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If you’re an Australian teacher who wants to quit teaching, you’re not alone! The classroom can be demanding, and many teachers are seeking more flexible and personally rewarding career paths. Leverage your teaching experience and quit teaching to launch your very own tutoring business. It’s not hard to do, you just need the right strategies and to place yourself in a niche area in order to succeed. Our latest blog post will step you through the process of building your own tutoring business, finding a niche, getting clients and building an online presence for a successful tutoring business.
Recognising When It’s Time to Quit Teaching
Before diving into the world of tutoring, let’s identify when it’s time for you to say goodbye to the classroom.
Signs You Should Quit Teaching and start a tutoring business:
1. Burnout: Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted from the demands of teaching? It might be time for a change.
2. Loss of Passion: If your teaching enthusiasm has dwindled, and you no longer love it, perhaps considering exploring a new career is right for you.
3. Desire for Autonomy: Yearning for more control over your teaching methods and curriculum? Tutoring offers the autonomy you crave.
4. Flexibility Needs: Need a schedule that aligns with your lifestyle? Want to work from home? Tutoring can provide the freedom you seek.
5. Personal Growth: Have other interests or skills you want to pursue? Quitting teaching can open doors to explore your passions while still making an impact in education.
Quit Teaching and become a Tutor
Setting up a business as a Tutor needs a well-thought-out plan, you need to look at how you can stand out from your competition. If setting everything up from scratch seems too hard then you can work for a company however, the pay is usually substantially lower but you don’t have to worry about the business aspect as this is done for you. So you need to weigh this up.
The other option is to purchase a franchise in a business that has a model you like and want to work with. Purchasing a franchise does mean that there will be a substantial outlay to begin with however, you will have support and business structures already set up for you. This can be both a positive and a negative depending on whether you want flexibility around how you run your business or if you just want to follow a structure set out for you.
Identifying Your Niche as an Australian Tutor
Discovering your niche is key to a successful tutoring business. By niching down to a specific area you can target the right clients you want to work with. It also offers you a point of difference which makes you stand out from your competitors and you can place yourself as an expert in your niche area.
Here are some niche ideas that you could focus on:
Subject Specialisation
Consider focusing on subjects that are part of the Australian curriculum, such as Mathematics, English, Science, or History. You don’t need to tutor in all areas, you can focus on one or two. You might even want to specify the year level you want to work with. This will allow you to centre your business around a couple of core areas and hone in on a specific age group.
For example: You could specialise in preparing Year 11 and 12 students for the VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) or QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) subjects, offering tutoring for Year 11 and 12 students in subjects areas like Biology or Legal Studies.
You could even look to the other end of education and focus on a school readiness program for children leaving kindergarten and moving into their first year of school.
Exam Preparation
Perhaps you want to run a preparation for Naplan tutoring agency, that specifically targets students in year 3, year 5 or year 9 in preparing them for taking the Naplan test or Work with senior students on how to prepare for their Year 11 and 12 exams. The opportunities here are endless.
Special Needs Education
You could consider offering a niche tutoring service for students who have a range of educational needs. Check out our blog with Kintara Phillips ‘Breaking free from Teaching with a Niche Tutoring Business‘ Kintara shares how she has created a niche tutoring business for 2e and gifted students. She used this point of difference to launch her tutoring business into a successful empire.
You could become a specialist in autism spectrum disorders and offer personalised tutoring for students with ASD.
Dyslexia and Dysgraphia are becoming more and more prevalent, and offering a niche tutoring service in these areas would give you a real point of difference. You can upskill in a range of areas to help support your specialisation.
Check out the competition and get ideas, by doing some research into what other tutoring companies are offering you can get ideas of what you might like to focus on. You will also get ideas of what you don’t want to offer. Remember this is your business so if you hate teaching maths, then simply don’t teach it.
Setting Up Your Australian Tutoring Business
Now that you’ve chosen your niche, let’s look at how to set up your tutoring business.
Legal Considerations
a. Business Structure
Decide on your business structure. In Australia, common options include sole proprietorship, partnership, or company. The easiest way would be to start as a sole trader, you can always change your business set-up as your business grows.
b. Registration and Compliance
Ensure you meet all Australian business regulations. Register your business, obtain necessary permits or licenses, and consider professional liability insurance. You will need a current BlueCard as well.
Register your business with the appropriate government authorities. In Australia, you’ll need an Australian Business Number (ABN) and may need to consider Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration. It’s a good idea to engage an accountant and a solicitor to ensure your business is set up correctly from the get-go. Make sure you have legal contracts for your services and set up an accounting program to help you manage your finances.
Create a business name
A business name is an important part of your brand identity. Take into consideration the domain name as you want it to match. Make sure it’s not too long and the easier to remember the better.
Create a Business Plan
Develop a simple business plan that outlines your goals, target audience, pricing strategies, marketing plans, and financial projections. It’s your roadmap to success.
A clear business plan sets the foundation for your tutoring business. Outline your business goals, target market, services, pricing structure, marketing strategies, and financial projections. A solid business plan provides direction and helps you stay on track.
In Peter Oliver’s Book, How To Write A Business Plan: The fastest 10-step guide to write your first business plan, he explains, “A business plan is a document that outlines in detail what the business is and how it will generate revenue. It is a projected roadmap to success that typically takes into account the next 1-5 years of the business lifecycle. A business plan is often referred to as a ‘living document’, meaning that it is not set in stone but rather evolves with new information or new circumstances as the business grows.” You will continually update your business plan over the years so it doesn’t need to be perfect but having one will direct your business and ensure you stay on the right track.
Pricing Your Services
Determine your tutoring rates based on factors like your expertise, competition in your niche, and the cost of living in your area. Check out other tutoring businesses near you to see what they are charging. You also need to take into account you are a qualified teacher. You might like to consider fewer clients that pay a premium for your service ensuring you earn a great wage while working less. You can position yourself as the leader in that specific niche and hence you charge a premium price because you get results.
Set Up Your Learning Environment
You have several options here, you can offer a mobile service to your local community where you travel to the homes of your clients. You need to factor in travel costs and time with this arrangement. You can also set up a space in your home that becomes like a classroom and students come to you. You of course need to be comfortable having people in your home and ensure it’s ok with your local council. You could hire a space at a local library or in a coworking space. Places like Wotso offer hotdesk spaces that you can utilise on a casual basis. You can also set up online, so you offer your services solely online. This is a great one for those who want to work from home.
Design a comfortable and conducive learning space, whether it’s a home office or an online platform. Ensure you have the necessary teaching materials and resources aligned with the Australian curriculum. You might like to create resources that parents can purchase. The great part about this is that you could resell these resources to teachers through websites like Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy and your website. This offers you another stream of income.
Online tutoring consideration
Administration Software
You will need to find ways to organise your scheduling, invoicing, lessons, emailing clients and payment process. You might like to communicate with parents via an online platform as well. There are a range of different programs that can help you, some can be quite costly but weigh this up. You can also use plug-ins for your website to help this especially if it’s been designed using WordPress.
Video Calling Software
You will need to communicate with your students via an online platform, there are plenty of free options available like Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts and even Facetime. Most of these have screen-sharing abilities that are helpful if you need to show your students something from your screen. It’s easy enough to invite students using email links to sessions.
Document Sharing
The Google Suite is a great one for email and document sharing. You can also use services like Dropbox but the Google suite does have everything you need to share documents and organise student resources.
Online whiteboards
You might like to use software that allows you to write and draw depending on what you’re teaching. Just be sure to practice with whatever software you want to use so you are confident using it before your lesson.
If you’re using the Google Suite then Google Jam boards is a great whiteboard collaborative tool that is free to use with a Google account. You can utilise the mobile app as well.
If you’re using Apple products the Free Form app is a great intuitive free product you can use to collaborate and brainstorm. Users can start a FaceTime call within Freeform by tapping the collaboration button at the top right of the screen. All collaborators can view others’ contributions as they add content or make edits with fast-sync capabilities and iCloud integration. Freeform boards are synced across iPhone, iPad and Mac, and users can invite others via a link or email, and even export a board as a PDF or take a screenshot.
Another great online whiteboard is Whiteboard Fi, a Kahoot-based company. Whiteboard Fi offers some great features for users that are very helpful for tutors.
Educreations take whiteboarding to the next level and add video features. A great one if you want to create lessons you can use them over again. This does have a cost.
Explain Everything is a popular one with teachers and can also be used for online tutoring. It integrates nicely with Apple products and now with Promethean as well.
Online Whiteboards: For some subjects, you may need software that allows you to draw, write, and add diagrams. Popular options include Lessonspace, Scribblar, Ziteboard and Idroo. These tools work well with just a mouse, but depending on what you’re teaching, you may need to invest in a drawing pad and stylus. Make sure that you know exactly how everything works ahead of lessons to ensure a pleasant, professional learning experience.
If you have purchased tutoring management software for your business you may find it has a whiteboarding aspect already built into it.
Create Your Online Presence
a. Build a Website
Create a user-friendly website that showcases your services, qualifications, pricing, and contact information. Use Australian-specific keywords to improve your visibility on search engines. You can create a website yourself or have someone else build it for you.
Adding an online store is a great option to sell educational materials that parents and your students might find helpful.
Adding a blog is a great idea to help boost your SEO (search engine optimisation) and you can sell products through here as well. Either your products or ones you use an affiliate marketing model for. This will add another revenue stream for your business.
b. Leverage Social Media
Engage with Australian students and parents on social media platforms. Share relevant educational content and interact with your local community. Place yourself as an expert in your niche. You can join local area Facebook groups and advertise your business, be sure to check group rules around advertising.
Also, gather emails from your existing clients and run campaigns on social media with free downloadables for parents to get more clients on your mailing list. You can use several different email marketing providers and a lot are free for small email lists, this is perfect when you are first starting.
c. Network Locally
Connect with local schools, educational organisations, and home-schooling networks. Attend Australian education events and conferences to expand your network and gain referrals. Work out where your prime target market is and go there. You can often pay to advertise in local school newsletters and give flyers to local libraries and local cafes. Look at ways you can promote your business in your local community.
d. Online Advertising
Consider online advertising platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads, targeting specific Australian demographics and geographic areas. Running targeted Facebook and Instagram advertisements can help you build your client base. If you are not confident doing this yourself then engage a social media ads or Google ads specialist.
Your website should be optimised for SEO in your local area, a professional website designer will be able to help your website rank locally quite quickly by finding the right keywords to target in your niche area.
Consider running a referral campaign, where your clients that recommend you to their networks will receive a discount. For example, they get $10 off every session that a friend of theirs books for a tutoring service with you.
6. Administrative Tasks
Implement efficient systems for scheduling, billing, and record-keeping. There are numerous online tools and software that can help streamline your business processes. You can also automate a lot of your paperwork now and use plug-ins on your website for scheduling, email lists, and more.
Building Your Client Base in Australia
A successful tutoring business needs clients.
Here’s how to attract and retain them:
1. Word of Mouth
Encourage satisfied students and parents to spread the word about your tutoring services within the Australian community. Positive reviews and recommendations are priceless. Set your business up on Google and ask for Google and social media reviews to help boost your business. The more your clients are recommending you, the more business you will get.
2. Free Workshops or Consultations
Offer free workshops or initial consultations catered to Australian students. Show them your teaching style and expertise. You might want to run a free tutoring session campaign to help boost your clients. You can also look at setting up at a local market or community get-together, and have some fun practical activities clients in your target market might be drawn to. Here you can start a conversation with the parents while their child is doing the activity. A great way to promote your business.
3. Localised Online Presence
Create content that resonates with your niche market. Write blog posts on Australian educational topics, share success stories from local students, and engage with the community. The more you are present and putting your business out there, the more people will know who you are.
4. Partner with Schools
Collaborate with local Australian schools, educational institutions, and home-schooling groups. Many students need extra support, especially in subjects aligned with the Australian curriculum. Consider setting up a group workshop that you could offer in your niche area and offer this for free to schools or local education institutions, in exchange ask to have your flyers given out to all students and your business details put in the newsletter. Offer to help teachers with differentiation for their students to help build relationships with classroom teachers. The more you offer to them the more they will value your service. Initially, it might mean an output of your time but this will be hugely beneficial in the future.
5. Highlight Your Specialties
Make sure your marketing materials on all platforms speak to your target marketing. Branding is really important here. Having a simple business name that shows exactly what you’re about will help people remember your business. Your website, logo and social media should also reflect the same branding and hone in on your target market.
6. Competitive Pricing
Offer competitive pricing, especially when starting your tutoring business. Consider package deals or discounts for multiple sessions. Packages like book 10 tutoring sessions and pay for 8. Get 10% off if you book 5 sessions and so on. Initially, you might need to offer some discounted services but once you build your business you can start to increase your prices.
7. Showcase Testimonials
Collect and showcase testimonials from your students and parents on your website and marketing materials. Get reviews from your clients on as many platforms as you can. Authentic feedback from your clients builds trust with potential clients.
Providing Exceptional Tutoring Services
Customise your teaching methods to match the learning styles and needs of Australian students. Align your curriculum with Australian curriculum standards. Specifically to your state and local area, if you know the local primary school that has students in your target market is using the MultiLit program for Literacy then you need to be over this and make sure your clients know that you offer this.
Effective Communication
To keep your clients happy, communication is key here. You might like to introduce an online platform on your website where you can report to families what your client has done in their session, their homework and any other communication. Maintain transparent communication with students and their parents or guardians, addressing any concerns specific. Have contact with your client’s classroom teachers and use their unit overviews, assessments and work programs to help assist your tutoring practice.
Setting Learning Goals
Collaborate with your students to set clear academic goals that align. Make sure these goals are achievable and work together on a plan to achieve them. Revisit goals regularly and make sure your client knows how and what they need to achieve. You might like to include some kind of reward system to help entice your client.
Now that you know how to Quit Teaching and Launch a tutoring business you can start brainstorming the niche that you want to head into. Start to develop a plan and by building your online presence, attracting clients, and providing exceptional services you will create a Tutoring Business that offers a point of difference and helps Australian students to achieve their academic goals and make a real difference in your student’s life.
Some online Tutoring companies in Australia to take a look at and learn from:
- Cluey Learning – provides online tutoring for primary and secondary school students, with a focus on math, English, and science.
- Tutor Doctor – offers one-on-one online tutoring sessions in a variety of subjects, including math, English, and languages.
- EdRex Learning – EdRex Learning is an Australian-based online tutoring service that offers personalized one-on-one tutoring sessions in a variety of subjects, including math, English, science, and languages. They also offer flexible scheduling and personalized learning plans to cater to each student’s individual needs.
- Kip McGrath Education Centres – provides online tutoring for primary and secondary school students in a range of subjects, including math, English, and science.
Further Research:
How to Start an Online Tutoring Business: Making 4-5 Figures a Month
The Ultimate Guide to Starting and Growing a Successful Tutoring Business
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