Developing relationships with local teachers and schools has been HUGE for me! 90% of my business comes from direct referrals from teachers.

How do I know what rates to charge your tutoring clients?

I made calls to other tutoring companies to see how they charge. For my area,I would consider myself to be a “high cost” tutor and I am okay with this. I think many times tutors price themselves too low and end up attracting the clients that are not truly committed to the end result but strictly focus on the price per hour. These aren’t the parents or students I want to work with on an ongoing basis.

How can I retain clients over the long term?

Most parents will stay with you if their student is improving and enjoys the tutoring sessions. It’s important to communicate with the parents after each session as well as the student’s teacher and be sure everyone is on the same page and parents will start to rely on you doing this and appreciate this interaction.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have had with your tutoring business?

Not getting paid up front and then having to collect after already providing the tutoring session. This is a challenge but if you offer incentives for parents to pay upfront, you won’t have a problem.

Do you have a website for your tutoring business?

Yes! Having a website makes you appear professional and legitimate and sets you apart from the 10.00 per hour tutors. It also comes up on the first page of Google when potential clients are searching for a tutor online.

What is your favorite part about having your own tutoring business?

I love that I get everything back that I put into this business and the best part of tutoring is that you have the wonderful feeling of knowing that YOU made a direct difference in a student’s life. Not only are you helping them with their knowledge of a particular subject but you are giving them confidence and empowerment that will have a direct effect on their self esteem.

For more information and a free video about becoming a successful tutor go to http://www.YourTutoringBusiness.com

Finally, have an idea of who you want to work with and set your hourly or session rate as well as a tutoring contract for your parent’s and client’s to sign.  Get ready for the phone to start ringing!

For more information on how to be a tutor and how to tutor go to

http://www.YourTutoringBusiness.com

The good news is that even in a slow economy, parents and students will still continue to reach out for help and assistance.  Students still want to improve grades, develop great study habits and learn to their fullest capability and parents will not deny this to their children.

Parents may cut other extra activities in order to pay for tutoring as this continues to be viewed as a necessity. In addition, they may not be able to pay the high fees to work with a franchise tutoring company which often requires monthly and weekly payments, but they may choose instead to work with an independent tutor who is an expert in their field and work on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Because starting your own tutoring business allows you to grow at your own pace, work when you want, and work with whom you choose you can start thinking about starting when you want. Getting started is easy and typically has very low start up costs.

It is best to start with a goal of how you see your tutoring business before you get started.

Questions to think about are How many students do I want to have? How many hours do I want to work? How much do I want to charge? How will I successfully market and advertise in my community? Do I want to tutor online or in person? What subjects am I qualified to tutor?

It helps to have a proven outline to follow to walk you through all the initial stages of starting this business as well as train you how to best market and advertise as well as get referrals.

For a step-by-step guide with proven real world results, go to:

http://www.YourTutoringBusiness.com

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