Advice on growing my online tutoring business

[PurpleOne]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping you might be able to offer me some advice. I have been running a successful tutoring business for 7 years, specializing in sciences and maths (I am a former biomedical researcher). In the past two years I have switched to offering exclusively online tutoring and it's been very popular - I have students now across the UK and in Europe and China - so much so that I am looking to take on a couple of tutors to work freelance with me from September. This is great, but I wonder if my business model could scale much further and I wondered if anyone could give me some advice on next steps, or suggest people to talk to etc? I am very open to the idea of working with a business partner to help grow the business internationally. Most importantly I want to make sure that my approach - putting students first and tailoring sessions to meet their needs - is preserved as the business scales.

Thanks in advance for your advice and your time,

Best wishes

John

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Hi John,

I was Senior Lecturer at University and worked on a Learning at Work Degree programme. My background is Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

Congratulations on your success but my first warning is do not grow too quick and be careful of partnerships, these pages are full of people having problems with partners.

I would spend a year working with these new freelancers to ensure you have the processes to ensure your business model is followed and your students are just as happy with these people as they were with you.

Secondly consider funding your growth with internal profits or get a business loan.

When you are happy that using freelancers works,and you can handover the day to day work to them, start marketing more to increase business.

You don’t say how you find students at the moment. Do you use education portals like Udemy, Teachable etc?

Trevor

 

[fisicx]

@PurpleOne - why do you want to expand the business? Are you just chasing the money? Or is there a desire to educate more young people?

You may discover (as others have done) is you end up being a manager do very little tutoring. Another consideration is employing a manager at let them do all the heavy lifting leaving you to keep tutoring.

 

[MarkOnline]

First of all I have no experience in teaching or the financials of education. In answer to your business's chances of scalability I would look at your numbers, how much revenue do you generate per teacher hour. If you are charging £30 an hour for your time then I dont think it will scale. What are your teacher to pupil rations? What is the lifetime value of a pupil? Average billable hours per pupil per week/term/course. Costs associated with delivering those teacher hours etc.

Is your current model successful because of you, your personality, your course content, unique teaching style etc. Can that "secret sauce" be replicated, how easy is it to replicate?

If the numbers make sense then look at how to scale sustainably to make your numbers work. Zoom type teaching does sound potentially extremely profitable, but, as with most things, it will be much more difficult than the basic numbers and model running through my head.

Good luck

 

[JamaC]

Correct, putting the student first is key.

This will help you to mould your business and make it a better experience for your students.

I would suggest learning about the different preferences the students have when it comes to learning.

I'm sure there are a list of reasons some students bounce from one tutor to another. Find out what those reasons are and be the best at what you do, by showing you understand their frustrations.

The more understanding and flexible you are in that which you teach the better.

I would spend some time doing market/user research. Find out the things they like and don't like when studying online.

Also take a look at other companies similar to yours, even sign up to some and see how their process works. This will help improve your students experience, plus save you time making mistakes and having to make constant tweaks.


Lastly, I'm not sure how your business is set up but, as mentioned above

I would spend a year working with these new freelancers to ensure you have the processes to ensure your business model is followed and your students are just as happy with these people as they were with you.

Systemise everything! All your processes and strategies are extremely important at this point, because the freelancers will be representing your business. Even when selecting the freelancers be very specific in who you decide to choose to represent you business, don't be affraid to say no.

 

[The Byre]

I am looking to take on a couple of tutors to work freelance with me from September.

Be careful that they do not steal your clients! That means having a structure that prevents this from happening. My experience has been that every second or third tutor gets greedy and suggests to the client that they could go 'direct' and save themselves some money!

This is great, but I wonder if my business model could scale much further and I wondered if anyone could give me some advice on next steps,

Structure, structure, structure! I would suggest that you model your company structure on Wolsey Hall. https://wolseyhalloxford.org.uk/

I am very open to the idea of working with a business partner to help grow the business internationally. Most importantly I want to make sure that my approach - putting students first and tailoring sessions to meet their needs - is preserved as the business scales.

Students say they need X when often they only say that because they like X, when they need more tutoring in Y. It is important to tailor your programmes to the curricula of the various exams - that way, the tutor can see and identify strengths and weaknesses that the student may be unaware of. Too much flexibility can easily degenerate into avoiding the harder subjects or just glossing over a subject in the mistaken belief that the student is OK in that subject.

 

[Scalloway]

Beware the VAT trap. There are special rules for tutoring and VAT. You could end up having to increase your prices by 20% with no benefit to yourself. If you do not have an accountant already you should consult one.

Lessons to be learned | Tax Adviser

Neil Warren gives some VAT saving tips and pitfalls to avoid in relation to supplies of private tuition

www.taxadvisermagazine.com

 

[PurpleOne]

Thank you all! Apologies for the late reply. I will take your advice on board. Thanks again, John

 

[PurpleOne]

Beware the VAT trap. There are special rules for tutoring and VAT. You could end up having to increase your prices by 20% with no benefit to yourself. If you do not have an accountant already you should consult one.

Lessons to be learned | Tax Adviser

Neil Warren gives some VAT saving tips and pitfalls to avoid in relation to supplies of private tuition

www.taxadvisermagazine.com

Thanks for your comment. I think we're ok here as we're teaching subjects ordinarily taught in schools and the freelancer(s) would be classed as sole traders. I have already spoken to HMRC and they have confirmed this. Thanks.

 

[PurpleOne]

Be careful that they do not steal your clients! That means having a structure that prevents this from happening. My experience has been that every second or third tutor gets greedy and suggests to the client that they could go 'direct' and save themselves some money!

Structure, structure, structure! I would suggest that you model your company structure on Wolsey Hall. https://wolseyhalloxford.org.uk/


Students say they need X when often they only say that because they like X, when they need more tutoring in Y. It is important to tailor your programmes to the curricula of the various exams - that way, the tutor can see and identify strengths and weaknesses that the student may be unaware of. Too much flexibility can easily degenerate into avoiding the harder subjects or just glossing over a subject in the mistaken belief that the student is OK in that subject.

Thanks for your comments - all very important points. I am a little weary and will be making sure I feel I can trust anyone I offer work to. My feeling is that they could set up as a competitor at any time, so my job is to be the best I can be at what I do. I think the key is to be aware. And yes, the sessions are generally tailored towards exams, but different students have different goals - sometimes it's more about confidence building. Regardless, these aims are discussed clearly at the start. Thanks again.

 

[PurpleOne]

Correct, putting the student first is key.

This will help you to mould your business and make it a better experience for your students.

I would suggest learning about the different preferences the students have when it comes to learning.

I'm sure there are a list of reasons some students bounce from one tutor to another. Find out what those reasons are and be the best at what you do, by showing you understand their frustrations.

The more understanding and flexible you are in that which you teach the better.

I would spend some time doing market/user research. Find out the things they like and don't like when studying online.

Also take a look at other companies similar to yours, even sign up to some and see how their process works. This will help improve your students experience, plus save you time making mistakes and having to make constant tweaks.


Lastly, I'm not sure how your business is set up but, as mentioned above



Systemise everything! All your processes and strategies are extremely important at this point, because the freelancers will be representing your business. Even when selecting the freelancers be very specific in who you decide to choose to represent you business, don't be affraid to say no.

These are all brilliant points, thank you!

 

[Jeff FV]

It might be helpful to consider this from the opposite angle? What’s in it for me?

I am a full time maths teacher. I have done/do a little tutoring on the side - typically referred to me by a friend of a friend when their child is struggling - often with exams looming. At the moment, I do this on an ad-hoc basis in the holiday. At the moment, I want no more students, but do see this (tutoring) as a way to genearate some extra cash when I retire in a few years, or as a route to expediate semi-retiremen. I taught on-line throughout lockdown- I know how it works and how to do it.

So, what would you be offering me? I’m presuming you would be introducing me to students, and then take a cut of those fees? As a tutor, I would be concerned if you had lots of other students, as it would then be a race to the bottom with price being a significant factor in the decision making process. (As a “hobby” I am learning Spanish, and found a tutor through iTalki - might be worth your while exploring how this works.)

Why are you wanting to use more tutors - is it because you have too much demand for your time? I have a former colleague who now just does tutoring. She started off face to face with locals (by word of mouth), but now has students across the world that she teaches online. This all grew organically and She now has more students than she wants and is not looking for anymore. Her experience and yours suggests to me that, for a competent, good tutor (at least in maths) getting clients is not too hard and so I’m not sure what the benefit of your business (to me, say, as a maths tutor) would be.

Perhaps an alternative model would be to look at referral fees: build up an informal network of tutors, and if you have lots of excess clients offer them to your tutors for, say 50% of the first 3 lessons? You remove the problem of the tutor & student going direct.

Just a quick thought that needs a lot more fleshing out, but something to consider

 

[The Byre]

Some golden rules -

1. Give the animal a name. Purple Books - whatever!

2. Have a website and contact by the tutor with the students should be ONLY via that website and NEVER direct. It should be structured so that you can see into the lessons at any time and that there is a record of all communication.

3. Contract! The tutor must sign a contract that they will never be allowed to contact a pupil away from your online platform.

4. Be VAT registered. If you follow that link above from @Scalloway it should show you how this is done without having to charge VAT. It is a VERY important point!

5. @Jeff FV makes an important point - it takes a great deal of structure and preparation to set up an online school and the successful ones like Wolsey Hall have been playing this game since 49BC. On the other hand, Have-a-Go-Henries come and go like the snows of winter!

 

[PurpleOne]

@PurpleOne - why do you want to expand the business? Are you just chasing the money? Or is there a desire to educate more young people?

You may discover (as others have done) is you end up being a manager do very little tutoring. Another consideration is employing a manager at let them do all the heavy lifting leaving you to keep tutoring.

This is a good question, I think the key is balance - obviously making more money would be nice, but not at the expense of loss of service for the students. So I think slow careful growth is the right approach as others have said. Thank you.

 

[PurpleOne]

First of all I have no experience in teaching or the financials of education. In answer to your business's chances of scalability I would look at your numbers, how much revenue do you generate per teacher hour. If you are charging £30 an hour for your time then I dont think it will scale. What are your teacher to pupil rations? What is the lifetime value of a pupil? Average billable hours per pupil per week/term/course. Costs associated with delivering those teacher hours etc.

Is your current model successful because of you, your personality, your course content, unique teaching style etc. Can that "secret sauce" be replicated, how easy is it to replicate?

If the numbers make sense then look at how to scale sustainably to make your numbers work. Zoom type teaching does sound potentially extremely profitable, but, as with most things, it will be much more difficult than the basic numbers and model running through my head.

Good luck

Great point about the "secret sauce"! I don't know is the answer. I think everyone has their own style so I may have to remember to let people do things their way if it works for them and the students. Thanks.

 

[PurpleOne]

Hi John,

I was Senior Lecturer at University and worked on a Learning at Work Degree programme. My background is Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

Congratulations on your success but my first warning is do not grow too quick and be careful of partnerships, these pages are full of people having problems with partners.

I would spend a year working with these new freelancers to ensure you have the processes to ensure your business model is followed and your students are just as happy with these people as they were with you.

Secondly consider funding your growth with internal profits or get a business loan.

When you are happy that using freelancers works,and you can handover the day to day work to them, start marketing more to increase business.

You don’t say how you find students at the moment. Do you use education portals like Udemy, Teachable etc?

Trevor

Dear Trevor, thank you very much for your comments. As many others have agreed, I completely take your point that slow, careful growth is the best option here. Thank you.

 

[Winx]

Not really offering advice on this one, just wishing you every success. My Wife will be venturing out into the private music tuition world from early next year so it is great to hear you are enjoying success yourself.

 

[Rufus]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping you might be able to offer me some advice. I have been running a successful tutoring business for 7 years, specializing in sciences and maths (I am a former biomedical researcher). In the past two years I have switched to offering exclusively online tutoring and it's been very popular - I have students now across the UK and in Europe and China - so much so that I am looking to take on a couple of tutors to work freelance with me from September. This is great, but I wonder if my business model could scale much further and I wondered if anyone could give me some advice on next steps, or suggest people to talk to etc? I am very open to the idea of working with a business partner to help grow the business internationally. Most importantly I want to make sure that my approach - putting students first and tailoring sessions to meet their needs - is preserved as the business scales.

Thanks in advance for your advice and your time,

Best wishes

John

Dear John,

I don't know, this being a year late if it would interest you that I also am a maths tutor and am looking to collaborate on a project that might provide a solution especially regarding marking and working internationally, and certainly expanding a business.
I am at the early stages of a Ed. tech wireframe and have a few others interested.

Please let me know if this interests you

Andrew