We speak to many teachers who have considered setting up their own business, as teachers ourselves we know the difficulties and benefits of starting a business whilst still teaching.

Many successful educational businesses seek to solve a problem and that’s exactly what Wayne Cartmel Founder of MyNewTerm has done, seeing first-hand an outdated application system and inflated agency fees for roles within schools, Wayne decided to create a better way.

“Our mission is to connect schools and candidates directly via a fully compliant standardised application process. It’s a win-win. MyNewTerm helps employers to increase candidate attraction and save on the cost to recruit, while also making it so much easier for all candidates to apply online, from any device.”

We caught up with Wayne to hear more about his journey from teaching to educational entrepreneurship. 

What’s Your Background In Teaching?

Secondary Mathematics and Business Teacher

Why Did You Decide To Embark On A New Career?

I came across the repetitive and frustrating process of applying for teaching jobs and thought there must be a better way to do it.

Where Did The Idea Of Your Business Come From? 

The idea came from experiencing the process of completing manual, paper-based application forms to apply for school vacancies. Coming from industry, I couldn’t believe this was the process you had to go through.

What Is The Business USP?

MyNewTerm is an online standardised application process to apply for any school vacancy.

What barriers did you face Setting Up Your Own Business? 

MyNewTerm is a technology business but I am not technical. I had the idea but not the skills to actually develop the technology. The first time I attempted to develop MyNewTerm it failed for this very reason. I fully bootstrapped MyNewTerm (i.e. had no external investment) which presented many challenges funding the business with personal savings.

How Have Your Teaching Skills Helped You?

Teaching provides so many skills that prove invaluable when starting and running your own business.

What New Skills Have You Developed?

I have a degree in business, but nothing quite prepares you for starting your own business! When you first start you have to do everything and you just learn as you go. Mistakes are part and parcel of the journey. I have developed so many skills along the way and continue to do so on a daily basis.

What Do You Relish About Your New Role?

I had a vision to digitise and standardise the application process to enable candidates to apply directly to schools online. It fills me with pride to hear from candidates and schools about the positive difference our technology makes in their lives.

Top Advice For Teachers Wanting To Do Something Similar?

Be resilient – starting your own business is incredibly hard. You will inevitably face so much rejection – keep going!

Embrace failure – the first time I started the business it failed. It turned out it was the best thing that could have happened. Don’t be afraid to fail – just learn from your mistakes and go again. 

Think small – so many people think of a great business idea but think too big too quick. Consider how you can develop the most basic version to get feedback from actual customers to get to a proof of concept. This is the number 1 mistake I see people make. 

Just do it – you’ll only regret what you don’t do. The worst thing that can happen is it doesn’t work out. You still win by just going through the experience.

Final Thoughts

Starting your own business is incredibly rewarding but equally so incredibly hard. It is why so many businesses fail. If you are looking for ‘flexibility’ to escape the 9-5 forget it – starting your own business requires an incredible amount of time, effort, resilience and dedication. I would highly recommend it but it is not for everyone. Really consider why it is you want to start your own business.

Thank you, Wayne, for sharing your story with us, we love the mission and ethos of MyNewTerm, genuinely helping teachers and support staff find new careers within schools.

Do get in contact with MyNewTerm hello@mynewterm.com or follow them on Twitter/X @mynewterm