If you are an expert in your subject and want to make money by tutoring others here is a detailed overview of how to start a tutoring business and where to find tutoring jobs.
But first, let’s decide why it can a problem to start making money as a tutor? Most people just don’t know where to start and it stops them from getting clients online.
A little pre-history.
My friend Mary has tutoring skills and one day she decided to get more freedom from the office and start making money online as a tutor. She did an announcement about her online classes on social media and managed to get her first clients thanks to word of mouth. That was all she did to start earning money as an online tutor. After our previous meeting, I realized that Mary had no idea about what else she could do to find clients and decided not to scale up. So, I made up my mind to create an article where I can describe all the opportunities you have if you want to start a tutoring business.
Let’s start!
How to start a tutoring business: A Step By Step Guide
1. Define your tutoring business model
Starting a turning business outline the business model you are going to follow. Here are two key questions you need to answer:
- Do you want to work as an independent expert or join a Tutoring service?
- Are you more interested in providing a private tutor service or group tutoring?
Start a business as an independent tutoring expert
This business model gives you much freedom as well as responsibilities. Being an independent tutor can be the first step to starting a tutoring agency and building a successful business. It is you who creates the rules to follow.
If you decided to work independently make sure to think about the following:
- Target audience – think about the target group of people you can help
- Pricing rates – analyze your competitors and create your pricing offer
- Marketing strategy – use the channels to help people find you (we’ll discuss the details in the article later)
Best tutoring service companies to join
Most teachers and coaches start searching for the best online tutoring jobs on special tutoring websites. It is the easiest way to start since you shouldn’t worry about marketing, your personal website, or paid ads. Just create an account and start working. The only thing is you should be ready to pay a fee for the service.
Here is the list of the most popular tutoring websites you can sign up with and use to find first clients:
The number one recommendation goes to Preply. It was founded in 2012 and became one of the largest language-learning platforms in the world. But Preply is not only for languages. You can teach different school subjects as well as art! The number of tutors who have already joined the platform and successfully make money online is more than 140 000! Preply united tutors from 203 countries and provides flexible opportunities for growth as a tutor.
Is Preply a good way to make money as a tutor?
Preply is a highly rated service on Trustpilot and not in vain. According to the Preply tutors’ reviews, you can start there with lower rates but increase them after getting high rates from your students. Preply can be a good start in the tutoring business because there is no need to invest in marketing and a personal website.
According to Preply, the average tutor payment is $550 a week, so you can make $2200 a month as a tutor.
Get started with Preply- iTalki
iTalki is a highly popular platform for teaching languages. It allows making professional money tutors as well as the ones without certificates.
Get started with iTalki- Tutor.com – a one-to-one solution for teaching languages, maths, sciences, technology, and business.
- Select my tutor – a platform for finding personal tutoring jobs in different subjects. It has a user-friendly extended search.
- Take Lessons – one of the biggest platforms for teachers in different subjects. It is highly flexible and gives an opportunity to select the format of teaching as well as set your own pricing.
2. Find your niche
Will it be general language classes or ESL tutoring? Make sure to find your niche.
For a tutoring business, it is highly important to be specific in the variety of services you provide. On the one hand, this will help you to create an offer for the people you are searching for. On the other hand, you will make it easier for people to find you.
Just compare two different messages below:
1. I am an English Tutor.
2. I help entrepreneurs and small business owners to master the skills of Business English and run effective communication.
Which of the two statements above will be more targeted to its audience? I think you agree that it is the second one.
So, being specific will help you to identify your target audience more clearly.
3. Find software for tutoring as a business
If you decided to become an online tutor make sure you have a laptop with a good internet connection. In case you need a budget laptop just check this article.
Choose a video communication service. Actually, there are lots of apps to connect with your clients – both paid and free. But I would recommend using such free services as Skype, Google Hangouts, or Zoom. I personally love Zoom and you can start it for free.
4. Name your tutoring business
If you decided to start a tutoring business it is time to think about its name. A tutoring business with a name looks more serious and gets more trust. Nevertheless, if tutoring is just your hobby there is no need to name it.
How to create a good tutoring business name?
- Make it short and memorable – use two or three words to name your business. A short name is easy to remember, and it can be used as a domain name for your website
- Use your personal name – there is nothing wrong to use your personal name for a tutoring business. Additionally, it will be even an advantage if you decide to promote your business via a personal brand.
- Use your specialty – if you are an English tutor only and do not collaborate with other tutors inside your business structure, show your specialty. This will give an opportunity to avoid additional questions from potential clients about tutoring subjects.
So, here is a list of 10 catchy tutoring business names that can help you to create your own:
- Time To Learn
- Best English Tutors
- iTutor
- Your Tutoring Academy
- My Tutor
- Mary The Math Tutor
- As Easy as a Pie
- Live and Learn
- Inspired Tutors
- Crazy Tutors
5. Understand your audience
Decide on the audience you want to teach. For example, you are an expert in German and would like to help your clients developing language skills. Would you help university students with their home tasks or teach elementary-level kids? This decision is highly connected with your targeting and marketing campaign.
It is highly important to clearly identify your target audience if you want to be a “go-to” person in your niche. Become the solution people will search for and you won’t need to search for clients.
6. Get tutoring clients
Freelancing Websites
Freelancing websites is one of the easiest ways to get more clients if you are a tutor. People visit such websites because they need help with some information or knowledge. Here are the best platforms you can start using for getting clients.
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Preply
Blog
If you want to scale up and grow your online tutoring classes into a tutoring business start building your personal brand. Share your expert knowledge by publishing useful articles to your blog and this will help you to bring more attention and build an audience around your brand.
Read also: How to Set Goals Effectively And 100% Achieve Them
Video content
Start making videos related to your subject matter and telling about your tutoring program, giving expert tips, or sharing your experience with the audience. Publish and promote your video content on IGTV or Youtube to attract more audiences.
Forums
Think about the platforms your potential clients are using.
For example, if you would like to teach kids you should visit the platforms, forums where parents share their experiences.
Social Media
Last but not least. 🙂 Probably social media will be the number one place you’ll start to use for your service promotion. And you will be right. Most tutors find their first clients through word of mouth and it helps them to grow faster.
Use social media to tell your friends and friends of your friends about what you are doing. Ask people you know about sharing your posts and recommending your services.
Instagram is a perfect channel for building a personal brand and promoting your tutoring services.
Tutoring Business FAQs
1. Why start a tutoring business from home?
Starting a tutoring business online gives you an opportunity to monetize your knowledge and be your own boss at the same time. This type of business does not require major investment and can be started by anyone who has knowledge in a particular field. Modern technologies allow running a tutoring business from home as well as from any place on earth. That is why starting a tutoring business is a unique opportunity to get financial freedom.
2. How to choose a tutoring niche?
Choosing a niche helps you to create an offer for people you would like to work with. Here are some key questions you need to answer in order to find your tutoring niche:
- What is the key problem that you help to solve with your classes?
- Why do you enjoy teaching people?
- What is the thing that makes you different from other teachers?
- Who is your ideal client?
- Why do your customers like to work with you?
- What is your teaching style?
3. Do you need a license to start a tutoring business?
Starting a tutoring business you need to register as a sole proprietor (the most common case) or register a corporation (move to this step once you decide to scale up).
4. Is a tutoring business profitable?
Yes. And there is one big reason why a tutoring business is highly profitable. Any tutoring business that has been started as a freelance side hustle can be easily scaled up into a tutoring agency or school with a million revenue. Think about it and don’t wait a minute to start.
Final thoughts
If you decided to become a tutor and have no idea where to find your first clients – start with tutoring websites. It is the easiest way to make money fast and without spending time on marketing and branding.
But if you want to build a tutoring business and become a “go-to” person in your subject, think about building your personal brand or we can develop your brand strategy together.
