Beginner Guides for Starting a Tutoring Business
If you are new to the TutorCruncher system, we are here to help! We have created a number of easy to follow PDF guides which take you through the basics of the system. We have also included some tips on how to enhance your own online tutoring sessions.
A guide for new business Admins
This PDF is for Admins to get them started using TutorCruncher quickly and help Admins understand the basics for managing Users, Lessons and Invoices.
View admin user guide
A guide for new Tutors
This PDF is for Tutors and how they can use TutorCruncher for managing their Profile, applying to Jobs and organising their Lessons.
View tutor user guide
A guide for new Clients
This PDF is for new Clients to help get started using TutorCruncher to manage their Profile, Lessons and their Accounting.
View client user guide
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do you need to start a successful online tutoring business?
Answer: You need a curriculum, training, and a marketing plan.
Tutoring is an excellent way to turn your passion into profit. To start tutoring as a business, you need three things: a curriculum or program to follow, training in how to effectively teach children of varying abilities levels (different age ranges), and some sort of workable marketing strategy that will help you find the right clientele for you. These basics should cover what you need to effectively kickstart a successful tutoring business from home.
Also, you need to determine your business structure, business name and how much you will charge per hour. Often tutors begin part time then when it's a good idea - full time. It all depends on your business plan and private tutoring agenda.
When it comes to scaling your business online, you might consider checking out our business growth resources. Also, if you're looking to speed this process up TutorCruncher has inbuilt features to help you start a tutoring business, speed up growth and take things to the next level.
Read more:
- A Presentation on How To Grow a Successful Tutoring Business
- Our Top 5 Tips for Starting a Tutoring Business
- Here's some business cards & ideas to compliment your online tutoring services.
How to build an audience for your online tutoring business?
Answer: This largely depends on the nature of your tutoring business. If you want to be seen as an expert in your field, and start teaching others, then the first thing that you need to do is build credibility. Assuming you have already done this, you need to identify what platforms your target audience are using and start engaging with them.
Here are a few platforms, to get your creative juices flowing:
- Quora - Find questions that are being asked within your field and start offering substantial answers, based on your experience. By contributing this sort of value to your prospective audience you will establish your credibility and if the answer is extremely good, people will remember your name and/or organisation.
- Blogs - To build an audience in a community, blog about the area and offer resources. Offer advice on how they can supplement their current school work or provide insightful information that will help someone with grade related issues. If someone likes what you do then they will want to follow you for more great content, so be sure to talk about how your tutoring (business) is unique.
- Webinars - Webinars are a great way for speakers, experts in various fields, and anyone with a service to market to build an audience base. Webinars usually correspond with the niche or subject of your website so that your visitors can be useful on both channels in sharing knowledge and paying it forward. For example, if you write law blogs as a profession, webinars would be an excellent platform to promote them through things like legal analysis and news updates.
- Podcasts - Much like the above examples. Find a niche where you are knowledgeable enough to speak about and start answering questions that your audience are asking. Host guests who can help get your message out as well. Have them talk about their topic, then end the episode by promoting other episodes or tell listeners how they can engage your tutoring services.
- Word of Mouth - Whether on social media or in person. The best way of using word-of-mouth is celebrating successes that come from customers sharing your content, information about themselves, referrals for yours business and distributing tips, advice and ideas through online channels such as forums, social media sites and blogs.
As an added tip, make your contact details prominent when you engage with your audience so people have an even easier way to reach out and use your services. People can be lazy, so don't give them an excuse. If you don't want to give out contact information then mention and link all of the channels that you huse most frequently e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.
Read more:
What are the costs involved in opening a home tutoring business?
Answer: There are various costs in opening a home tutoring business.
These costs vary depending on geographical location, the individual's qualifications, and the desired scale of the home tutoring business. Tutors generally need their own table (a desk or table/computer setup), but there's also the possibility to use larger tables that are already in your home. Your space may require additional decorations such as name cards/designs or colored pens to help distinguish them from other tutors-in-training. In addition to this, you'll also need an accounting program like QuickBooks Online for your business finances.
We would estimate that the costs involved in opening a tutoring business is in the range of £25 to £100 to give you an illustration (registering business, creating a website and our software).
Also, as a rule of thumb, you should save all your receipts from business-related purchases and organise them properly. It is possible to claim expenses for tax relief purposes on things like telephone, internet and electricity bills as well as travel expenses, office supplies and advertising. For help and guidance on this, see below.
Read more:
- HM Revenue & Customs Guidance for UK visitors
- IRS Deducting Business Expenses for USA visitors
What skills does a tutor need?
Answer: A tutor needs to be a good listener who coaches and encourages the student. This is typically something which comes from teaching experience. Appropriate skills for tutoring vary according to the subject area, but successful tutors have strong verbal communication, vocabulary, and reading comprehension skills. According to market research, some common academic subjects for which there is a demand for qualified tutors are math, sciences (biology, physics), English grammar, ESL (English as a Second Language) or another language taught in school.
A tutor's success comes from developing effective long-term relationships with students by being an active learning encourager and facilitator who listens carefully to their concerns while maintaining high expectations of them. We see a lot of tutors assisting their students with test prep for middle school and high school subjects. Tutors need a variety of specific knowledge bases depending on what they want to teach.
What should I charge for online tutoring?
Answer: The hourly fee for online tutoring needs to be assessed on a case by case basis. While price varies from subject to subject, the average is $55 (or £40) per hour.
Factors such as the level of knowledge or proficiency, the subject/topic, hours that you would need to tutor, and your geographical location are all factors in how much you should charge.
Generally, you want to charge what people value your teaching skills at. Students usually prefer tutoring from teachers who are not only knowledgeable in their subject matter but also able to teach it effectively and with passion. It's important that you're able to create an environment that stimulates creativity as well as encourages independence so students have a feeling of accomplishment and feel like they can do things on their own after they've been through your tutoring program.
It's also worth taking into consideration the demand. The demand for quality tutoring services will vary depending on the area where you live. If parents have limited access to education or traditional higher education, they may be willing to pay more for tutoring services than those who are not interested in rethinking their options in order to pursue opportunities outside of societal norms. Certain regions of the country might have an abundance of educational resources and therefore necessitate lower rates due to less demand.
Read more:
- Find out more about guide to private tutoring rates
- How did you start a tutoring business? We want to hear from you. Feel free to reach out on social media.
