Building BorderPlus

Lessons, Reflections, and Growth

Since the inception of BorderPlus, it has been a whirlwind of challenges, learning, and pure joy. The energy within our team is electric—every founding member is deeply invested in the work we do. While we each have our defined roles, there's a collective spirit that drives us to go beyond our individual scopes when needed. It’s not just a workplace; it’s a community that already feels like family.

However, these days, when I step back into a LinguBee class, it feels like coming home. It’s the comfort of revisiting something deeply familiar, like enjoying your favourite childhood meal. LinguBee, our first venture, is like our baby. We’ve nurtured it from infancy, and now, as a toddler, it’s thriving. It has treated us incredibly well, teaching us invaluable lessons along the way.

Enjoying the Process, Not Just the Goal

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned recently is to resist the urge to "finish" work for the sake of completion. Rushing through tasks robs the joy of the process and leaves you feeling like you’re perpetually chasing something.

Work, by its nature, is never truly finished. And it shouldn’t be. There will always be something left to tweak, improve, or revisit. In the pursuit of perfection, it’s easy to burn out. You may look back and admire the results, but exhaustion often overshadows the satisfaction. The key is learning when to stop—shut the laptop, say no, go to bed, or just pause the planning and thinking.

BorderPlus vs. LinguBee: What’s Different This Time

Building BorderPlus has introduced me to new dimensions of running an organisation, many of which differ from our experience with LinguBee. One crucial realisation has been the importance of understanding unit economics.

From calculating teacher salaries to the cost of the LMS, student materials, infrastructure, and more, we’ve learned to analyse the complete financial landscape. This helps us determine the cost of running a batch and eventually the cost of teaching a single student. It’s a layer of detail we never delved into at LinguBee. Back then, we were small; most of the work was handled by us, and our costs were minimal, allowing for substantial profits.

Building Processes and Our Unique Identity

Another key learning has been the importance of setting up processes—from when a student joins us to the day they graduate. Defining these steps helps create a seamless experience, both for the team and for our learners.

What excites me the most is how we’re shaping our unique identity. We’ve developed a distinct pedagogy, well-defined assessments, and innovative ways to track and present student progress. Even the language we use to refer to our students—be it prospective, enrolled, or graduates—is carefully thought out.

This "language" that we are creating internally, fosters a sense of belonging and community among us. When we use it, only someone associated with BorderPlus understands and we feel connected. It's like we’re building something truly special together. It’s this internal culture that makes BorderPlus more than just a business—it’s becoming a living, breathing community.

This Week's Post

My LinkedIn post this week is on how working on Fluency is more important that accuracy when it comes to learning a new language. Be a confident communicator, doesn't matter if you are making grammatical mistakes - as long as your able to make connections and talk - it's all good! :)