Formerly a schoolteacher in Delray Beach, Florida, Lisa Collum started a small side hustle in 2011. With the last $99 in her checking account, she managed to grow this venture into a business that generates $1.9 million a year in revenue. Her company, Top Score Writing, now sells K-12 writing curricula and consulting services across all 50 U.S. states.
Lisa Collum’s Teaching Success
According to CNBC, Lisa Collum began her teaching career at the Village Academy School in Delray Beach, Florida. As she started teaching, she saw how much her students, many of whom spoke English as a second language, struggled with their essay writing.
To tackle the language difficulties she found in her students, Collum constructed a unique curriculum focused on essay structures. Within her first semester, her students’ pass rate for the state test leaped from 38% the previous year to 95%. Collum claims that every fourth grader at her school was deemed proficient in writing over the next two years.
The marked jump in test scores for Collum’s students was notable enough to prompt two separate investigations by the Florida Department of Education. Collum’s success was maintained under this scrutiny, and she transitioned to the position of writing specialist for her school district. In 2011, she left that position to teach virtually.
A Budding Business in Writing Curricula
Lisa Collum’s venture into business began when a school principal asked her if she would sell her successful curriculum, as reported by Yahoo Finance. Collum claims that at the time she “didn’t have an ounce of business sense.”
Despite her hesitation, Collum saw the demand for effective writing curricula. In 2011, she used the last $99 she had left in her checking account to purchase five binders. She filled these binders with copies of her fourth- and fifth-grade writing curricula.
These binders moved quickly. After the first five binders sold, she continued producing more and more for a growing customer base. Collum ran her budding business out of a makeshift assembly line in her living room. Within five years, she was selling orders of hundreds at a time. Her 8-year-old even helped her keep up with production by operating the three-hole-punch device.
The Success of a Purpose-Driven Enterprise
According to CEO Today, Lisa Collum’s new business generated enough revenue within the first four years that she was able to leave her teaching position. In 2015, she transitioned to focusing on Top Score Writing full-time.
Later that same year, Collum made a decisive financial decision and used her business profits to purchase Coastal Middle and High School, a nonprofit private school in Lake Park, Florida. With this acquisition, Collum has been able to utilize her teaching techniques and philosophy to reach more students than she could in her former teaching position.
Top Score Writing has now grown into a business that employs six full-time and ten part-time staff members. It provides K-12 writing curricula to schools across all 50 states. These curricula are designed to assist students in organizing and drafting effective essays that will earn them high marks in standardized writing tests.
Lisa Collum’s Impact on the Education Sector
Lisa Collum’s business success has garnered interest for the impact it has had on the education industry.
According to Collum’s official website, Top Score Writing has been named among the Top 50 Florida Companies to Watch for 2021. Collum has received a CEO Global Award and has been named Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021.
With the demonstrated success of her students’ test scores, Collum’s methodical approach to teaching essay structure earned her recognition as a teacher. The impressive growth of her business has since signaled a demand in education for results-driven curricula. By investing her modest resources, Collum has grown Top Score Writing into an influential business.
