How to Start a Tutoring Business That Thrives

Are you looking into starting your own tutoring business? Although the pandemic has been incredibly difficult, one of the good things we can see off the back of it is the surge of new businesses (the highest on record!), so well done for taking the plunge and going for it!

You might feel nervous about it, which is completely normal, and the right thing to do is to research how to give yourself the best chance at success.

Starting a business isn’t easy, but it is incredibly rewarding. We’re going to take a look at what you can do to start a thriving tutoring business, so keep reading.

Before jumping into tutoring, a little bit of self-analysis is necessary. This is a good thing, so don’t feel like you need to scrutinize every little fault in your personality.

Figuring out a few things will help you find direction:

• What are you good at?
• What are you passionate about?
• What resources do you have available to you?

For example, if you love playing guitar, and are passionate about it, you probably have everything that’s necessary to start tutoring.

Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. Wherever you think you’re lacking, find some online resources and get yourself up to speed.

When it comes to tutoring, the world is your oyster in terms of what you can teach. But if you just want to get started, tutoring STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is ideal because it’ll be relatively easy to find clients due to these skills being highly sought after.

Try to narrow your niche even further. Let’s use the example of guitar tutoring again.

Maybe you’re a huge fan of neo-soul music. That’s a narrow niche, and while it may mean a smaller client base, you’d be able to provide a unique service and could therefore charge a little more.

So you’ve found your passion, you’ve found your niche, and you’re ready to go. So what now? Starting without a business plan and strategy can leave you burnt out before you’ve even got started.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to learn how to run a business. If you’re not that way inclined, that might be a little scary, but it’s really not complicated. Anyone can be an entrepreneur!

There are a few things to be very clear about from the get-go so that your clients can trust your integrity. When you’re marketing your business, it’s important to:

• Have a strong brand—be confident in what you offer
• Be clear about your pricing—ambiguity breeds uncertainty
• Have a strong online presence—just having business cards doesn’t cut it in the digital age
• Engage with people—people will want to know what you’re like before they commit

“It’s important to realize that brand is much more than a logo and slogan. A brand is who your company is: how you function and make decisions.” -Joanna McFarland, Co-founder of HopSkipDrive

If you’ve established what kind of tutoring business you want to run, and taken all the necessary steps to get started, there’s really nothing to it but to go for it!

There are loads of resources available to you on our blog and on our courses, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need help to get started.