Village Scholarships is a social platform used as a means of collecting money through crowdfunding from people all over the world. The purpose of collecting funds was to make educational costs easy for every student so that no one could fail to get a quality education.
Antonio and Tasha Adams, husband and wife and owners of the company, came to Shark Tank as entrepreneurs promoting their work and its purpose. Their goal was directed in their pitch to help students with their educational costs and help deserving students receive scholarships in prestigious schools.
Their idea was merely a website at that time, which was still in the developmental phase of attracting more people and adding more features to the website, making it exceptional to be able to witness huge success. Micro-loans were also available for students who wanted additional money for books or laptops. The platform is majorly based on the amount of money donated by people and how strong the community on the website is building up.
The couple further explained that the website also has a special match-making feature that helps top schools pick out the best possible candidates for their school as well. Separate bases for donors and students were present in which multiple accounts could be made for more transfers. All the transfers were double-checked to be corruption and tax-free before being accepted.
At that time, the website was still raw and needed more momentum from strong outsources to gain credibility. Hence, Antonio and Tasha pitched their idea in front of the sharks with strong hopes for financial aid to expand their website and gain stability.
Antonio and Tasha demanded US$ 125,000 in return for 10% equity of their company. They explained the reason behind such a large amount is that with the rising inflation and taxes, education is not easily affordable. Getting into a good school or college is easy, but the costs prevailing after getting into one are not easily manageable. Students want to be self-independent and not want to put their parents under a financial burden. Therefore, Village Scholarships was a solid brainwave that just needed a little boost from the top people in business to work for a better cause and contribute to society’s goodwill.
They also said that they take 8.5% of the total funds for website development costs and will lessen the percentage once the website enters a smooth working phase and the performance and both input and output are satisfactory.
Antonio and Tasha themselves got fully funded scholarships during their college times. Hence, they wanted other students to gain the same benefits as them with help from other people.
However, their response was pretty much disappointing, resulting in no satisfactory gain from the Shark Tank judges.
One of the judges remarked that it was just an ordinary way of collecting donations, and it’s very common for people to do such social work these days. According to him, there is a lot of competition in the market, and the idea must be unique and bombastic to work and attract others’ attention.
Hence, none of the judges felt like investing in the idea. One of the judges said it is too early to invest, and the idea still needs to be polished and a better-striving opportunity to survive and gain a competitive advantage. Another judge had already invested in the top and other competitive and famous platforms, so he refused to participate. The last judge was of the notion that he would have invested if they were presented with a good tangible product.
Hence, the entrepreneurs and founders of Village Scholarships failed to make a successful deal with the sharks and returned empty-handed.
After Shark Tank, Village Scholarships failed to gain heights and failed badly. Due to a lack of funds and inability to attract potential donors, they closed their company, and the website no longer exists. It was a huge blow to Antonio and Tasha, who wanted to do something good for their community.
Our Review of Village Scholarships
No wonder the idea of a proactive approach to societal well-being was amazing, but the lack of focus from those who produced this idea was the sole reason the company couldn’t flourish.
Since the website was already in its initial phase when presented, we couldn’t expect what it would be like in the future. Hence, one can make fewer predictions about whether the company would have been a hit or a miss.
Pros of Village Scholarships
There are multiple benefits of Village Scholarships. Some of them are listed below:
- The targeted goal was achieved way earlier than expected, with multiple donors and relatives on the same platform.
- They built the system in such a way as to track every smallest transfer and also a receipt system for the ones who are donating.
- Those who wish to stay anonymous can make an anonymous account as well as per their satisfaction.
Cons of Village Scholarships
Along with advantages, there were certain disadvantages as well. For instance:
- Market competitiveness against other successfully performing platforms.
- Lack of focus and innovation in the business idea.
- Many colleges and universities now provide student loans to deserving students, putting a low reach on Village Scholarships.
- The company’s 8.5% service rate was alarmingly disturbing compared to the rest of the companies.
Who Is Village Scholarships For?
Village Scholarships is an automated peer-to-peer platform to help students ease their high educational costs and aid them with financial stability by building a community of generous donors.
Students who are underprivileged or whose parents can’t help much with the college costs can actively benefit from this platform. They can also apply for scholarships in other fields, such as sports.
Are There Any Alternatives?
The business of crowdfunding is not so unique anymore. There are quite a lot of platforms created for such purposes. Some are successful, and some are not. There are many healthy alternatives in competition to Village Scholarships, such as Honeyfund and Plumfund.
Our Final Thoughts
With many growing crowdfunding applications and websites already present, the lack of support from the potential businesspersons created a lot of uncertainty for Village Scholarships to flourish and create its name.
No backup and lack of innovation and unique ideas made it hard for the company to stand out in front of other competitors.
If there had been a director, a proper vision, and strategic management, the company would have been able to pave its way towards success because, in the end, it’s all about working hard with strong will and motivation.
