How to Set Up a Home Tutoring Business

Academics have become complicated and very competitive--even for children in the lowest grades. No one wants his child to be the one who doesn't do well, so there is an increase in the number of parents who are willing to spend money to have their children taught one on one by tutors. There's little overhead with a tutoring business--an online connection will help with ideas and you may want to fix up a little area in your home for you and the students to be comfortable. You shouldn't need much else other than some worksheets or flash cards.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find out ahead of time what is involved. If you're still unsure of whether or not to do this, try to find a tutoring service in your area. Some of these are very big and well known, so go there and see if you can work for them for a while. After a short time, you'll have better credentials, a paycheck and experience. If this is available, it would be a great help to you.

2. Know what personal skills you need to have to set up a successful home tutoring business. Tutors need to be very patient. You'll be dealing with a student who is already having a difficult time, so realize that he may not catch on too quickly. It may take patience and time to convince a child that he can do this. You will have to be able to listen to the child and build a relationship with lots of trust and communication. If you're going to tutor kids, you have got to love kids. They will be very difficult to deal with if you are not a "kid person" You also need to develop a rapport with parents, so think about how good your social skills are.

3. Keep your appearance neat and clean. If you're tutoring college students, you can be in raggedy jeans and a t-shirt, but if you're dealing with adults who are out in the world or their children, you need to look professional. This means you should have clothes on that fit and look decent, your hair and nails should be clean and neat and your manners should be ladylike or gentlemanly. You can't teach anyone if he can't get over the way you look. You need to look the part to get your foot in the door anywhere, and this is no exception.

4. Know what professional credentials you'll need to have. If you are wanting to create a real business and build a professional reputation, it will be necessary for you to have had some training, probably at least a two-year college degree to get school recommendations. People trust credentials and experience. Your best possible credential would be a teaching certificate, but that's not essential as long as you have some training in the fields you will be tutoring in.

5. Set some parameters. Decide how much time you want to spend tutoring and set up a makeshift schedule--it can be adjusted as needed later. Decide whether you want to work two hours a day or full time. Decide where you're willing to go to tutor, such as in the library, your home or in other people's homes. Decide on your fees. Call the local schools and ask what tutors are being paid in your area. They are usually working for about the same amount of money. If you want to tutor college or adults, call the college. Decide if you want to tutor only individuals or small groups. You can make more tutoring a group, though you may make less for each individual child.

6. Be cautious with children. There's so many stories out there about people harming or molesting children. Allegations that were found to be false later on have still destroyed people and their families anyway. Don't meet with underage children without another adult present. It's just not a smart, safe thing to do. Meet with children at the library, at their own home with a parent present, at the child's school or in another public place. Nothing can ever be said if you are around other people all the time. Think of it as insurance. Even if you tutor small groups of kids together, you still need another adult around you.

7. How do you get started? You start with free advertising. Word of mouth is your best advertising--far better than even paid advertising in some ways. People want to know a little something about someone they leave their child with. Adults who want help in college classes or with particular skills like computers want to know that they aren't wasting their time and money. So tell everyone that you are starting to tutor students in whatever areas you have chosen. Then advertise online with local free classifieds too.

8. Call the local schools if you have credentials. No school will recommend a tutor with no training to its students' parents, so only do this if you have some professional training in your fields. If you've been a substitute for years or if you have a teaching degree but didn't use, it you can still count these as credentials. If you've tutored before even briefly, get some referrals in writing from people if you can. Make an appointment to talk to the principal as he will be the proper person to address first. Just keep spreading the word to every place that deals with students.

9. Don't expect miracles overnight. Treat every person you tutor with respect and be thorough and professional and you'll have more business than you may want in time.

Tips & Warnings

• Maintain a professional relationship with the student. If you are too much of a buddy, it could backfire on you later.

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