Are you a master of your craft and passionate about teaching? Are you sick of working for others? Do you want more freedom and flexibility?
If you answered these questions with a loud “YES,” then starting your online tutoring business might be the right choice.
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In this article, we share the best tips and tricks on starting a profitable online tutoring business and help you become a successful entrepreneur.
Things you should consider before starting a business
Running a business is often tough and demanding. That’s why you should be sure about your commitment and motivation before starting a business.
Before anything, you should think about:
Why do you want to start an online tutoring business?
Running a successful business means being committed, passionate, and determined. Make sure you know why you want to run a business and be sure they’re strong enough to get you through hurdles and tough times.
Can you do it independently?
Think about whether you can do things independently. Starting and running a business requires time and energy, and you’ll have to give up on plenty of things to succeed. You’ll also have to learn new things and do things that you don’t enjoy doing.
Are you capable of doing this? Will the will to run something off your win over the tediousness of bureaucracy? Think about how much you want to become a business owner before you start working on it.
Benefits of starting an online tutoring business
Online tutoring is one of the fastest-growing industries. Since the COVID pandemic, many businesses have switched to an online model with the full intention of staying online. This happened with the tutoring industry.
Over the past five years, the online tutoring business has grown more than 7% annually. Furthermore, according to market analyst Grand View Research, the online tutoring business is expected to grow by around 15% through 2030.
When we look at the data, we can confidently say that the online tutoring business experiences steady growth and proves to be a good career choice for anyone who wants to venture into this niche.
Here are just a few benefits of why starting an online tutoring business is a good option:
- A great client potential: Online tutoring might be a better idea than classic, in-person tutoring, as it provides a greater customer pool. Many people prefer to learn online since it is more convenient. Plus, doing business online allows businesses to look for students all over the world and avoid being limited to one specific location.
- Lower cost of running a business: The cost of running an online tutoring business is much lower compared to running a traditional, in-person style business. With the online tutoring business, you won’t have to spend money on renting office space, maintenance, transport, and such.
- Higher flexibility: Since there’s no need for commuting, the owners of an online tutoring business have more time for their out-of-work commitments. Plus, they can frequently tweak their schedule at their convenience.
- An opportunity for scaling business faster: Many online tutoring platforms gather valuable information on their users, helping business owners take a smarter marketing approach. Knowing this, they can scale their business much faster.
Steps to Starting a profitable online tutoring business
Once we covered the benefits of starting an online tutoring business, let’s see what the steps are to start it.
Pick a niche (or narrow it down)
Before you start your online tutoring business, you should consider what you will teach. Every discipline has specialties, and you need to think about whether you want to teach to a broader audience or you want to focus on one specific thing.
For instance, SEO marketing can be taught broadly; however, it can be split into several smaller niches, such as content marketing, off-page SEO, on-page SEO, link building, etc.
While those who specialize in one topic have a more challenging time acquiring students at first, they tend to earn more once they build their reputation.
Choose the right software for your business
The second most important thing you should do is to think about what software you’ll use to run your online tutoring business.
For instance, you can check some of the online tutoring software available on the market that will help you manage virtual classrooms, communicate with students, schedule online sessions, etc.
Furthermore, you should check tools that will help you manage your business effortlessly and check what are the options for file and document management tools, and explore different platforms as alternatives to Zoho if you plan on having employees, and so on.
Lastly, think about how you’ll send your invoices and automate this process immediately.
Ensuring a stable cash flow is crucial for every business, and you don’t want to deal with late-paying customers. That’s where having an online invoicing software might come in handy.
InvoiceBerry helps users to put invoicing on autopilot and never worry about them again. It comes with a wide array of features, such as late payment reminders, the ability to customize invoices to be in tune with the brand, and turn quotes into invoices in seconds.
Furthermore, InvoiceBerry allows your customers to make payments conveniently, ensuring that you always have money coming promptly.
Lastly, the best thing about InvoiceBerry is the fact you don’t have to spend a dime before you try it out. You need to subscribe to a free trial and see how it is before you make a purchase.
Make a solid business plan
Every successful business has a solid business plan that tackles every aspect. You want to secure your future and think about how you’ll acquire new students, what strategies are for their retention, and how many you have to have to keep your business running. You also need to know how much you’ll spend on software and equipment and how high your salary is going to be.
Writing a sustainable business plan and following it is not a small feat, and you should take the time to craft it. If you need help, contact business advisors who can help you future-proof your business.
You should also pay attention to your competition and ensure you offer competitive prices. Find something your competitors don’t have or do poorly, and make it your strong point.
Ensure you’re compliant with the law
The sad truth is that many business owners frequently end up doing things they didn’t sign up for. This is often the case with dealing with bureaucracy and paperwork. To save money on business expenses, many business owners decide to do these things on their own. However, they’re often unaware of specific legislation that can endanger their business. To secure your business, and avoid business liability, make sure to consult professionals and make a budget for this right at the start.
Set your home office
You’d want to pay special attention to how your home office is going to look like. You’d want to ensure you have all the tools you need for your classes but also to pick a noise-free spot appropriate for tutoring.
You should pick a neutral background that wouldn’t be distracting for your students, books, and material you’ll need for your class.
Lastly, make your classroom as convenient as possible. Invest in things that would make you more productive such as an ergonomic chair that will help you avoid headaches and back pain.
Decide how you’ll execute your course
Deciding how you’ll teach your students is a crucial step in building your tutoring business. This will depend both on your preferences and the needs of your students.
You’ll have to decide how long your classes are going to last, which tools and curriculum you are going to follow, whether you’ll have assignments and tests, how you’ll grade them, and so on.
Make a website
Having a website, in this day and age, is crucial for business success. An online presence gives legitimacy to your business and shows you’re serious about what you do.
A website helps your customers find you regardless of your location, which is crucial for online businesses that operate globally.
Furthermore, a business website provides you with greater visibility and allows customers to get informed on your pricing, methods, curriculum, working style, and so on.
Lastly, having a website will help you improve your marketing efforts, grow your student base, and ultimately increase your revenue.
That said, you should check available options and build the website for your business. Luckily, you don’t have to spend much money on it, as there are options to get a pre-made website using different free themes on WordPress, for instance.
Make a marketing plan
You can be extraordinary, but if nobody knows about you, it’s as if you don’t exist. This is why having a marketing plan is crucial for every business.
Think about who your target audience is and where they are. Are your customers mainly on Facebook? You better have a Facebook page and Facebook ads running! Or do they hang out on LinkedIn? You better provide some valuable advice and engage with them there!
You should also do paid ads on social networks and Google to ensure you attract new customers.
Writing a blog is a good way to improve your ranking on Google and increase your brand’s credibility. If you don’t have a blog section on your website, you can effortlessly add it using BlogHandy’s services.
BlogHandy offers you to add a blog section to your website without the need for designers and developers. Its affordable pricing makes it a good option for any business, and its built-in SEO optimizing tools can help you increase your visibility and reach much faster!
How to handle your first customers?
Attracting new customers is just the first step on the long journey. The question is, how you’ll be at handling them, and will you do a good job at retaining them? Here are some tips you should follow once you make your first client base.
Be transparent
Maintaining a successful relationship with customers means nurturing transparency from day one. This means, for instance, showing full prices of your services without hidden costs, explaining exactly how you work and which methods you use, and so on. Being transparent will ensure you’re on the same page with your clients and allow you to build long-lasting relationships.
Work on your customer service
A happy customer is a retained customer. You, as a business owner, should work towards having excellent customer service and provide advice and guidance to your clients when needed. Remember, if they experience good service from a business, customers are more likely to stay, come back, and recommend.
Incentivize
Everybody loves deals! If you want to grow your business, you should reward good clients and offer them discounts and deals. Let’s say someone who took your content marketing course could get a 10% discount on your link-building course. Or you could give a 15% discount to customers who recommend your business.
Show you care
You should treat each client with respect and care. Show interest in your students, ask them what they would like to learn, if they understood the subject, if they would like to practice more, etc. Show genuine interest in them, and you’ll be rewarded for it!
Be ready to accept feedback
Growing a successful business means learning from your mistakes and knowing what are the things you’re good at. Make sure to work on these things, as it will help you grow the client base and scale your business. Ask your students what their impressions are, what they would change, and what they find valuable, and act on these insights!
Final Words
Running a business is not a small feat. It can be tiring and time-consuming. It can make you feel as if all you do is work, and sometimes it can make you feel like you’re failing at everything. However, the joy of doing what you love can make up for all of this.
Following these tips can make your journey to starting your online tutoring business much easier, and we’re sure you’ll become a successful business owner by following them.