Teacher tuition business, good idea?

[fridge]

Hey,

So I am a Science and Psychology teacher. I want to earn some extra money to save up for a deposit for house and wedding ring etc.

My main skills are my teaching skills.

Business idea

To hold a Saturday/ Sunday morning revision clinic for pupils in a seminar/teaching room for approx. 4-5 hours targeted at GCSE Science students.

Science tutors can charge up to 40 but I reckon they average at 25/h. I have been asked to tutor but it involves travelling to people's houses and before you know it your evening has disappeared.

I propose a 5-6 hour day of revision at weekend for pupils for £10/h which includes exam practice and 24/7 support online. This would mean they'd get tuition for £50 as opposed to £125 all in the one day and continued support.

I don't want to earn a lot of money, maybe just an extra £500-1000 per month.

Questions

Can anyone suggest any ideas to get this up and running? Where to advertise? How to market? If they think it's feasible etc.

Anyones two cents would be appreciated,

Kind regards,

Noel

Ps I am setting up a website at the minute here at revisionschool dot co dot uk

 

[Pareto Associates]

Firstly, good job on the website - just took a look and I liked it. Maybe tone down the big ad. But the forums rules say I can't comment anymore unless you pay

The only potential issues I see is structuring the lessons to meet the needs of all the students in that class. When I used to tutor back in my Uni days, each student had particular areas they needed to work on. However, with group revision classes you are essentially paying for more school time rather than tailored tuition. Whether this will work or not - you are in the best position to find out being a school teacher. I would direct these questions to your older A-level students first to get their reaction to your ideas.

In terms of marketing your company, I always say to clients that you need to come up with a marketing strategy but it's a little trickier when your customer is the student as well as the parent/guardian. I would strongly look at getting some SEO (search engine optimisation) for keywords like london tuition.

Run some free sessions to get feedback and spread the word of mouth.

 

[daisyrogers]

First of all I want to tell you that its really great idea because you've good knowledge in Science and Psychology.You need to target your area with good classified websites you can also advertise on Facebook targeting your area. On my thinking Facebook is great platform. You have to concern with your friends, parents, and students. You'll definitely got students.

 

[fisicx]

CRB, insurance and possibly local authority apporoval to make sure the teaching accomodation meets the required standards. And you need to consider your marketing costs, tax and NI.

I tutor maths and science. One hour each evening after isn't arduous. The agency finds the students for me and pays for my insurance. If I add in a couple of sessions at the weekend it's a great little earner.

Best time is just before GCSEs. Last year I earned nearly £3000 in about 6 weeks. I was knackered but well worth the effort.

So to answer your question: don't try to DIY, sign up with an agency and let them do all the hard work. No need for 24/7 support - you turn up, do an hours tuition and go home.

 

[Jeff FV]

Interesting! - I'm a maths teacher and am in the processes of branching out into offering tuition as a sideline, so I've been giving it a lot of though lately (& action, too, I've just launched my website: http://aplusmathstutor.co.uk/ )

Don't under price yourself - £30 p/hour for maths/science tuition is absolutely fine: in London you can quite probably charge more than that. So, if you are prepared to do 6 hours on a Saturday, that's 6 x 30 = £180 a week, or about £700+ a month. There will be fallow periods - the summer hols, for example, but in the Easter hols (you've got a year to build your reputation!) you could work (tutor) on a daily basis as every needs a bit of cramming before exams.

Your idea is good, but you'd need to get more clients than just straight forward tutoring.

J

 

[Talay]

As someone who looks to buy tutoring and finds it very hard to get decent teachers for in house work, I would scale this up from day one and bring in people who have complimentary skills in other subjects.

10 teachers charging £40 and paying £25 would see you on a gross margin of £150 an hour !

 

[fridge]

There's loads of great feed back here and a lot of room for growth.

I think the first step for me is just starting this and see how it goes, I sometimes suffer Analysis Paralysis so will go ahead with my idea and then I might start getting more people in e.t.c.

I am going to post on gumtree and forums and email people out later. I will post what my advertisement/letter to schools is also and would appreciate feedback on that,

Thanks guys, very supportive

 

[fridge]

Just posted an ad in gumtree. £11.

We'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed

 

[Bargain lounge]

Great idea , i have rented out the space of the top floor of my retail shop last year to a small tution centre . They started of slow , like maybe only booked twice a week , now they are booked mon-sat and planning on doing sundaynclasses too!

 

[Christine Hough]

Don't forget simple things like postcards in local shop windows.

My husband had taught piano privately for decades.
Its a bit different for him as students usually enter into a long term commitment to learn and he averages out the fees so they pay the same each month and guarantees so many lessons per year.
It is rewarding especially when he takes a child from beginner through to a high level or even to music college or music degree.

If you are any where near the VAT threshold, just bear in mind one-to-one private teaching and you do not have to register, but if you group teach then I think you do. You might like to check.

Apart from that, a CRB is important but you will have one as a school teacher, and a good website.

Best with it.

 

[fridge]

Thank you all

 

[MrsPWN]

This is my nephews business and he has so many potential clients he is always looking for more tutors. I think it is a great idea..£11 seems very cheap though...15 years ago I paid £10ph for my daughter to have extra French tuition.

http://www.londongraduatetutors.co.uk/index.html

 

[fridge]

This is my nephews business and he has so many potential clients he is always looking for more tutors. I think it is a great idea..£11 seems very cheap though...15 years ago I paid £10ph for my daughter to have extra French tuition.

It is a great idea, do you know how much he pays the tutors? And how do the tutees pay as it's usually cash in hand?

 

[Bargain lounge]

Depending on what subjects and if its for a level or gcse teachers are getting paid between £14-17 /per hour. But i think you could easily charge up to £20
If its one on one teaching.

 

[MrsPWN]

Afraid I don'tknow but he works for Ernst and Young so the figures will certainly add up...it's all about the money with him

 

[Vectis]

My only question is, what are they teaching in schools when so many kids need extra tuition after hours?

 

[Deleted member 127702]

My only question is, what are they teaching in schools when so many kids need extra tuition after hours?

They try to teach, but all the disruptive kids make it very difficult for those who want to learn.

 

[MrsPWN]

My friends son is in a class of 26, they are taught in Welsh and 19 of the kids don't speak Welsh.....say no more

 

[Christine Hough]

Or you could get a different reason from a book by John Gatto, 'Dumbing us down'

I don't knock teachers, many who are trying to do the best they can, with damaged and disruptive students and demands to hit targets. I look at the way we have institutionalised children and wonder at the results. Though undoubtebly it works for some.

 

[Philip Hoyle]

I think some of the charges quoted above are a little low. I know of a private tutor who charges £40 per hour one-to-one and has a waiting list. Price includes providing his home-made tuition materials (he doesn't use the books that you can buy nor the books provided by schools). He may be expensive in some peoples' eyes, but he gets results - 100% success rate for the past 3 years!

 

[fridge]

Hey thanks again guys, gona make this a great business!!

 

[wedesignlogos]

As others have said, website looks good for a start up, with real information. I have seen this work locally, and has worked well for owners, so I envisage after having a decent client list (the hard bit I guess you've realised) you'll have a nice steady income. Don't know much about the specifics, but good luck.