The idea of starting an online tutoring business can be daunting, whether as an individual or an organization. There’s a lot of information out there to sift through and it’s difficult to know what choices are the right ones.
What do you need to plan in advance? How do you get started with an online platform? Where do you find students in need of your services?
In this paper, we will answer those questions and more, giving you the information and confidence you need to start a successful tutoring program, all from the comfort of your home or office (or local library, or internet cafe, or anywhere else with internet access)!
How to start your own online tutoring business?
Initial Planning
It’s important not to go into this blindly, so you need to organize a plan. You probably already know what subject you want to teach, but there’s more to consider than just that.
The first thing to think about is who you want to tutor—your target demographic. What age groups do you feel comfortable working with? Do you want to tutor students who are struggling with their schoolwork or those looking to study independently?
You also want to think about the way you’re going to handle the sessions themselves. Will you and your student(s) log-in at a designated time and chat instantly (synchronous tutoring), or will you communicate through messages that you check and respond to at your discretion (asynchronous tutoring)? Will you communicate through text, audio, or webcam?
It might also be helpful to write up a lesson plan for the first few weeks of your sessions if you plan to tackle more than just the concerns your student brings to you. If you decide upon synchronous tutoring, this lesson plan should include how often your tutoring sessions will occur.
If you’re planning on starting a full tutoring business, you will need to do extra planning. How many tutors will you hire? How will you find those tutors? How much will you pay them? How much will you charge your students? (Of course, that question must be answered whether you’re running a full business or tutoring independently.)
The more you plan before you officially get started, the smoother things will go. But try not to get so invested in your plan that it makes you resistant to change or unable to see when something isn’t working. Part of tutoring is learning as you go and through trial and error, you’ll be able to see what works best for you and your students. Make a plan, but remain flexible.
Devising a Contract
This step may seem like the least important, but it should not be overlooked. When it comes to tutoring, the students can only get back what they put in and you want to be sure they’re not going to waste your time or theirs.
The contract is as much a commitment by you to teach as it is by them to learn (and to pay you, regardless). They need to be clear on their financial responsibilities, such as how much they’ll be paying, when they’ll be expected to pay, how to make the payments, and what they will pay for missed sessions.
The contract should include everything you want your student to be aware of from the beginning. It should clearly outline their responsibilities as a student and the repercussions if they fail to fulfill those responsibilities. For example, what happens if they fail a class in the subject in which you are tutoring them? Presumably, this is their responsibility and not yours. In the same way, what happens if you need to sever the tutoring relationship? Whether because of a student’s inappropriate actions or failure to pay or because of unexpected circumstances, the reasons for terminating tutoring services and the financial consequences from various scenarios should be clearly delineated.
The contract should also outline the tutor’s responsibilities and objective so that the student can be clear on what to expect. For synchronous tutoring, it should explain the protocol in the case of tardiness or cancellations from either student or tutor. There should also be a section for names, signatures (of both child and parent if your student is a minor), and contact information.
You can create your contract from scratch or use a pre-made one. However, you must be careful if you use a generic contract. Regard it as a template instead of a finished product; you’ll need to customize any contract you find to fit your specific program, often on a per-student basis.
When your contract is perfected and it comes time to start tutoring, send it to your students. You can do this in the first session (so the tutor and student can go over it together) or before lessons start. Have the students print out the contract at home, sign it, and then scan or fax it to you.
Getting Started with CaribbeaniSchool
CaribbeaniSchool has everything you’ll need to run your tutoring sessions smoothly and effectively.
You can communicate with your students through text, audio, or video and there are options for live communication (synchronous tutoring) and posting pre-recorded content (asynchronous tutoring).
You can create tests for your students and give them almost immediate feedback, which is a fantastic tool for assessing their specific needs and ongoing progress in tutoring. You can easily share files with your students and write on a virtual whiteboard. You can even record classes as they happen so you can review them and track your students’ progress!
After you register, you’ll need to set up a course. If you choose to do asynchronous tutoring (which might be more effective when tutoring students in drastically different time zones and with different schedules, you can use this course as a collection of all your lessons via video. Or, if you prefer synchronous tutoring, you can create classes to begin at scheduled times.
CaribbeaniSchool offers free tutoring sessions to help you create your classroom!
Check out our website at www.caribbeanischool.com and click on the link for tutors to see what more we have to offer.
If you are starting a tutoring business and have multiple tutors working, make sure they understand the importance of the contract and have all their students review and sign it; copies should be retained so that they can be referenced later. Sample contracts are available on www.CaribbeaniSchool.com.
Marketing
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to find your students! There are many different ways to go about this and you should pursue any and all of them, since you never know where people will be looking. With CaribbeaniSchool you can showcase what you do best on your teacher’s profile and we’ll make sure it ranks high on Google and other search engines.
CaribbeaniSchool will also offer you training on social media marketing which will allow you to use Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other services to rapidly and effectively spread the word about your services.
Do remember to follow CaribbeaniSchool on Facebook and Twitter.
Though these online strategies are very useful in helping find students from all over the Caribbean and and, indeed, anywhere on the globe, never underestimate the power of old-fashioned advertising, especially if you have access to community centers, schools, and campuses. Create fliers advertising your service, making sure to include contact information (or just your Facebook page) and a brief overview of what you do. This can be especially effective if you’re targeting high school or university students; campuses are filled with bulletin boards advertising all kinds of services.
Bring your fliers to any and all educational institutions you can reach and figure out whom to contact about posting them around campus. For middle or high school students, contact the principal about your service. Often there are school newsletters or websites on which you could advertise or parent-teacher groups with which you could become involved. And of course, there are the traditional daily newspapers, such as the Gleaner and the Observer! TV and radio ads are also very effective. Look into those options and be sure to use word of mouth as well. The more people talk, the more others will listen.
If your target clientele are students preparing for CXC or CAPE, make sure to emphasize this. There is a vast number of students, and parents of students, in this demographic who are looking for extra lessons to prepare for these important exams!
Conclusion
Starting any business is a huge undertaking, but that does not mean the process has to be stressful, or, worse yet, unsuccessful. With proper planning, organization, and CaribbeaniSchool as your platform, your tutoring business should be up and running quickly and smoothly.
After you’re all set up, you don’t want to worry about anything other than your students and ongoing marketing. CaribbeaniSchool handles the technical details, letting you focus on teaching and running a business.
Email us at shaynes@caribbeanischool.com, or call us at 908-4470 or 488-8295 for free training!
