Want to start a tutoring business but not sure where to start? In this comprehensive guide on how to start a tutoring business, you’ll learn everything you need to know—from how to establish a customer base to how to easily collect payments.
1. Determine your target market.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What’s your specialization? Different subjects have different levels of demand. There’s a particularly high demand for STEM-subject and college-entry standardized test tutors.
- What’s your level of education? Typically, with a bachelor’s degree, you can tutor K-12 students. With a Master’s or PhD, you can tutor college students.
- Do you have any certifications? Certifications increase your credibility and your chances of getting hired. The National Tutoring Association and the Association for the Coaching and Tutoring Profession are good places to get started.
- How much experience do you have?
- What’s your network like? Do you have possible customers in mind or do you need to get your name out there?
2. Determine location.
Everything’s gone virtual nowadays and tutoring is no exception. Online tutoring is a great, low-cost way to get started in the tutoring industry, but because most people have the technology to do start a tutoring business from home (video calling software, a computer, high speed internet, etc), the barrier to entry is extremely low, which means that there’s a lot of competition on the market, which can affect how much you can charge for your services.
In-person tutoring typically pays more, but take travel time, travel costs, and possibly cost to rent your tutoring space into account.
3. Determine start-up costs + budget.
What’s your budget for starting your tutoring business?
Here are some expenses to consider:
- New equipment
- Cost of renting a space
- Software
- Pay for employees if you’re planning on bringing staff on board
4. Research your competition.
Do a quick Google search and find out how much tutors in your area are charging for similar services. That’ll give you a good idea of how much you should be charging.
While you’re already looking at your competitors, think about how you can set yourself apart from them.
5. Set your rates.
Since you’ve already done research on how much your competitors charge, with that in mind, also consider your experience and specialty. The higher the demand for tutoring in a subject that you specialize in, the more you can charge!
6. Choose your name and get it out there!
You’re almost there! Now it’s time to choose your name and make sure that everybody knows it. Be sure to choose a name that is kid-friendly and indicative of your specialty. For example, “A+ Chemistry Tutoring” would fare better than “Green Slime Tutoring.”
After that, establish your online presence and build trust within your community by getting on sites like Nextdoor, Facebook, and Yelp. For more details on how to grow your tutoring business, check out “4 Ways to Grow Your Tutoring Business.”
7. Set up a scheduling, invoicing, and payment collection system.
Although it’s certainly possible to take a piecemeal approach to this administrative aspect of your tutoring business by using an Excel sheet to keep track of your customers, Venmo to send out invoices, and potentially another platform to fill in the gaps, there’s an easier way! Check out how Finli can streamline your tutoring business by taking care of scheduling, invoicing, payment collection, customer relationship management, and more.
Wherever you are in your tutoring business journey, Finli wants to help. Schedule a demo now.
