ADRIAN Binzaru set up Cademy in March last year to provide an easier way to find and book a local course or workshop. The company mainly focuses on fitness, art and cooking classes.

Name: Adrian Binzaru

Position: Founder

WHAT IS THE BUSINESS CALLED?

Cademy

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Edinburgh

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

I WAS asked once by my mum to find a language class in Edinburgh. I googled it and spent four days searching for a class and phoning each individual class. It was a really complex process. You can find a house in two minutes on Zoopla or book a trip on Skyscanner in five minutes so I realised there was a big problem. Any education that’s not a degree is pretty hard to find. I wanted to make it easier for people to find education. Lots of customers using the service had the same frustrations I had. As we grow and expand we want it to be a place to help people on their education journey. If someone wanted to learn about storytelling, our platform would have classes for beginners, then follow-up classes. Before this I was leading an engineering team in a tech start-up in Edinburgh which built an event booking system for all universities in the UK. I saw that it’s not just small schools struggling, it’s also universities using ancient systems to sell classes.

HOW HAVE YOU COPED WITH CORONAVIRUS?

I LEFT my very well-paid job to start a business that helps people find in-person classes. I started on March 1 which was close to the first lockdown. Educators were cancelling their classes for the year when I called them up. In summer I could promote classes more but with new lockdown measures, people were cancelling classes. Universities have bigger budgets but lots of independent teachers are struggling at this time. Very few have been able to adapt. No-one wants to do a cooking class from home. It’s the worst time possible to start a business like this but after the pandemic it will be the best time for it as people will be keen to go out and meet people. I’m excited about what’s coming next. Education is always on the rise when people lose their jobs and want self-improvement. People get distracted on a Zoom call – 96% of people who buy an online class don’t finish it.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

COOKING, fitness and art are our core categories at the moment. We will be expanding to Glasgow, then London if things open up. We’re getting ready to be able to facilitate that. Every year one in three people will volunteer for a class so anyone who is looking for a class is our target market.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

THERE are some platforms out there already where people will list classes like Airbnb Experiences, photography classes on Tripadvisor and Eventbrite for academic classes. Those course providers use platforms as a way to get people into classes but they are booking platforms – no one goes on them to find classes for themselves. Anytime someone searches for a cooking class in Edinburgh we offer superior results to any other platform. If something like this was out there I wouldn’t have started a company to solve this issue.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

WHEN you start a business as an unknown entity you have the chicken and egg problem as you need course providers to list classes so we can attract students but they only want to give classes if we have lots of students looking for classes. We have a free booking system for educators which has helped us get them on board. Covid has made it difficult to access anyone. If things were normal we would go out and knock on doors. We’ve managed to get 40 or so schools on board and have 200 classes on offer right now.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

THE problems that we are solving are exciting. The way I see it is everyone knows something they can teach. The reason they don’t is because they have no outlet to do it. If you tried to rent a spare room on Gumtree 10 years ago people would think you are crazy but Airbnb has allowed people to do it. If we are successful it will open it up for new people to open a school and teach themselves. A cook could teach cooking in his restaurant after hours.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?

WE are trying to raise money from angel investors and they ask you where you will be 10 years from now. The platform will attract more people to teach. If the population is getting older people will be looking to change their careers more. It is hard now to get a degree and not train in anything else for the rest of your life. Learning and going out and trying to self-improve will be key years from now.