Marina Tognetti

2020 has been a year which has brought forward a lot of services and products online, which most felt cannot be provided over the internet with the same capacity and efficiency when compared to physical presence and use. A lot of sector ad fields have proved these notions wrong and have skilfully presented their products and services via the internet. The field of education did not back down from this challenge and has provided a plethora of options to everyone who wishes to learn. The best part about this shift to digital mode of teaching is that anyone with a computer/laptop device and an internet connection can avail the benefits of these courses and programs. A person can learn anything from any place around the globe regardless of the distance and that too at their own time and comfort of their homes.

mYngle is one of the prestigious and leading companies in the education domain. They provide language training programs, which are taught via online conferencing. The fact that differentiates them from the competition in the market and makes them one of the best-inclass language training providers is their one-on-one lessons, from highly skilled and qualified coaches. The last barrier that stops one from taking online training programs is the diversity in language, but mYngle imparts these lessons in over 45 different languages, thus making it as one of the best training programs provided in the industry.

In conversation with the CEO of mYngle, Marina Tognetti. Let’s find more about her company and its impeccable product offerings.

• Please tell us about your company and the reasons you feel led to its growth.

mYngle offers customized language training programs through video conferencing in 45 different languages anytime, anywhere. Our lessons are one-on-one, with highly qualified native coaches and related to the learner’s job position. Our virtual classrooms enable learners to take classes 24/7.

mYngle is the solution for busy professionals who need language training to be successful in their international business, and for Companies that want great learning results and a transparent and controllable learning process to make their investment a success. Our lessons score is 4.8 out of 5.0, so results speak for themselves. Having satisfied customers!

It was when we decided to change, ‘pivoting’ from the initial business model to a completely different one, which is the mYngle you see now. We had launched mYngle as a marketplace, something I knew very well from my previous eBay experience. We thought we got it all: funding, lots of Awards and PR, a very motivated team. But something in the business model was not functioning as we expected. We listened to our customers and they gave us a new direction, and they gave us the new direction, from an open marketplace to a quality global online school, from B2C to B2B.

We now have prestigious business clients and learners all over the world, with tens of thousands of lessons given each month and 95% of learners that rate mYngle as excellent.

• What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

In mYngle we nurture an obsession for customer satisfaction, and this is also one of our key strengths. We look to continuously improve our service. We do so by constantly listening to users’ feedback and improving accordingly, as well as leveraging new technologies at our advantage.

This is also reflected in our internal evaluation systems and how we assess our job. We constantly monitor our users’ reactions and try to adjust accordingly, using adapted versions of NPS (Net Promoter Score), which defines that only excellence counts. Our average lessons’ scores are 4.9/5.0. And our first corporate customer is still with us, 10 years later… Results speak for themselves!

• Do tell us about your products/services, how mYngle differentiates from the competition in the market and your plans on taking it ahead in the future.

We offer virtual language training with real native teachers, with programs perfectly tailored to the needs of the learners and maximum lessons flexibility, available 24/7. Offline education was (and in large part still is) operating in the old traditional way, offering learners what was available, not what they needed. But “One size does not fit all.” By understanding the customer and diversifying our offer in terms of teacher- content- frequency, we can match each specific need.

COVID-19 has completely changed the world as we know it, causing major disruption to many businesses.

While many of the traditional offline players have been challenged by this sudden shift, mYngle was already in the “right place”, as our solution was already remote. We built on many years of experience and know that migrating existing classroom training programs to digital is not just the mere application of existing technology solutions. Rather, it requires a more fundamental rethinking of the total learning experience, from trainers to content, to the blended form. Moving forward, we will keep on improving this, aligning to the market trend.

I am a tech entrepreneur, founder of myngle.com, but the passion for

• Please tell us about yourself.

entrepreneurship came later on in my career. When I graduated from University it was an era when entrepreneurship was not very common for academics. I built a successful career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group and eBay; living and working in different countries, and got an MBA from INSEAD.

It was when working as a consultant on a project on internet strategy that I first saw the potential of the internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever the way we buy/sell/interact. I had to be part of that! That was the driver to start an innovative company as mYngle, as I knew I could make a real difference, putting in practice all I had learned in my career till then.

• Tell us about your work culture and your take on employee relations.

In mYngle we stimulate a culture of experimentation and allowing mistakes. Innovation cannot exist in a culture of fear of consequences. We try to develop people that think and not only do “jobs”. We look in our staff for entrepreneurs, people who do not keep the status quo but push themselves beyond their comfort zone. If you try ten new things, some will fail, some will be OK, and one will make a difference. We are looking for that “special one”.

• Your take on the competition in the market and how do you deal with it.

Even before COVID, the (language) training market was already in the transition from offline to online, the shift accelerating in the past years. This age of quarantines, social distancing, and remote working fast-tracked the trend, and online education become in many cases the only possible way of learning.

In response to this increase in demand for online training, many traditional offline players have been rushing to find a quick-fix, moving their existing solutions online. Good remote training, however, is not just a matter of adding a tech solution for the virtual classroom and moving a teacher from a physical classroom to a computer, but it requires a whole new set of expertise and capabilities different from those of offline education. The way the training is delivered, the teaching, content, interaction etc., all need to change to provide a good user experience.

mYngle was one of the pioneers in live online (language) training, so now that we are at the cross-road, we can benefit from many years of experience and proven capabilities to deliver successful online training.

I strongly believe that the key to success is not constantly comparing with competition, but aligning with what customers want. Constant focus on customers and their needs are one of our pillars and key strengths. This is particularly important when you are in an industry that, like that of online education, is in a transition or evolution phase, where the main challenge is not a competition but the unawareness or inexperience of customers.

INNOVATION, BEYOND IMAGINATION

We focus to provide solutions that offer a unique user experience and a unique way of using the different videoconferencing and meeting applications while maximizing interaction and collaboration.

DON'T EVER LET YOUR BUSINESS GET AHEAD OF THE FINANCIAL SIDE OF YOUR BUSINESS. ACCOUNTING, ACCOUNTING, ACCOUNTING. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

- TILMAN J. FERTITTA

he changing trends in the Tpast year have not only revolutionized the decadeold and long working methodologies but also made room to bring forth new ones and also the modification of the previous ones. As work from home culture started, not only people started having workstations at their home but also a lot of bosses and managerial level personnel started working from their homes too. As the year 2020, had its troubles and challenges for the world of business but also created a lot of gaps and opportunities for new businesses and start-ups to emerge and showcase their products/services. As most of the new businesses and start-ups started from home due to lockdown and other circumstances entailing them to have an office and gathering of people. Most start-ups have either a single or two personnel in the initial stages, handling all the departments, i.e., marketing, sales, planning, execution, PR, etc. on their own. Thus, one has to multitask the functions but no one can overlook one of the most important aspect and department of them all, i.e., Accounting.

The need and basis for accounting

Accounting is not only required in the fluent functioning of a start-up or company but also is very important as all the transactions, book-keepings, costs incurred, know, i.e., tracking expenses, when beginning with a new business/start-up one should not take keeping a tab and check on every expense such as credit card statements, financial statements, office bills, etc. One should always select their methods of the payment beforehand and keep following that and also one should learn about their tax obligations and if any special taxes or rebates applicable, etc.

Thus, the things stated above are just a few important accounting basics for work from home entrepreneurs that they need to learn and give priority to, even before starting their business/startup. As a good accounting knowledge helps one to do the crucial task in a tight budget, monitor the growth of the business/start-up, improve the overall efficiency of the related aspects and the business/start-up as a whole. It also helps in simplifying tax season as it involves tedious tasks and demands more dedicated time. Also, there are a lot of online courses, etc. provided for the same at affordable fees, thus one should give it a serious thought as accounting is the backbone of a business/start-up and its deeper knowledge will only do an entrepreneur good in handling the business/start-up better and monitor the overall growth properly.

taxation etc., if not kept in track and check, can cause serious trouble for a start-up or company. But here we will talk about some of the few basics that are very important and must know when it comes to Accounting for home entrepreneurs. The first thing is registering the business as a Sole Proprietorship, LLC, Partnership or Corporation, each has their pros and cons, and we would advise you to read them thoroughly and pick the one that suits you perfectly. The next step is opening a business bank account, for this, it is strongly advised to visit the banks personally and find more about them to compare the banking fees, the proximity of ATMs to your home and limits and charges on other transactions.

Selecting an accounting method is very crucial for beginners as there are two types; cash-basis and accrual-basis, both have their advantage as cash-basis as the name suggests are recording revenue when you receive and recording expenses when you pay, it is one of the most popular options. Accrual-basis is the method for when you record revenue when it’s confirmed and record expenses when they’re incurred before the actual expense. The next important step is picking your bookkeeping method, either doing it yourself, outsourcing, cloud-based etc. based on your budget and your time. The next is one of the main basics, one should

Accounting is simple as long as it is maintained regularly

preserving data ecosystems