Who does the coaching today:
- Freelance trainers running WhatsApp groups — they send audio prompts, students reply with recordings, trainer gives verbal feedback or short text notes. Batch size per trainer: 50–200 students. No software. No scheduling. Runs on trainer's personal WhatsApp and Google Sheets.
- Placement consultancies in cities like Pune, Lucknow, Indore — these sell "spoken English + placement" as a bundled program. They use cheap labour (often graduates who cleared the exam themselves) to take sessions in a classroom or a rented hall. Cost per student: ₹3,000–₹15,000 for a 30–90 day program.
- Corporate trainers hired by colleges — batch sessions, 2–5 days, ₹15,000–₹40,000 per day. Feedback is live, not recorded, and rarely personalized.
- Self-study apps used by students alone — no accountability, high dropout.
- Trainers spend 40–60% of time on admin (tracking who paid, who showed up, sending reminders) rather than coaching.
- Students practice speaking alone with no feedback loop — they record, listen back once, and move on. No correction.
- Placements are handled manually by the same person who coaches — they call contacts, share resumes, chase HR managers. A trainer who is good at speaking is almost never good at this.
- Refunds happen because no one defined "job ready" upfront. 30% of batch students who don't get placed demand money back; the consultancy has no contractual definition of success.
- WhatsApp groups become unmanageable past 100 students — audio files pile up unread, feedback gets lost, no searchable history.