, transforming the learning and development programs and technology enhancements, including an app that allows parents to book sessions for students from kindergarten to year 12 online.

He opted for a franchise model to expedite business growth. This has helped him reap the benefits of recurring revenue and reducing costs caused by operational inefficiencies.

New franchisees are cash flow-positive in the first week, while return on investment takes 12 to 18 months. “By the time a new franchise opens, we’ve already got a set number of customers already committed and paid. Most parents do two hours a week, an hour of English, an hour of Maths.”

“Being part of a franchise gives new business owners a higher success rate than if they were to open a business on their own. While it doesn’t guarantee success, it does open the doors for people who would not necessarily start their own businesses to have greater confidence in their success. I like to think of myself as a mentor or coach for franchise partners.”