Becoming a tutor can be a really fulfilling career choice, and with the rise of online tuition, it can be a very practical and flexible option.
The online tutor business model has been developing rapidly over the last years thanks to technological innovations and easy access to the Internet in all corners of the world. The unprecedented crisis brought on by the ongoing pandemic meant that many families are facing the challenges of juggling remote work, distance learning, and childcare.
Moreover, many substitute teachers and instructional assistance have been faced with a sudden loss of income. Online tutoring is a way for educators to earn an income from home while providing support for both parents and students.
This guide helps you with everything you know about starting an online tutor business ranging from prerequisites to steps to success.
Top Reasons to Start an Online Tutoring Business in 2024
If there ever was a good time to start tutoring business, 2024 is the year to take the plunge. The pandemic crisis of 2020 had a huge impact on the economy in general, and specifically on education, so online tutoring and teaching are more in demand than ever.
This is a time when students need one-to-one attention both academically and psychologically, with barons also needing peace of mind knowing that their kids are keeping up with the curriculum and staying engaged with school.
For many families, making a private tutor responsible for their children’s academic well-being has become a quick solution to these problems.
Research has shown that the market size of online tutoring services is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 16.1% from 2020 to 2027.
Even though there is always a constant need for educators, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated this growth and made online tutoring businesses more popular than ever.
While there are several pros of online tutoring business, Mastera helps to win over the cons. With an easy to manage all your course content, video library and payment management, Mastera sorts out your major infrastructure cost!
- MUST READ: 6 Mastera features you don’t want to miss
What Do You Need Before You Start Tutoring Business?
There are various prerequisites that you need to consider before starting an online tutoring business. As expected, education is one of the key requirements for become an online tutor. Whether you are going on your own or signing up with an online tutoring site, you typically need to have earned at least a high school diploma or a GED.
The level of education you have completed determines the areas and subjects again teach and the grade levels of your students.
High school diploma or GED — you can tutor elementary students and middle school students, and sometimes it can take on high school students, but you may need to demonstrate your content-area knowledge.
Bachelor’s degree — you can tutor elementary students, middle school students, and high school students as well as college students in your specialization area.
Master’s degree and PhD — you can tutor all levels of students, including college students and adults who are finishing their GED.
You can additionally search for various online certifications that are available for educators and teachers. Even though they are not mandatory, certifications and courses can increase your chances of establishing your online tutoring business.
5 Steps to Starting Your Own Tutoring Business Online
Once you have established what kind of students you intend to target with your online tutoring business, it’s time to actually start. Here are 5 easy steps for become an online tutor.
1. Look into all options before starting your business
You can have a go at it on your own or opt for an established online tutoring company that allows you to work for them. There are pros and cons for each option, but you need to keep in mind that starting your own online business will require things such as marketing and choosing your own payment system. There are really three different paths: a) sign up for a tutoring platform, b) partner with an agency or small company, or c) go it your own.
Good examples of a), signing up for a platform, including Wyzant, TeachersToGo.com, tutor.com, e
What are some examples of option b), partnering with an agency or small tutoring company? MyGuru provides SAT tutoring through a small team of independently contracted tutors. A company like this doesn’t put everyone that applies up on a platform. Instead, it works with a small team of tutors and charges the same rates for all its students. It is building a brand, and when you tutor for it, you are representing their brand. If you work with an agency, you generally get some administrative support and light training. However, the percentage of the price charged that you’ll see can vary a lot. Varsity Tutors is another example of an agency-model.
If you c), go it your own, you obviously can set your prices and keep all of the revenue you earn. But now you are responsible for marketing your services, handling payment, dealing with customer service issues, etc.
2. Make sure you have all the necessary hardware
How to start a tutoring business online? You need a computer with a good Internet connection, a webcam, and a microphone. Your Internet connections should be broadband or high-speed Internet whenever possible, with speeds of at least 1 MBps at a bare minimum.
If you’re using a laptop, you may find that most models today come with a built-in WebCam and microphone, but you may want to replace them if they don’t perform well. You may also want to consider getting a headset instead of using a separate microphone and speakers, especially when background noise is an issue.
3. Choose your preferred video chatting platform
Choosing a video communication service that you will use to connect with your students is essential in building an online tutoring business. Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangouts are all free and reliable options that allow easy integration with various third-party applications.
They are also widely used worldwide, which means that your students may already have them installed on their computers.
FaceTime also offers a good user experience, but it only works between Apple products. Because most online tutors need to share files regularly, it’s essential to make sure that you have this option either in your video chatting platform or separately.
One of the best options to share projects or workbooks is Google docs, which is a free tool that allows multiple people to edit the same document in real time.
4. Set your rates and choose a payment processing solution
Most online tutors typically charge between $25 and $80 an hour. If you are only starting out, you should charge between $25 and $45, but keep in mind that this is not a hard and fast rule.
It would be best if you took some time to do some research on your part before determining your price by considering your niche and how much your competitors are pricing their lessons.
Once you have decided your rates, it’s time to choose a payment processing solution. You can opt for a payment service provider such as PayPal or Square.
PayPal is a more common option because lots of people worldwide already have an account, but Square comes with appointment scheduling features, so clients can pay for the lessons when they are booking them.
5. Organize the legal side of your business
Many people who start tutoring business online are already freelancers, so they don’t need to do anything else to register their business. When you’re offering tutoring services, the business is typically an extension of the owner.
If you’re not already a sole proprietor, it’s easy to set up, and the good news is that your taxes are easier than they would be with other forms of incorporation.
It’s important to notice that if you register as a sole proprietorship for your tutoring business, you don’t have any liability protection that other business structures have.
This means that you will be personally liable for any debts incurred by your business. Another option for tutoring businesses is a limited liability corporation that comes with protection for their owners but is not as complex as corporations.
- You may also like: How to Make Money Teaching Online: Simple Guide
How To Build An Audience For Your Tutoring Business?
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of start tutoring business is marketing yourself and building an audience. Some useful ideas to start building an audience and boost your business include:
Register with tutoring agencies and sites — doing these will take the hassle out of finding students yourself.
Use social media — you can share information and news about your business on your social media channels together with interesting subject-related content. This is a great way to attract prospective students.
Set up your own website — you can create your own website to market yourself and build an audience for your online tuition business. The main advantage of having your own website is that you won’t be reliant on tutoring platforms or agencies when it comes to finding students. If you decide to build your own website, make sure it is as SEO-friendly as possible so you can easily be found by the potential tutees.
Word-of-mouth — never ignore word-of-mouth when it comes to building up a good reputation. Many tutors increase their business through word-of-mouth referrals from current students. This is the method that is obviously more effective once you have been tutoring for at least a couple of months.
How can you make sure your online tutoring business thrives?
When you first become a tutor, you need to sell online courses, and get used to working for yourself, and this can be a little harder than it initially sounds. If you have never worked for yourself, you need to learn how to juggle deadlines and manage your projects while also remaining as productive as possible throughout the day.
Here are a couple of steps to help thrive as an online tutor business :
- Make a schedule and stick to it — even though it feels like you can take a longer lunch break now that you are working for yourself or perhaps run some errands during the workday because your schedule is flexible, you should resist the urge of doing so. Try not to procrastinate and force yourself to remain on task and meet your deadlines.
- Have a specific end to your workday — it’s never a good idea to work chaotic hours as an online tutor business because the lack of structure will lead to an eventual burnout. Even though it may not always be possible to have a definite end to your workday, it’s important to strive for it so you can enjoy the rest of the day without having to think about work.
- Learn how to prioritize — if you feel like you always have lots of stuff to do and no time to do it, you might need to work on your prioritization skills. Writing down the tasks that you need to complete every day, and don’t let yourself be bogged down by minor tasks or other distractions.
How Much Could You Make From Online Tutoring Business?
There is no set amount of how much money you can make as an online tutor business. Whether you just want to earn a few extra dollars to supplement your income or you want to make a full-time income as an online tutor, the sky is the limit when it comes to earnings.
The average online tutoring makes between $20-$40 an hour but you need to keep in mind that if you work for a website or agency, they will take a portion of that out in fees.
It’s not impossible to make a full-time income of over $5,000 per month as an online teacher, but it will require consistent effort.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an affordable and easy business that you can start quickly and that allows you to work remotely, tutoring is worth considering. The demand is high in 2024 and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future, and the good news is that you don’t need a teaching degree or even a bachelor’s degree in many cases.
Like with any other business, you should make sure that you approach starting your online tutor business with the right strategy in mind. Take the time to make a business plan, gather all the necessary tools, and work hard at marketing yourself. The time has never been better to enter the tutoring market, so give it a go.
How to start a tutoring business company with a one tool solution for your online teaching business, sign up with Mastera’s Free Trial.
Co-Founder, Gleantap & Mastera