Gordon Swaby - Edufocal

Gordon Swaby a very well known young entrepreneur in Jamaica, listed amongst Jamaica’s 50 under 50 in November 2012, as a business leader who, through his contributions to the business community, has advanced the cause of entrepreneurship. He is the founder of the most innovative learning platform in the Caribbean, Edufocal, which provides students with the opportunity to learn and develop in the different subject areas in preparation for CXC and GSAT examinations. Though Mr Swaby is probably most known for this particular company, it was not his first business.

Hailing from the cool hills of Manchester Gordon was always a child who had great dreams of working for himself and owning his own company. Whilst attending high school at the age of 13 Gordon started his very first company Roms2U.com. Though this company did not have much success this never deterred him as he went on to create his first successful company called Advance Gamers.Com at the age of 15. This was the first on-line gaming website in the Caribbean.

Gordon describes these years of running his business difficult, especially since it was a sole proprietorship which he started with US $1000 and employed 3 persons into a non-profit organization. The company lasted for three years and he eventually had to close it down due to lack of funds amongst other things. During this time however, whilst trying to manage a company Swaby also design websites for different companies and institutions in both Jamaica and Canada. He went on to start his first programming and designing company called Iconic Touch.

All of these experiences then led him to his very successful company Edufocal. The idea of this company came about after having a conversation with his cousin. His cousin however backed out after a while, leaving Gordon to pursue Edufocal on his own.  He worked assiduously to ensure that this company never failed as he could see the great need it could fulfill for the students across Jamaica.

This social learning platform has grown immensely, in light of the economic constrains this country has been facing. The website was first launched in March 2010.  According to Swaby, he decided to start this platform in order for him to change the way that students learn and interact. The website now caters for hundreds of students; for both GSAT and CXC.

How it works

“The way Edufocal works is that students pay a monthly or yearly fee to join. They set up their profiles on the websites where they can get the opportunity to answer thousands of questions. These questions are set by different teachers across the island who receives monthly stipends for uploading new questions. The students are also encouraged to do their best as they too receive prizes and tokens for doing well. This is based on the fact that the website utilize a Gamification platform where top achieving students can be seen on the leader boards , their current points standing is also shown. The site is currently widely used by GSAT students than students doing CXC. ”

Success and Challenges

Success doesn't only come through gaining financial stability, but also through realizing you have an impact on someone’s life as well as others are recognizing your work.  For Swaby one of the greatest achievements from his company is seeing where four out of every five students in the GSAT group on the website receive the school of their choice upon sitting their examinations. Though Swaby states that he has never felt like giving up, that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, has he faced challenges from the beginning of launching his business like any other young entrepreneur. Despite these challenges Swaby continues to press forward and his looking forward to the future of Edufocal. He is hoping to form more partnerships and grow into other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. He is also looking forward to the launch of the Edufocal App amongst other things.

Advice to other Entrepreneurs

There are a lot of different ways to launch a company, other entrepreneur may give you different advice as to steps you should take and the Do’s and the Don’ts of the industry. According to Swaby “if you are looking to start your own business, it must not be because you want to be your own boss but because you want to be a change. You must also do your own research, have smart goals and you most definitely have to be realistic. It’s also important to understand that growing is not all about capital. In addition to that there are certain qualities that a good entrepreneur must possess.”  Swaby stated, “I think it is important for you to be these things; you must be innovative, determine, resilient, industrious and nimble”. As his favourite quote says always an employer never an employee.