Two things in three months: the audit, then Zara HQ.
First we map exactly what exists today. Then we build one place the whole business runs from, with a fulfilment side, a sales side and an admin side.
The plan for Zara Tutoring
The audit
365 forms, 1,031 tags, Acuity, TestPress and a set of Google Sheets. Before anything is built, all of it gets mapped: what each form captures, what each tag really means, where the truth about a student lives, and how payment and onboarding actually flow today.
Zara HQ
One portal the business runs from, built on one student record with the parent linked to it. Three sides: fulfilment, sales, and admin for reporting, profit insight and tracking. Everything still connected to CC360.
Inside HQ
Three sides, one record underneath
Pick a side to see how it gets built, piece by piece, and what each piece replaces.
Everything from the moment money lands to the moment a family sees progress. Built in order: payments, then onboarding, then the student and parent view on top.
Payments
Where everything starts. Money comes in, and that is the moment the student record should be created, not the moment a sheet gets a new row.
How it works today
- Payment happens in one place, and the student exists nowhere until somebody types them in.
- Paying is spread across several forms and several steps, so families drop out halfway.
- Student information arrives as tags, 1,031 of them, so the same fact is stored five different ways.
- Once paid, the student gets copied by hand into different Google Sheets for different programs.
- Balances, part payments and plans tracked outside the record, so nobody is certain who owes what.
Inside HQ instead
- One checkout path per offer. The payment creates the student record automatically, no retyping.
- Student and family details captured as real fields at the point of sale: student, parent contacts, program, cohort, city and state.
- Payments, plans and outstanding balance live on the record, so billing is a screen and not a search.
- Everything still pushed into CC360, so nothing you rely on today gets orphaned.
Onboarding
The bit that decides how the family feels in week one. Right now it is forms. In HQ it runs itself off the payment.
How it works today
- Multiple forms to fill in after paying, so parent details are captured badly or not at all.
- Folders, labels and materials chosen, printed and mailed manually.
- Small group registrations typed into a sheet, one at a time.
- Welcome, scheduling and access details sent by hand, so timing depends on who is free.
Inside HQ instead
- Onboarding triggers off the payment: one short confirmation step instead of a stack of forms.
- Parent captured as its own linked record, so parent contact and communication are finally reliable.
- Materials and folder fulfilment captured digitally at enrolment and pushed straight into fulfilment.
- Group and cohort registration handled inside HQ, with room for manual notes where Ken needs them.
- Tutor assignment and first session booked off the same record, connected to the booking flow.
Student and parent view
Once the record exists and is being fed properly, the family gets a front door. This is the part they will actually judge you on.
How it works today
- Homework, attendance and scores live in different tools, so nobody sees one student clearly.
- Weekly progress updates assembled by hand from TestPress and session notes.
- Parents email to ask what is happening, and somebody has to go and find out.
Inside HQ instead
- Student view: next session, homework due, materials, scores over time, all from one login.
- Parent view: current standing, attendance, score trend, payments and direct tutor contact.
- Homework assigned, submitted, graded and chased automatically before a tutor has to notice.
- Weekly progress reports generated from TestPress and session data instead of written by hand.
Tutor view
The person doing the actual teaching. Today they spend half their time finding information. In HQ they open one screen and know the student before the session starts.
How it works today
- Tutors work across Google Sheets, each one with a different layout and a different owner.
- Student history is in one place, session notes in another, homework in another. They have to hunt before every session.
- Scores, attendance, materials and parent notes are scattered, so a tutor never sees one student clearly.
- Questions and escalations come in by text and email, so the context is lost by the time Ken gets involved.
Inside HQ instead
- One tutor dashboard: today's sessions, students, submissions, notes and messages, all connected.
- Every student opens with full history loaded: scores, attendance, homework, notes and parent context.
- Materials and session plans linked to the student record, so preparation is five minutes, not twenty five.
- Missing homework, absent students and red flags surfaced automatically, so the tutor can teach instead of chasing.
The portal, live
Same record, every front door
Clickable prototypes with sample data. Start on the student view, then switch role.
Sessions, homework, materials and progress in one login.
Next session
ACT Math, Tuesday 4:30pm with Daniel
Bring practice test 2. Your tutor already has your last score and knows what to work on.
Homework done
14 / 17
2 due this week
Attendance
92%
11 of 12 sessions
Score change
+8
since September
Continue where you left off
Practice test 3
Section 2 of 4
Reading strategy
Video 3 of 6
Math drill 12
8 of 20 questions
Homework
Course progress
Cohort average 64%
Practice test scores
Your tutors
Daniel Osei
Math, Tue and Thu
Priya Nair
Reading, Sat
Roadmap
The order it gets built, month by month
Real months, starting this one. Pricing sits on the investment page, this is just the sequence and what you can use at the end of each step.
The audit, and building starts
This month, August- Full audit of the 365 forms and 1,031 tags, and where the truth about a student actually lives today
- Data model design for the one student record, with the parent record linked to it
- Payment and onboarding funnels broken down step by step, so HQ core can replace them
- Migration plan agreed with Ken so nothing breaks mid term
- Build starts this month, not next: the foundation of HQ goes up while the audit closes out
At the end of it: A written map of the whole business, an agreed plan, and the first pieces of HQ already standing.
After the build
What comes next
Zara Tutoring website redesigned
The site rebuilt around what HQ now proves: real results, college commitments, reviews and testimonials pulled in automatically instead of pasted in once a year.
Funnels redesigned
If we want to go further than simplifying payment, the whole acquisition path can be rebuilt: offer pages, checkout and follow up, all feeding straight into HQ.
The mobile app, and new offers
Push notifications straight to student and parent phones for sessions, homework and payments, with calls handled on the phone. Scoped on its own. New offers get wired into HQ as they come up.