GoBuddy believes everyone could start an online business for free. Our team is dedicated to provide a one-stop cloud platform solution to transform your business. Today we are honoured to have Angela from EEK Limited to talk to us about her entrepreneurial journey!

About EEK

Easy English For Kids (EEK Limited) is a teaching playgroup and a tutorial centre for children that focuses on teaching kids through interactive play. Recently, we had a little chat with the founder of EEK, Angela Comer Lam, to understand more about her business and her experiences in the education industry.

What inspired her to start EEK?

When asked what inspired her to start EEK back in 2009, Angela talked about her experience as a local kindergarten english teacher and how she felt that the kids were learning as ‘robots’ and wanted to make learning a fun and interactive experience for the children. This prompted Angela to start her own teaching playgroup where she could teach children in the ways she thought was best for them.

What was the largest obstacle she faced?

Angela expressed her concerns and difficulties when she initially started the playgroup and discussed how quite a few children come from her village in the New Territories and the problem was that parents would send their two to three years old child to Angela’s playgroup for perhaps, a year, and send them to school by the age of three. Since Angela only conducts playgroup with a maximum of seven children so that she is able to give individual attention to every child and they all left after a year to go to school, Angela felt that she had to start over every year and find new children which wasn’t very easy. We asked her how she overcame the challenge and she discussed how it was primarily word-of-mouth. There have been many instances where children leave after the age of three but still take tutoring lessons from her and have continued to take it for a long time now.

Difference in Education between the East and West

Since Angela is from the UK, she discussed with us the major differences in education styles between UK and HK and she explained that the HK education style is similar to how the UK’s education style was back in the 40s/50s- “We teach, you learn.” However, the education style is now more evolved in the UK and they understand that all children learn differently and it is important to cater to every child’s learning style rather than just using one way to teach all of them. In Hong Kong, Chinese is taught in a “drill and kill” way which means children are taught by memorising because there isn’t any other way to teach, however, english is taught in the same way and English does not have to be taught like that. Angela explained that one of the primary things she teaches at her tutorial centre is phonics and she teaches children not only the phonics sound but also how to use it. She further explained that once the children have learnt the 42 phonic sounds, they can read almost anything. In the UK, schools allow more interactive learning and students are allowed to question things rather than just accepting it.

Transformation story of two students

Two of her students (brother and sister) came to her for tutoring lessons when they were in year 5 and year 6 respectively and could only read words they had been taught. They were unable to read words they have never seen before and Angela spent a lot of time and effort on them to ensure they could read everything they were given and much more. Fast forward  a couple years and both of them took their DSE’s last year and are now in college.

Education Business in 2020

We further asked Angela whether she could foresee the education business moving online in 2020 to which she responded that it is not something she wants to go down the route of doing and since her tutorial classes are very personalised and interactive, she does not believe that she would be willing to change her teaching to online lessons.

Story between GoBuddy and EEK

Angela was introduced to GoBuddy by HK Momtrepreneuers Founder, Lena Wong, who encouraged Angela to list some of her products on GoBuddy’s online shop. GoBuddy helped develop Angela’s website and are further planning to help her with marketing. Angela also has a youtube page (Angela’s Story Time) where she reads english story books for children. Apart from EEK, Angela owns an online business y2squared selling accessories like jewellery, hair scrunchies and hand-made handbags.

Any words for Future Entrepreneurs?

When asked if she had any tips for entrepreneurs who would like to start a similar business, she discussed how it is important to research and look for business opportunities in your local community and see if there are any similar businesses in your area. Although most students who come to her tutorial session and playgroups live in the same area as she does (New Territories), there are a few students who come from Hong Kong Island and she believes it is primarily because of word-of-mouth.

Connect with EEK
EEK Official Website: https://www.eek.com.hk
EEK Webstore: https://eek.gobuddy.asia
EEK FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/EEKhk/
EEK IG: https://www.instagram.com/eek_sales/

If you are thinking of starting a business, or if you need a digital solution for your business, simply send us an email, let GoBuddy transform your business journey!

Email: hi@gobuddy.asia

Website: http://www.gobuddy.asia

從英國來到香港：Angela的啟發
關於EEK

GoBuddy相信，每個人都可以建立自己的網上生意。我們的團隊致力為客户提供一個一站式平台，讓網上生意從此變得簡單。今次我們邀請到EEK Limited的Angela來分享她的創業心得！

是甚麽讓Angela萌生創立EEK的念頭呢？當被問到這個問題的時候，Angela 告訴我們 —- 一切都是從她在香港的幼稚園任教開始的！

孩子學習就像⋯⋯機械人？

Angela 14年前來到香港時，她發現香港的孩子學習語言的方法是最秏時也最無趣的。在幼稚園的經歷讓她希望開始一個教育中心，讓孩子可以輕鬆學習同時也享受過程。

但做教育並不輕鬆！

因為EEK的中心開設在新界的一個村子裏，所以自然她的第一批學生是在村內生活的孩子。但問題就是，很多家長會把孩子送到EEK學習一年，然後他們就要上幼兒園了。Angela習慣是7個學生一組，所以每隔一年她便要重新找新的學生，然後適應他們新的學習模式。

品牌貼士：口碑是長期的保障

Angela分享時提及她的教育質素讓家長們願意把EEK推介給朋友，這是她剛開始克服學生流動率高的方法。直到後來，家長們開始看見孩子在她的教育下的影響，便會放心讓孩子上更多課。

教育大不同：英國 VS 香港

當問到教育的分別時，Angela馬上分享了她親身的見解！她認為在40/50年代，英國還是停留在『單向教育』的階段（即傳統的老師教，學生只要聆聽方式）。但近年英國的教育方式轉變許多，開始引入一些新的教育方式，讓不同需醁的孩子都能找到最適合他們的學習模式。另外，孩子們都會被鼓勵去問問題，而不是盲目認同權威者說的一套。

而在香港，雖也在跟上各地不同的教育模式，但大多數傳統本地學校都是採取 ‘drill and kill’ 的方法，把一大堆知識塞給學生，甚或令他們失去學習本應有的動力和求知慾。

一對姐弟的銳變

Angela提到一對在EEK學習的姐弟的故事：他們在初中時只能讀懂非常基本的單字，而且不能讀出很多陌生的字，Angela在教會他們一些拼音並一邊提升他們的學習與趣後，他們在 DSE 取得不錯的成績，並已入讀大學呢。

EEK和GoBuddy的故事

Angela是經過Momtrepreneurs的創辦人Lena Wong介紹認識GoBuddy的。因為Lena推介Angela把她的玩具產品放上網售賣，於是開始了她的電商之旅。

對想創業的人說的話⋯⋯

「最初不知如何入手時可以先發掘一下身邊的圈子，看看大家有沒有需要的痛點，還有就是積極一點尋找生意合作機會。建立良好口碑也是很重要的呢。」

與EEK聯繫
EEK 官方網站: https://www.eek.com.hk
EEK 網店: https://eek.gobuddy.asia
EEK FB: https://www.facebook.com/EEKhk/
EEK IG: https://www.instagram.com/eek_sales/