As CEO, Huo does not actually tutor the students but instead handles the marketing, finances and general organizational aspects of his company. He is also in charge of all the money that comes in and out of the business and deals with customer relations by serving as the middleman between parents and their children’s respective tutors.

Huo believes his company has an advantage over professional tutoring companies because he offers high school student tutors who have the same knowledge of classes as professionals at a much cheaper hourly rate.

Huo knew he was interested in business from a relatively young age. He started investing in the stock market by middle school and has taken all of WHS’s business classes.

“Over the summer before my senior year, I attended a business program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania,” Huo said. “Coming back to Wayland in August, I decided to go for it and finally start my business knowing that it was going to be risky and tough at first but nonetheless a worthwhile experience.”

While Huo had been educated in business at WHS and Wharton, his lack of real-world business experience presented a challenging factor when Huo started his company. Huo’s first marketing strategy was to send out an email to every middle school family. With an overwhelmingly positive response, the business began to flourish.

The reactions Huo has gotten from his business have been some of the most memorable parts of the experience. His first appreciative email from a parent still sticks out in his mind.

“It wasn’t a typical appreciation email in that it was very personal and described the huge help that the tutoring has been for her son,” Huo said. “This particular student was doing well at the beginning of the school year, but his grades started plummeting when he suffered injuries. Through the help that our tutors gave him, he was able to keep up with his school work, especially in math, and was now recommended for honors next year, something the parent never could have expected.”

Huo found that receiving that particular email had a profound effect on him because he saw what a widespread effect his business could have on a family and the Wayland community.

“That email solidified my decision to keep the business going into the future as I was previously considering leaving it after my senior year,” Huo said.

Despite receiving a positive response to his business, it is still challenging for Huo to run his business as a high school student. Huo doesn’t have the resources that most businesses have, and he also finds it difficult to balance his business with his academics, extracurriculars and social life.

“Parents still expect the same professionalism that any other business would provide,” Huo said. “Many formalities of a company such as incorporation, bank account, domain name, website and legality issues couldn’t be officially dealt with until I turned 18.”

Regarding the future, Huo is currently searching for the right person to take on the leadership of Wayland Tutors, LLC in the upcoming years. Huo recently conducted interviews for this position. However, since he plans on pursuing a major of economics and statistics with a minor in business in college, Huo will continue to make the executive decisions for the company.