1.  What is Jessica’s idea?

Jessica’s idea was to start a business that helped those who want to pass the Certified Public Accountant exam. She knew she had the accounting, teaching, and studying skills other need in order to pass the exam. Jessica wanted to create a one-stop-shop where students could learn, study, receive individual attention/aid, and take the CTA successfully on the first attempt.

2. How does Turner Prep overcome the competition from NTC?

Turner Prep’s competition company, NTC, doesn’t offer in-person classes – only through materials and online, with phone numbers and online aids for assistance whenever students have questions. Also NTC’s first time test takers only pass on average 25% of the time – meaning they have to come back, study again, and retake the next time it is offered (only twice a year). Jessica’s plan to help Turner Prep succeed beyond NTC was to give students in-class lectures, comprehensive schedules and quizzes along the way – not just a ton of materials and expect the students to manage it and learn it all on their own until they absolutely needed to call in or go online for help like with NTC’s program. Jessica also did bi-weekly check ins and made herself very available to her students.

3.  How can Jessica achieve greater market share?

Jessica realized that while her plan could be considered successful, she also realized some flaws in her planning. She assumed students would benefit from keep them on track with a very structured program but soon saw that students were not always coming to the in-class lectures, which made her start to think about other options online or find more ways of working from home. A lot of times, Jessica found the students were just staying at home to listen to the audio tapes. To achieve a greater market share, Jessica should focus on the current needs and wants of her students so that she is creating a desirable, helpful, and unique program that didn’t just work for her, but works for others as well. She should also focus more time and energy on a marketing plan that doesn’t just include flyers and networking. Jessica can also increase her market share by doing the numbers to figure out her break even point and how/when she will make a profit. Although I understand by she doesn’t know whether her success rate is 100% accurate, she should advertise some beneficial statistics so that people know her plan works and works well.

4.  What is Jessica’s break even point?

Jessica’s Fixed costs for a year are: $139,200

Her Variable is the $600 materials per student

The cost of service per student is $1,100

$139,200 / ($1,100-$600) = 278.4 students per year in order to break even