Love sharing your knowledge with people around you? You should turn that passion into a profession and earn some quick bucks. Starting your own tutoring business is easy, convenient, and efficient. However, keeping the business running is a bit trickier. In the end, it’s all about the quality of education you can provide, just like any other business. Tutoring someone is an extremely tough and demanding job. Learning how to start a home-based tutoring business is vital before actually diving into the industry.
The global online or home-based tutoring market is expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 12% between the years 2019-2023. So if starting your own tutoring business is on your mind, the best time is now.
Tutoring is a profession that is needed at every level, be it a small child or for someone who’s studying rocket science. Tutoring is not a niche-specific business which is why it is one of the best things you can do. Register as a private tutor and start your way towards starting your own tutoring company. Here’s our guide on how to start a home-based tutoring business with all the information that can get you started.
Pros and Cons of Starting Your Own Tutoring Business
Let’s be honest, no business is perfect, all of them will have the parts that you’d hate doing. Although, doing what you love makes the hard parts a bit easier. Even if you are the world’s greatest teacher, if you don’t know how to sell yourself, you can kiss your plan of starting your own tutoring business goodbye. Want to know how to start a home-based tutoring business? Read up on the pros and cons to make the decision easier:
Pros of Starting a Home-Based Tutoring Business:
- You can utilize the relationship you have in the community for giving your business a boost.
- There is no limit to students who need help, so you will always have several customers.
- The cost for setting up the business is minimal.
- You can choose your preferred niche and even more than one. Build your authority in the subjects you want to teach over time.
- Flexible working hours.
- Working from the comfort of your home is always a plus point.
Cons of Starting a Home-Based Tutoring Business:
- Finding the ideal location to tutor in can be tough. Having too many tutors in your locality leads to additional competition.
- Finding students during the school break time can be challenging. Sometimes it can even lead to months of no business.
- Need to have your home in a good location as you’ll be dealing with children.
- You may have to compete against the school’s tutoring techniques or methods.
- The working hours sometimes also depend on when your clients are available.
What Tools do You Need To Start a Home Tutoring Business?
A business is only as good as the tool it uses. Learning how to start a home-based tutoring business requires you to have an understanding of what you need to provide for a great learning experience. Building your business and turning it into a successful venture takes a lot of time, make sure you have all the necessary tools before you finally step in. Here’s a list of tools required for starting your own tutoring company.
High School Diploma or a Degree
While this isn’t a particular tool, having a high school diploma or a degree increases your chances of getting more clients. Most of the online tutoring sites require the tutors to have some kind of minimum education.
Tutoring Certification
Earning a tutoring certification improves your credibility and enhances your chances of getting more students. Each country has a body that provides certification, in the U.S it’s the National Tutoring Association.
Basic Tools
You’ll need basic tutoring tools, a whiteboard, and books on the subject you’re teaching, an appropriate sitting place. You’ll also need some markers, pens and spare notepads. If you’re planning to become an online tutor then you’ll need a computer setup and high-speed internet.
Set up Costs for Starting a Home-Based Tutoring Business
One of the best reasons for learning how to start a home-based tutoring business, and then starting it is that it requires a minimal initial investment. As you’ll be working from home your biggest cost of “renting” will be out of the equation. Here’s a breakdown of the initial investment you’ll need to make for starting your own tutoring business.
- Books and other academic material on the subjects you want to teach ($100 – $500).
- Basic tools like pens, notepads, whiteboard, markers (<$100).
- A laptop/computer with a high-speed internet connection.
- Subscription to a number of online tutoring services ($50 – $100).
- A tutoring certification ($100 – $250)
The costs mentioned above are the bare minimum that you need to register as a private tutor. You need to learn how to start a tutoring program and the cost included. As your business grows, the costs will also grow, although you can manage the costs by investing the profits you earn. The average costs for starting your own tutoring company are $350 – $1000.
How To Prepare For Launching a Home Tutor Business?
Now that you know about the tools you need, the costs you’ll have to bear and all the advantages/disadvantages of stepping into the business, you need to start preparing for launching your business. There’s a lot you need to learn. The question “how to start a home-based tutoring business?” has a lot of answers and you need to follow the right steps to start and grow your business.
Starting your business without proper information and knowledge can lead to certain challenges and may even cause you to lose your investment. Here’s how to prepare for starting your own tutoring company:
Do The Necessary Market Research
The first answer to the question “how to start your own tutoring service”, is following up on market research. Doing market and competitor analysis is crucial for all industry types. It is an important step in the preparation of starting your business. Doing market research for starting your home tutoring business is important as it will help you gain a better understanding of the industry, who your competitors are, and how you can gain more clients. The right kind of market and competitor analysis is vital for learning how to make your mark in the industry.
Providing an Identity to Your Business
You can’t just name your business “Jack’s Home Tuition” and expect the business to grow. Your business name needs to have a name that shows off what you’re offering and should be easy to remember. Your business should also be unique and the most important thing is that it should not be similar to any other name out there. The next step includes registering your business. Getting a website and logo developed under your brand name is also highly important. Choosing a name and getting a logo is basically like giving your business a name and a face.
Choosing Your Ideal Niche
You can’t understand “how to start a home-based tutoring business” without choosing the niche you want to be a part of. The best thing you need to know before trying to register as a private tutor is that there are countless niches you can go in.
Here are all the main niches of home tutoring you should know about:
- Elementary school tutor
- Middle school tutor
- High school tutor
- College student tutor
- Particular subject tutor (Math, Science, Literature, History)
- Technical teaching (IT, computer science, etc)
You should be able to find the ideal niche you want to build your business. One of the best ways to choose your business niche is by determining the subjects you’re proficient in. These subjects are your ideal business niche. If you want, you can teach multiple subjects and choose the business niche based on the grades you’re teaching.
Select your Target Market
Selecting your target market is as important as choosing your business niche. Your target market is the group of people you want to attract to your business. Your target market is the people who will be paying for your services.
Starting your own tutoring company has to rely on various large target markets. To tap into a specific target market, you’ll need to build relationships with people in the specific market. You can even sign up for online tutoring service providers who can help you kickstart your business. Here are the most common target markets you need to focus on:
- International students
- Domestic students
- Quantitative clients
- Non-quantitative clients
The target market you chose and the niche you decide to grow your business in go hand in hand. Tutoring has been around for a long time and it’s a profitable business venture, finding the perfect target market and business niche is something you need to build your business.
Building a Skillset
The quality of services that you have to offer will determine how successful your business will grow. Before you start operating your business, you need to acquire a set of teaching skills that you can use to gain new clients.
Different niches require you to have different types of skills. Here are some of the most common skills you may want to acquire if you want to learn how to start a home-based tutoring business:
- Presentation skills
- Marketing skills (for acquiring new clients)
- Accounting skills (for payments and keeping a track of finances)
- Special skills concerning your teaching niche
If you don’t have the required skills, then starting your business can be tough. To acquire these skills, you can work at some tuition center that can offer you proper knowledge. You can acquire the necessary skills and then grow your own business.
How to Source the Tools?
To learn how to start a home-based tutoring business, it is important that you know the importance of tools. While there isn’t a lot you need to build and grow your business as a tutor, we suggest that you pick the best quality products for your needs.
You can source your tools and equipment from:
- Online websites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc.
- Local stores are dedicated to stationery items.
- Superstores that usually contain all kinds of stationery items.
Having just the right tools and equipment is absolutely crucial to provide a good learning experience.
How to Setup Your Price Structure?
Having the ideal price point is extremely important for your business. You can’t put the price point too high or too low. Both of them have their own disadvantages. The home tutor market is incredibly competitive, so finding the perfect price point for you can be the key to building your business.
If your price is too low, parents of the students will think that the teacher is not up to the mark. If you make the price too high as opposed to your competitors, you would have a hard time finding the ideal price. You can charge $20-$30 per lecture or per student based on the subject you’re teaching.
Do You Need Office Space?
Well, this guide is about “how to start a home-based tutoring business” so you probably don’t need office space. You don’t have to spend money on renting an office space. Although, if you want, you can turn one of your rooms in one corner of your home into an office space to give your home an official vibe.
As your business grows, you can rent an office space to build a proper tuition service. If you’re planning to get an office space, you should consider facts like
- How far is it from your place?
- What’s the locality like?
- What’s the commuting time?
If you’re sure that you want to set up a home-based tutor service, then the need for office space is no more.
Arrangement of Funds
The arrangement of funds is absolutely crucial. It is a crucial step to learn how to start a home-based tutoring business. Starting your own tutoring company is one of the least fund-requiring businesses. So arranging the funds should be pretty easy. Although if your expenses exceed the estimation, you can arrange the funds using a number of sources:
- Family or friends
- A loan from a bank or credit union
The costs for starting your home-based tutor business are pretty low so you won’t need to make too many efforts for starting your business.
Do You Need to Hire Resources?
If you are willing to register as a private tutor, then you don’t need to hire additional resources. There aren’t too many tasks apart from teaching that you’ll have to do, so there’s no need for an HR or an accountant.
As your business will start to grow, and you’ll have more students than you can handle, you can hire a secondary teacher and someone for maintaining other activities. Before hiring a team, you should be earning enough profits to cover the salaries and other expenses.
Possible Hurdles in Starting Your Business?
The home tutor business is vast, has a great growth margin and the industry cap is supposed to grow by a lot in upcoming years. Just stepping into the market among the leading competitors can be tough. Finding the students and growing your clientele can be a tricky process, another problem that can be faced in trying to find the right students in the school break time.
Once you start building your relations, it will be easy to find more and more students. While some challenges are imminent, you can build your business with constant efforts and with the right skillset and tools.
Final Take: How To Start A Home-Based Tutoring Business?
The home tutoring market is extremely vast and expected to grow at an opportunistic rate. Starting your own tutoring business can be profitable at this time. There are a variety of pros for starting your own home tutoring business. You can pick the right niche and target market and grow your business exponentially over time.
FAQs
What are the advantages of starting a home tutoring business?
Apart from being highly profitable, the business is perfect if you love to share your knowledge with other people. You can work according to your schedule and from the comfort of your own home.
How can I get more students for my business?
Getting more students for your home tutoring business is definitely one of the biggest challenges you will face. There are a variety of online platforms where you can register as a private tutor and find new students.