How to Start Your Home Based Tuition Business – Tips, Skills and More

How to Start Your Home Based Tuition Business

Home based tuition business is a great way to earn an extra income. In fact, it is also a good freelance career if you ever decide for a job change. However, making tutoring business a freelance career would highly depend upon your success rate in your part-time business.

You have to find your strengths and skills, determine the correct fees and plan your marketing strategies effectively to go on to become a successful freelance tutor and make the profession your ultimate career.

Careerlancer is here to provide you expert tips and guidance on how to start your freelance tuition business at home with limited resources.

Tips to Become a Freelance Tutor (Home based)

A home based tutoring business requires very minimal start-up cost. And as goes with any freelancing career, you can work from home around your family’s schedule. However, you have to initiate by making a step by step plan.

1. Make a Plan – Work on Your Strengths

As a tutor, you can teach a number of subjects, all the way from primary school to post-graduation. However, you have to first break down the grades and subjects to understand your skilled areas and limitations.

  • Types of tutoring – You could specialise yourself in working with little children as tutoring them needs special skills such as patience, nourishment and affection. If you are over qualified and have quite a few degrees under your name, you could tutor higher secondary and college students.
  • Area of Speciality – Apart from the age range, you have to include special subjects such as math, reading or science. And don’t forget to talk about the lower level as well. For instance, if you choose math, then you shouldn’t forget geometry and algebra. Children often get stuck at the lower levels.
  • Standardised Tests–Another type of tutoring that you could think of taking is preparing students for special standardised tests, such as state sponsored tests, which are also called as ‘Exit or Entrance Exams’. There’s a high demand for tutors who can work on students to prepare for these tests as many vocations select candidates based on such tests’ scores.

2. Have a Close Watch on Your Competitions

Before you venture out into this freelance tuition business, you have to be aware of the lurking competition, in and around your chosen skills, locality and home. Find out the best tuition centers around you and learn about their services and rates.

Make sure you keep yourself discreet. Also enquire whether these tutors are certified or not. The research will help you establish your price range, and it will also give you a chance to evaluate competition’s skills and use the information to change or alter your skills, subjects and tutoring type.

Your aim should be to provide tutoring on subjects and grades that are not prominent in your locality. Your prices should also be uniquely set to attract more people.

3. Get Yourself Certified

Although, most states do not ask for specialised trainings for tutors, it is always a better option to get yourself certified as a tutor to impress the parents. Don’t forget parents plan to entrust their children’s academic development to you and are ready to invest on it too.

So tutoring certifications (from organizations like National Tutoring Association) can help you separate from your competition – not to mention double your fee structure. A certification course is priced between $300 and $700, based on the subject and course level.

4. Set Up Your Tutoring Place

You will have to choose a comfortable place in your home, with good ventilation and lighting, free from noise and other disturbances, for your classes. Parents will usually take a tour of your home before signing up with you.

So, make sure the trip is worthwhile. You have to keep your tuition room very clean, colourful and well lit. It should be properly stocked with necessary materials and supplies such as books, stationeries and guides. Ensure that the room has comfortable seating for a relaxed study session.

5. Create Schedule and Consistent Fee Scale

You have to decide whether your home based tuition business is going to be an additional source of income or a full time freelance career. If it’s a full time business then remember that you will have to go through hefty marketing plans.

You can schedule your other plans when most students are either in school or college. Careerlancer advises you to start your home based tuition business as an addition to your full time job. And, as you build your client base, you will be able to make the transition to a full time freelance business more confidently and economically.

The Fees:

One of the hardest parts is deciding what to charge. As a full time freelancer, you have to take both your business expenses and your personal expenses in to account when setting up the fees. Make sure you have saved cash for least 6 months of living expenses before you quit your current profession.

Fees structure will be based on your chosen skill, grade and subjects. Remember that higher the grade, the advanced will be subject. And more advanced the subject, the higher you can charge for tutoring. You can either charge on hourly basis or subject wise.

The Sessions:

You have to set consistent ground rules such as timing, study material needed, punctuality etc., depending upon each student’s need and areas of improvement. You can send these rules out through printouts for better organization and communication.

Student Goal:

For each individual student, you have to come up with a tutoring plan such as syllabus to cover, number of sessions needed for improvement and stationeries required. Students’ goal will help you establish trust between parents and you and further give you a clear idea about your objectives towards each student.

6. Marketing Your Brand

To start marketing your services and finding clients, you have to come up with a brand name. You have to create a long-term and continuous marketing plan. You have to appeal to the parents, rather than focusing on the students.

You can leave pamphlets, business cards and flyers in schools, nearby residences, student communities and other such places where parents visit frequently. Use WhatsApp, Facebook and other online medium to network and spread a word about your services.

Provide regular updates to the parents about student’s progress to keep the business relationship strong and going.