4 Ways To Start Your Own Tutoring Business

As a teacher, you may want to leave the confines of school to create your own tutoring business.

The great thing about starting your own business is that you can offer your students variety. Some will prefer face-to-face tuition, others prefer working online.

Below are 4 different ways to start your own tutoring business and make it a success:

1. Do your research, make a business plan

Do your research to understand the market and current needs. Figure out:

• Your target audience
• Their needs
• Your competition (look at prices, teaching methods, materials, customer service, and customer reviews)

Are your competitors buying 11+ exam papers in bulk, and what are their pass rates? Do these exam papers have an associated workbook? If so, how much does this cost? 

Knowing your competition will help you create a competitive advantage – something that customers want but not many offer.

Once you understand your market (that is customers and competitors), it’s time to create an informed business plan.

A business plan is a written document that outlines your business goals, objectives, and how you plan on achieving them. It’s important to have a clear and concise plan that you can refer to as you start and grow your business.

Of course, your business plan will evolve as your business grows, but it’s important to have a solid foundation to start from.

2. Keep your operating costs low at first

You don’t need to have a lot of money to start a tutoring business. In fact, you don’t even have to rent any premises if you don’t want to.

Below are some budget-friendly ways to run a tutoring business:

Offer lessons on your premises

You can start charging an hourly rate for your lessons at rented premises or in a working area/study of your home.

The great thing about renting is that you don’t have to rent premises full time, you can just hire a space for a few times a week.

If you click here you can see that many people use specialist companies when buying educational furniture. This could be anything from chairs and tables to computer workstations and exam desks. If space is limited you could even purchase folding tables and chairs. 

You may also need to consider such things as virtual whiteboards, document sharing software, or laboratory equipment. 

Offer lessons in students’ homes

If you prefer teaching people in their homes, you need to factor in the travel costs and the time it takes you to travel (which can reduce your earning potential).

This is a popular option for students with special needs who require extra help with certain subjects.

But the great thing is – you don’t need to hire premises yourself.

Travelling to people can be a great selling point for busy parents as they are often busy and tired. 

The great thing about services like Payanywhere is that you can start accepting credit cards any way your customer wants to pay. Whether it’s on the spot face-to-face or online, this smart point of sale system allows you to streamline your businesses easily in one place.

How to advertise your services?

You could print some flyers or post adverts on school notice boards. Why not offer the first lesson free, so the student can ensure they will be happy with your tuition?

Tutor in schools or colleges

Some parents want their children to get extra tuition. They may be delighted to find a teacher who can help their child during lunch breaks, or before or after school.

At first, you’ll be expected to pay for using their classrooms. However, if you become an established and trusted teacher, there may be future openings to become a supply teacher or even a member of staff – if that’s what you’re after …

Or alternatively, if you really need the money asap, you can just browse education jobs portal to find temp and part-time jobs on offer, some of them pay £150-200 per day, so not too bad for a side job while you are finding your feet running your own business.

Join an existing online tutor network

Joining an existing network like Tutor Hunt is a good option for new teachers who are just starting out and need to make money immediately. 

It’s also a great option for those who want to spend their time teaching rather than marketing and advertising their business. 

There are a number of online tutoring directories you could register on:

• Home Tutors
• Tutorz
• Tutorpages.com
• Chegg Tutors
• Care.com
• Varsity Tutors
• VIPKid

The great thing about tutoring platforms is the marketing they do on your behalf. These platforms also rank high on Google, which means people can easily find you.

Some platforms also include free video conferencing tools in their service.

In return, the network would take a cut of your earnings. 

3. Start a tutoring agency or employ staff

If you want to take a step back from being a teacher, becoming a facilitator for others and starting an agency is an excellent business idea.

There are even some government grants available for small businesses, so be sure to do your research and see if you qualify.

Teachers could pay to be on your books, and give you commission for every lesson they gain through your platform. The teachers would be freelance individuals rather than employees so you won’t need to worry about paying them salaries.

If you prefer to create a tutoring company that employed staff instead, you would need to cover all the aspects of employment law. This includes lawful business contracts, working hours, holidays, sickness, dismissal policies, and more. You’d also need to secure premises and register with any local or national bodies. Even if you work remotely, you still need a physical address for registering your business and for tax purposes.

4. Set up your own business

The advantage of starting your own business is earning potential.

The disadvantage is that it takes time before you can start earning good money. You need to invest in advertising, branding, and maybe even software that can help with screen sharing, lesson plans and diagram creation.

Online tutoring business allows you to reach a global audience, which means that different time zones can actually be beneficial when you prefer to work in the evenings or at odd times.

Final words

There are different tutoring paths you can choose from. There’s something for every taste.

Hopefully, you are now clearer about which path is right for you 😉