Starting a Tutoring Business?

Don’t Make These 3 Costly Mistakes!

Starting a tutoring business of your own is exciting! Here is your chance to do what you love, in the way that you want. You already know how to teach. So, tutoring feels like the perfect business for you. And it likely is! But all that being said, there is something that you should keep in mind. Tutoring through your own business is not exactly the same as working for a school. In order for you to succeed, there are often a few mindset shifts to make. Below, I’ve outlined 3 common mistakes that teachers often make, I’ve also provided tips on what to do instead.

1) Setting Your Hourly Rate for Tutoring Too Low

It’s very common that teachers undercharge when first starting out working as a tutor on their own. I know, because I did it! So, I’m sharing because I don’t want others to do the same thing. We love what we teach and who we teach. That can sometimes make it easy to momentarily forget our worth. But remember that your experience, personality, training and love for teaching make your services extremely valuable. Also remember how hard you work as you put all of those characteristics into play. Know your worth as you set your rates!

If you set your rates too low, it can be costly, and I don’t mean only in relation to actual cash. You can get emotionally burned out by doing too much for too little pay. This can be a hard lesson for teachers to learn. In most cases, we become used to our salary being determined by the “steps” on our salary grid. At least in the United States, all teachers earn the same amount for their years of experience, no matter what they teach. Tutoring is different, as certain specialty areas are valued at a higher rate.

As teachers, we might also feel guilty when thinking about how much to charge for our tutoring services. We tend to forget the true value of our knowledge and skills. As long as you are providing quality instruction, which is evidence based and designed to improve your students’ skills, you should be compensated fairly for your services.

While you are figuring out what you would like to charge for your tutoring services, there is something important to keep in mind. Providing services as a private tutor (or owner of a tutoring business) is very different than working for as an employee for a tutoring company. While a tutoring company may pay you $40 per hour, they are charging the parents or school at a higher rate. As the owner of the business, they keep the rest. So, remember that parents are actually paying the center more than what the tutors are earning. Keeping this in mind can help you to realize that your rate may not be as high as you think.

2) Forgetting that Your Tutoring Business Runs on Your Schedule

Due to the nature of the job, a tutor business feels a lot like teaching. After all, tutoring is teaching (or reteaching), but often in a smaller group or with a specialized focus. However, it is important to remember that unlike working for a school, when you own your own tutoring business, you should set your own schedule for days and times that work for you.

This can be hard! As teachers, we often want to accommodate everyone who is interested and in need of our services. I also think it’s because we are so used to being told what our schedule is. But again, this is a whole different ballgame. It’s important to first determine what works for you and then offer those days and times. It can be challenging to stick with this rule at first, as many teachers are afraid to miss out of clients. But teachers will find themselves easily burnt out by trying to make their schedule work for everyone.

We are all busy. Parents, students, business owners. If your schedule doesn’t work for someone, that is ok. As long as you provide a great service doing what is best for your students, you will find enough clients to be able to fill your available tutoring spots.

Planner Recommendation:

Here is a link to a planner that I really like. I love that it offers both a monthly spread, as well as a section for each day. I like to be able to look at my schedule for the whole month, but also see my plans for each day as well.

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(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

3) Thinking that you are just working as a Tutor…When you are actually Running a Teacher Business

Which means that you are the boss. Or maybe I should say, you are “the principal” when it comes to your tutoring business. And just like scheduling requires a change in thinking to really understand that concept, so does the idea of being the “boss”. As the “principal” of your business, you get to decide the subjects that you teach. You can choose the days/hours that you will work. You will select the materials that you will use. And you will determine and write any policies that you choose to implement. These decisions will all help you to provide great tutoring services and allow your business run smoothly.

As the decision maker behind your business, you get to make decide each step that you take as you work to grow your business. Just keep in mind that everyone’s journey is different, and that you will never know if you don’t try. As we grow, we learn through our mistakes.

I think that the best piece of advice that I could give to a teacher trying to start up a business, would be the advice that I received: Keep going. So, keep going! I’m here to help if you need me!