Episode Overview

Phil Robinson shares the unconventional journey that led him from military service and central government IT programmes into education and eventually founding Tide Education.

In this conversation, Phil talks openly about the realities of building an education business from scratch. He explains how his experience working inside schools revealed both the pressure teachers face and the operational gaps that still exist around student support and communication.

The episode explores leadership, trust, systems, scaling, networking in education, and the financial realities of launching an edtech company without major backing.

Phil also reflects on what founders often underestimate when entering the education sector, including time, trust, visibility, and the challenge of simply getting people to engage with a new product.

00:01:00 – Phil’s career journey from engineering to the Army
00:03:35 – Moving into education and discovering the problem
00:05:00 – Why Phil founded Tide Education
00:08:00 – Similarities between military leadership and schools
00:12:10 – What founders should do first with an idea
00:16:20 – Why networking matters in education
00:17:05 – The realities of funding and marketing an edtech startup
00:22:05 – The hardest part of building Tide Education
00:27:15 – Scaling, automation and reducing barriers for schools
00:29:25 – Final reflections on building an education business

All About Phil:

Philip Robinson is a dad, technologist and veteran with a background spanning defence, UK Government and education. A former Major in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Philip served for 16 years, culminating in leading mission-critical IT system in Afghanistan.

On retiring he worked in central government leading IT programmes and portfolios for a number of years before moving into education as Head of Business Intelligence in a medium-sized Multi-Academy Trust. Here he brought together fragmented information to create 360-degree views of students, enabling better insight, coordination, and outcomes across schools and trust.

Philip is the founder of Tide Education, a real-time inclusion support platform for teachers, providing one view, one timeline, and one shared understanding of each child’s support journey.

Website: www.tide.education
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-robinson-22ba9a30/

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Episode Overview

Sarah shares how she built a tutoring franchise from an “accidental” start into a long-term business. The conversation explores franchising from both sides, decision-making under uncertainty, and what actually drives sustainable growth in education businesses.

The discussion focuses on practical realities: communication failures, hiring decisions, scaling challenges, and the operational pressure of running a small business. It also looks ahead to long-term thinking, including succession, flexibility, and what “retirement” really means for founders.

00:01:00 – Sarah’s accidental path into business

00:03:30 – Leaving a franchise and starting from scratch

00:05:00 – Building a family-run franchise model

00:07:45 – Where franchisors get it wrong

00:11:30 – What makes a great franchisee

00:19:30 – Online tutoring and building Study Central

00:24:30 – Rethinking retirement as a founder

00:32:00 – The reality of small business pressure

00:36:00 – Why outsourcing matters more than hiring

00:39:30 – Final advice: you are not alone

All About Sarah:
Sarah always wanted to run her own business, a passion that began in her teenage years and continues to shape her career today. She is part of the family behind MagiKats Tutoring, a company that delivers small group tuition through a network of franchised Tuition Centres across the UK and internationally. Alongside this, she supports private tutors through the Study Central subscription.

While tutoring itself isn’t her focus, Sarah is most passionate about helping educators grow and succeed in building their own businesses, so that they, in turn, can help the next generation achieve their full potential.. Outside of work, she sings professionally and enjoys keeping active with the gym, as well as spending time on coffee outings and dog walks.

Website: https://www.studycentral.info/ and https://www.magikats.co.uk/

Instagram: @sarahmagikats

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-marsh-51227523/

TikTok: @sarah.magikats

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011448608582

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Episode Overview

Katie Stone shares the transition from teaching to building a scalable virtual assistant business. The conversation focuses on the realities of leaving teaching, the mindset barriers that stop founders from outsourcing, and the practical systems required to grow beyond a one-person operation. This episode is grounded in operational clarity: how to move from doing everything yourself to building processes that allow your business to run without you.

00:02:00 - Leaving teaching under pressure

00:05:00 - Starting a business with £500

00:07:00 - Why remote work changed everything

00:14:00 - The mindset shift required to outsource

00:15:00 - Control vs growth: the turning point

00:17:00 - Building simple processes that scale

00:22:00 - What to hand off first in your business

00:28:00 - Why systems matter early

All About Katie:
Katie Stone is the founder of Elevated Support Ltd, a virtual assistant agency that helps education businesses grow by taking admin off their plate. A former teacher turned entrepreneur, Katie is passionate about helping education businesses to find more time for the work that matters.

Since 2020 she has built an award-winning team of ex-educators and specialists who streamline systems, set up automation, manage email marketing and handle day-to-day operations.

When she's not digging her clients out of spaghetti like tangles of admin, she can be found in South Shropshire gaming, watching and much TV as possible and hanging out with her husband and two lovely kids.

Website: https://katiestonepa.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestonepa/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elevatedsupportltd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.