How To Start A Tutoring Business

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Updated: January 18th, 2023

You've stumbled upon the idea to build a tutoring business and now you're ready to take the next steps.

There's a lot to think about when building a business, so we put together a guide on how to get started, launch, grow and run your tutoring business.

We also provide you with real-life case studies and examples of founders running successful tutoring business (and how much💰 they're making today).

💡 Idea

Considerations for starting a tutoring business

It's important to first identify if starting your own tutoring business is the right choice for you.

Starting a tutoring business can be very rewarding, but it's important to first understand where you can provide the most value (prior to getting started).

When considering what type of tutoring business to start, ask yourself these questions:

Will I need to familiarize myself with one (or many) different curriculums?
What knowledge/skills do I have that I can provide the most value to students?
Am I able to adapt to different learning styles of students?
What age groups and grade levels do you want to tutor?
What subject am I passionate about? That I'm willing to be most patient with?
Will my expertise and services be sustainable year round, or only certain times of the year?
Will I offer online or in-person services (or both)?

Although establishing yourself in the space and creating a solid reputation may take some time, tutoring can be a very lucrative business opportunity for you.

Deciding what type of tutoring business to start:

Tutoring is a very diverse business, so it's important to consider focusing on a niche market, that way you can become a true expert in the subject you teach and build your client base through referrals.

There are hundreds of different types of tutoring businesses you can start, for example:

ACT/SAT prep
K-12 subject specific
Students with disabilities
Language tutoring
Industry specific tutoring (ie. construction)
University level subjects
... the list goes on and on

Here are a few things to think about when deciding what subject to teach:

Consider the classes you were most successful in as a student (and enjoyed the most!)
Try to think of an experience you had (either recently or earlier in life) in the education system that you felt could've been improved upon
Identify what type of demand there is in the market (you can do this through researching competition and creating a landing page for your "services" to validate your concept)
Think about what age groups you're most comfortable with and feel you could connect most with.

Adam Shlomi, founder of SoFlo SAT Tutoring explains why he decided to pursue test-prep specific tutoring:

I thought about what my SAT tutoring experience was like as a student and how that experience could have been improved.

I asked and answered how to onboard students, how long sessions should be, what the right amount of homework was, and what curriculum would work best.

This process was all about using various past experiences and critical thinking to brainstorm how I could create the best tutoring experience for my students. I made templates for text messages to send to parents and students for initial outreach and began to operationalize my variables. I came up with a homework schedule based on students’ current weaknesses and time remaining until test their official test date and tried out a series of different curriculums to find out which one was most effective.

Players

Big Players

Small Players

SoFlo SAT Tutoring $15K/month in revenue
Lingoci $60K/month in revenue
SI Certs $85K/month in revenue

How To Name Your Tutoring Business

It's important to find a catchy name for your tutoring business so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your tutoring business

Avoid hard to spell names: you want something easy to remember and easy to spell for your customers
Conduct a search to see if others in the space have the same name
Try not to pick a name that limits growth opportunities for your business (ie. if you decide to expand into other product lines)
As soon as you have an idea (or ideas) of a few names that you love, register the domain name(s) as soon as possible!

Why is naming your tutoring business so important?

The name of your business will forever play a role in:

Your customers first impression
Your businesses identity
The power behind the type of customer your brand attracts
If you're memorable or not

It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your tutoring business.

You can search domain availability here:

Find a domain starting at $0.88

Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.

It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.

As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.

Here's some inspiration for naming your tutoring business:

Best-In Class Tutoring check availability
Ace is High Tutoring check availability
GoodBliss check availability
Tutorpedia check availability
The Tutor Kings check availability
Test Taking Tutors check availability
Supported Students check availability
Team tuition check availability
Efficiency Tutoring check availability
Learning Link Tutoring check availability
Application Academy check availability
Achieve In-home Tutoring check availability
The Brain Train check availability
Advance Opportunities check availability
Undivided Attention check availability
Trusted Tutors check availability
Zeal Academy check availability
First Class Mentor check availability
Triumph Academy check availability
Specialized Support check availability
Extra Office check availability
Tutor Teachers check availability
Band Of Tutors check availability
Ivy League Tutors check availability
The Elite Tutoring check availability
Champions Tutoring check availability
Level-Up Lessons check availability
Special Support check availability
Turn Your Grades Around Tutors check availability
Lessons In Listening check availability
Tutors’ Take check availability
Wizard of Math check availability
It’s Writing Time! check availability
TFT (tutor for tomorrow) check availability
Scholar Co. check availability
All-Ivy Tutors check availability
happy trails Tutor check availability
Cool School check availability
EarlySense Center check availability
Wellsay check availability
Amegma Tutor check availability
Trained and Tutored check availability
Mad Science Tutors check availability
Benefit Tutors check availability
The Ultimate Tutor check availability
Removing Roadblocks check availability
Mad Math Tutors check availability
Easy As Pie check availability
School Support check availability
Nexon Study check availability
Frennex Tutor check availability
Terrific Tutoring check availability
Tutor Town check availability
It’s Learning Time Tutoring check availability
Enable Tutors check availability
Esprit Tutor check availability
Test Smart check availability
Situational Support check availability
Discover Study check availability
Education Nation check availability
Tutor’S Tricks check availability
Black Ace Tutor check availability
Stellar Subjects check availability
Tutors 4 You check availability
Start to Grad check availability
Word matrix check availability
Zeal Educators check availability
Origins Tutoring check availability
Get to Grad check availability
Tutor Tools check availability
Alphateach check availability
All-Star Kids check availability
Able Matter check availability
From Pen To Paper check availability
New Age Tutors check availability
Spare Time Tutors check availability
Noble Crew check availability
Road to A check availability
Bespoke Teachers check availability
Boost+ check availability
My Tutor Now check availability
CityLearn Tutor check availability
Bright Tutoring check availability
First Place Tutors check availability
Tutor Trade check availability
The Grammar Game check availability
Sea of Knowledge check availability
Good Grades check availability
My Sunshine Tutoring Center check availability
Report Card Ready check availability
Instant Academy check availability
The Tutor Stop check availability
Made To Master check availability
Urban teaching check availability
The Math Magician check availability
Straight A’s Tutors check availability
NorthWise Tutor check availability
One-On-One Office check availability
Tutorville check availability
The Study Shack check availability
Time-Tested Tutors check availability
Arien star check availability
The Blackboard check availability
Aced it! check availability
Victory Step Education check availability
Learning Link check availability
On Time Tutoring check availability
UpCrew Tutor check availability
World Class Tutors check availability
Mottus Tutor check availability

Read our full guide on naming your tutoring business ➜

Market Opportunity

Search volume for the term "online tutoring" had a big spike the past few months.

This is partially due to school closures (COVID-19) and parents needing extra educational support at home.

However, we're seeing that as of late, there is an increase in searches for this type of service.

🎬 Start

Certifications

Typically, one of the only requirements for becoming a tutor is graduating from high school.

However, there are many certifications you can get in order to stand out in the space + learn new teaching techniques and skillsets.

Here are some of the main tutor-specific certifications (approx $500 to get certified):

There are, of course, specific certifications you may want to consider depending on the type of tutoring you plan to start.

Here is a great resource to learn more about certifications specific to your niche.

Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your tutoring business.

Why?

Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.

For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.

You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:

Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
Market Opportunities: Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
Marketing: Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.

Learn more about how to write a business plan here

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Tutoring Business

If you are planning to start a tutoring business, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.

We’ve outlined two common scenarios for “pre-opening” costs of starting a tutoring business and outline the costs you should expect for each:

The estimated minimum starting cost = $62
The estimated maximum starting cost = $23,259

Startup Expenses: Average expenses incurred when starting a tutoring business.	Min Startup Costs: You plan to execute on your own. You’re able to work from home with minimal costs.	Max Startup Costs: You have started with 1+ other team members.
Office Space Expenses
Rent: This refers to the office space you use for your business and give money to the landlord. To minimize costs, you may want to consider starting your business from home or renting an office in a coworking space.	$0	$5,750
Utility Costs For Office Space: Utility costs are the expense for all the services you use in your office, including electricity, gas, fuels, telephone, water, sewerage, etc.	$0	$1,150
WiFi & Internet: Whether you work from home or in an office space, WiFi is essential. Although the cost is minimal in most cases, it should be appropriately budgeted for each month!	$0	$100
Total Office Space Expenses	$0 (min)	$7,000 (max)
Employee & Freelancer Expenses
Payroll Costs & Fees: Payroll cost means the expense of paying your employees, which includes salaries, wages, and other benefits. This number depends on if you decide to pay yourself a salary upfront and how many employees you have on payroll. At first, many founders take on all responsibilities until the business is up and running. You can always hire down the road when you understand where you need help. Keep in mind, if you do plan to pay yourself, the average salary founders make is $50K.	$150	$250
Total Employee & Freelancer Expenses	$150 (min)	$250 (max)
Website Costs
Website Builder: The cost of your website will vary depending on which platform you choose. There are many website builders on the market, so it's important you choose the right one for your business and overall goals. To learn more about your options + how to build a great website, check out this article.	$10	$500
Web Designer: Web design includes several different aspects, including webpage layout, content creation, and design elements.If you have the skills and knowledge to design your website on your own, then outsourcing this to an expert may not be necessary. There are plenty of other ways you can design a beautiful website using design tools and software.	$200	$6,000
Domain Name: Your domain name is the URL and name of your website - this is how internet users find you and your website.Domain names are extremely important and should match your company name and brand. This makes it easier for customers to remember you and return to your website.	$12	$200
Business Email Hosting Service: An email hosting runs a dedicated email server. Once you have your domain name, you can set up email accounts for each user on your team. The most common email hosts are G Suite and Microsoft 365 Suite. The number of email accounts you set up will determine the monthly cost breakdown.	$1	$15
Website Hosting Costs: Server hosting is an IT service typically offered by a cloud service provider that hosts the website information and allows remote access through the internet. A hosted server can help you scale up and increase your business’s efficacy, relieving you from the hassles of on-premise operations.	$0	$300
Total Website Costs	$223 (min)	$7,015 (max)
Business Formation Fees
Small Business Insurance: Depending on which state you live in and the business you're operating, the costs and requirements for small business insurance vary. You can learn more here.	$500	$2,000
Permit and License Fees: Depending on your industry, there are certain licenses and permits you may need in order to comply with state, local, and federal regulations. Here is an article that goes over all the permits and licenses you may need for your tutoring business.	$50	$700
Lawyer Fees: Although you may want to avoid attorney fees, it's important that your business (and you) are covered at all costs. This comes into play when creating founder agreements, setting up your business legal structure, and of course, any unforeseen circumstances that may happen when dealing with customers or other businesses.	$0	$1,500
Set up business: LLC & Corporations: The first step in setting up your business is deciding whether your business is an LLC, S Corp or C Corp. The cost for this depends on which state you form your business and which structure you decide on. We put together an article that goes over the 10 Steps To Setting Up A Business.	$50	$500
Total Business Formation Fees	$600 (min)	$4,700 (max)
Software Expenses
Design Programs & Software: These programs might include the Adobe family of design tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. This is typically a monthly subscription ranging from $10-$50/mo.	$0	$50
Email marketing tool: If you plan to grow your email list and email marketing efforts, you may want to consider investing in an email marketing platform (ie. Klaviyo, MailChimp). We put together a detailed guide on all of the email marketing tools out there + the pricing models for each one here.	$0	$100
IT Support: IT support installs and configures hardware and software and solves any technical issues that may arise.IT support can be used internally or for your customers experiencing issues with your product/service.There are a variety of tools and software you can use to help with any technical issues you or your customers are experiencing. This is a great option for businesses that do not have the means to hire a team of professionals.	$150	$2,000
Accounting & Invoicing Software: It's important to have an accounting system and process in place to manage financials, reporting, planning and tax preparation. Here are the 30 best accounting tools for small businesses.	$0	$50
CRM Software: CRM (customer relationship management) software system is used to track and analyze your company’s interactions with clients and prospects. Although this is not a necessary tool to have for your business, implementing this, in the beginning, may set your business up for success and save you valuable time.	$12	$300
Project Management Software: You may want to consider using a project management and collaboration tool to organize your day-to-day. This can also be very beneficial if you have a larger team and want to keep track of everyones tasks and productivity. For a full list of project management tools, check out this full list here.	$0	$25
Internal Communication Tool: If you plan to have multiple members on your team, you may want to consider an instant message tool such as Slack or Telegram. The cost is usually billed per month (approx $5/user/month) or there are freemium versions available on many platforms.	$0	$20
Social Media Management Tools: If you plan to do social media marketing for your tutoring business, you should consider investing in a social media automation or publishing tool. This will save you time and allow you to track performance and engagement for your posts. Here is a list of 28 best social media tools for your small business.	$0	$50
File Hosting Service: It's important to make sure the information for your tutoring business is stored and protected should something happen to your computer or hard drive. The cost for this is affordable and depends on how much data you need to store. To learn more about the different options and pricing on the market, check out this article.	$0	$299
Total Software Expenses	$162 (min)	$2,894 (max)
Advertising & Marketing Costs
Business Cards: A tutoring business involves quite a bit of customer interaction, whether that is attending tradeshows, sales calls or simply having face to face interaction with prospective clients. Business cards are a great way to stay front of mind with your clients.	$0	$50
Networking Membership Fees: Joining local networking groups or your chamber of commerce is a traditional yet effective way to promote your tutoring business - but these fees add up! It's important to choose the right group(s) that align with your business and help with growth.	$0	$250
Direct Campaigns, Printing and Mailing: Although it may sound old-school, traditional marketing methods can be a cost-effective way to drive awareness for your brand. This includes flyers, postcards, sales letters, coupons, special offers, catalogs and brochures.	$0	$300
Press: If your business and story is unique enough, press and media attention may come to you, but odds are, you may need to do your own outreach and budget for this. We put together a guide here that discusses different press opportunities (both free and paid).	$0	$500
Google Ads: With Google Ads you have the ability to control how much you spend by simply setting a monthly budget cap. Additionally, with these ads you only pay for results, such as clicks to your website or phone calls! It's okay to start with a small budget at first and make changes accordingly if you see valuable returns.	$0	$300
Total Advertising & Marketing Costs	$0 (min)	$1,400 (max)
Total Starting Costs	$62 (min)	$23,259 (max)

Raising Money

Since the startup costs to start tutoring business range between $62 - $23,259, there are ways you can raise money to cover these costs.

Here are a few ways you can secure additional funding:

Launch your product on Kickstarter
Raise capital by asking friends and family
Apply for a loan
Find an investor!

Setting Up Your Tutoring Business (Formation and Legal)

When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.

The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.

These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.

LLC: All income and expenses from the business are reported on the LLC personal income tax return.
S corp: Owners pay themselves salaries + receive dividends from profits.
C Corp: C Corps are separately taxable entities that file a corporate tax return (Form 1120). No income tax is paid at the corporate level and any tax due is paid at the owners individual expense.

Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.

Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses ➜

Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.

🚀 Launch

Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

Pick a domain name that's easy to remember and easy to type
Choose a Web Hosting Plan (ie. Shopify, Squarespace)
Make sure you choose the right theme and design
Implement the proper page structure (ie. about page, contact page, pricing etc)

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.

Adam Shlomi, founder of SoFlo SAT tutoring designed his website based off of the "mom-test":

I knew a lot about my potential customers. I’ve been watching my mother make purchase decisions on the internet her whole life. So I designed a website that would be easy for my mom to use.

That meant simple big fonts, not too much moving visually, and a clean, modern look.

I also decided to direct website traffic into a phone call with me. I don’t think my mother would hire an SAT Tutor without speaking to them first and feeling comfortable. So I made it a goal to get a customer’s number as fast as possible and then call them up. This sales model was inspired by the bank I had been working at. They send out tons of direct mail pieces and the moment they get a lead, a sales rep is on the phone to establish a relationship.

How To Price Your Services

The amount of money you can charge depends entirely on the type of tutoring you teach.

Tutors are typically paid based on a few different factors:

Experience in that subject
Subject matter
Length of session
Credibility in the space

The average hourly rate for tutoring in a single subject typically ranges from $18 per hour to $40 per hour.

However, for test prep subjects (such as the ACT/SAT), the price point per hour is much higher as there is perceived value in students passing this exam.

ACT/SAT tutors typically charge anywhere from $70-$100 per hour.

Profitibility

Fortunately, there is not much overhead for tutoring businesses, so margins tend to be high.

However, the cost of acquisition for new clients is something to consider as it's important to find new marketing channels (ie. yelp) that will generate a positive return.

Adam Shlomi states that their current client acquisition cost is ~$60 and that cost is recovered in the first session.

Revenue Numbers

We've interviewed several founders in the space and asked them how much they're making today. Here's what we discovered:

Lingoci - a platform for online language tutoring

$60K/month
Zero employees
Started in January 2017
Invested only $300 into the business

SoFlo SAT Tutoring - SAT tutoring

$15K/month at 22 years old
1 employee
Started the business with very little upfront cost

SI Certs - Online test prep courses to construction inspectors

$85K/month
4 founders + 1 employee
Founded in 2011
Price point has grown from $99 to $449 over the years

📈 Grow

Where to promote your tutoring business

There are several effective places to advertise your tutoring business, both online and traditionally:

Let's take a look at the most common places to promote your tutoring business:

Word of mouth

Referrals are one of the best ways to acquire new clients.

The process can be slow at first, but can build rapidly. Plus, these customers are much more qualified as they've been recommended to you by a friend or family member.

Remember, the cost to acquire a new client through word of mouth is close to zero, so it's important to establish a great referral program that will incentivize your customers to refer you to their friends/family.

For example, you can offer 50% off their tutoring session and a discounted rate to the new customer.

List your business to the top tutor-searched platforms:

Schools

A great place to start is by talking to guidance counselors that can refer students to you.

Public Libraries

Most libraries have bulletin boards where you can promote your tutoring service.

Improve your SEO

SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site, and ultimately, converting leads into customers.

One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."

Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your tutoring business.

Google Ads Keyword Planner invaluable for discovering search trends.
Google Search Console is very helpful once your website is up as it shows you what words/phrases are generating traffic.
Ahrefs and SEMRush are paid tools that allow you to look at results of your competitor's website.

Publish Great Content

Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.

There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.

So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"

Length - This will vary depending on the page, however, generally having a sufficient amount of content helps search engines recognize that your site is a good source for a specific topic
Engagement - The longer people stay on your website to read your content, the higher Google will rank your website. It's important to have informative and "thick" content that keeps people reading
Avoid Duplicating Content - Google will recognize this and may consider your content to have low value
Ensure pages load quickly - This will also help with engagement and time spent on your website
Shareability - Create content that people want to share, and is easy for them to share, especially to their social media accounts (ie. "click to tweet" is a great example of this).

Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.

If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.

Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.

Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:

Trello
Airtable
If you prefer to keep it simple, your average spreadsheet is just as useful!

Backlinks

Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.

Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.

Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.

For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.

Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:

Create infographics with relevant data that people want to share
Promote your content on different sites/look into "guest blogging"
Contact influencers/journalists/bloggers and ask them to mention you!
Write testimonials for other sites in exchange for a backlink
Leverage existing business relationships

Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO ➜ here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below

Alex Redfern, founder of Lingoci explains how they were able to target specific keywords and rank #1 on google:

Recently, we’ve started investing in content marketing and search engine optimization.

The language industry has many big, established players, so returns from these channels don’t come overnight. But we have had some success, for example, two articles I wrote on language learning went viral on Medium and now rank at the top of Google.

One advantage we have is that our data from Google Ads can inform what we prioritize for SEO. We know for example that terms containing the word ‘Skype’ convert well. So we have targeted landing pages for terms like: Spanish lessons on Skype, Learn German on Skype, French Skype lessons, Skype Italian classes, etc. And since Zoom has grown in popularity, we've started replicating the process for Zoom, targeting phrases like Spanish lessons on Zoom and French tutors on Zoom. It’s simple, but it works. Just remember that if you create landing pages to increase your chances of ranking, the user experience must still come first.

Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to tutoring business.

There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.

Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:

Facebook Advertising - more than 2 billion monthly users. Facebook is the best for lead generation + capturing email addresses for e-commerce businesses.
Instagram Advertising - approximately 500 million monthly users and has a higher audience engagement rate than any other platform. Instagram ads are best for linking to a product page or landing page and reaches the 18-29 age group most effectively.
Twitter Advertising- Small businesses typically use twitter ads to drive brand awareness, but the platform is meant more for organic engagement (and is not as heavily used for paid advertising)
Pinterest Advertising - 175 million monthly users and most effectively reaches the female audience. Pinterest is great for promoting products without "promoted". The promoted pins have a way of blending right in.
LinkedIn Advertising - 227 million monthly users and is geared towards the B2B market and generates the highest quality leads. Great platform for recruiters, high-end products and services that will help businesses

It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:

Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:

Do I want to simply drive brand awareness?
Do I want to drive users to my website to gather information?
Do I want to increase sales and get my customer to take action?

From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!

Learn more about social media advertising ➜ here.

Attracting New Customers

One of the best ways to attract new customers in the tutoring industry is to have amazing reviews from customers published online.

At the end of the day, new customers want to see that your services provided value to somebody else, whether they know them or not.

Adam Shlomi, founder of SoFlo SAT tutoring states that reviews and word of mouth are the most effective way to get new customers:

With the refined system, students were showing better score improvements and good reviews started rolling in on various platforms like Google Business and Facebook. The timing was great because as that system crystallized, our client demand started increasing.

At the end of the day, we have to make sure students improve on the SAT. If we do a great job and scores improve, customers tell their friends and the SoFlo family continues to grow.

🏃🏼‍♀️ Run

How To Retain Customers For Your Tutoring Business

Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your tutoring business.

Oftentimes, it's easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.

Look at it this way - you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.

That's not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest (and most inexpensive) source of new revenue is right there in front of you.

Here are some ways you can retain customers for your tutoring business:

Responding to comments on social media
Send discounts (or freebies) to loyal customers
Provide valuable content, for free
Write a hand written thank you note
Provide awesome customer service and build relationships with customers

To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article ➜ here

Gabirel Kramer, founder of SI Certs explains the #1 method of retaining customers:

The most important thing we did to attract and retain customers was create more courses. We got great reviews for the Reinforced Concrete course. Many of our students wanted help passing other special inspection exams.

Another effective thing we did was create videos for YouTube and embed them on our site. In the first year, we shot seven videos to help people pass a small exam. This exam is smaller than the Reinforced Concrete exam and it’s required to earn the Reinforced Concrete certification. Those videos have gotten many views of the years. Even today, they account for over 20% of our organic traffic of new site visitors.

Outsourcing

If you can afford to hire someone to help support your tutoring business, outsourcing is a great way to save you time and energy.

Most importantly, outsourcing can help you focus on the core growth of your business, versus spending your time on day to day tasks that other people can do just as well!

If you do plan to outsource your work, it's important to be hyper-familiar with the actual work involved.

Why is it important to be hyper-familiar with the work?

So you can understand how long it takes
So you understand the full process, edge cases, things that can go wrong.
So you can explain it in detail to your employee.
So you can make sure it actually works (for example - how do you know cold email works for your business if you’re not on the ground floor trying it out?)
Understanding the tasks at a deep level will save you a lot of time and money.

Tools to get started:

As a tutoring business, there are some tools and platforms you may want to consider when getting started:

Sms tools such as Twilio
Customer service tools such as Intercom or TawkTo
Reviews tools such as Yelp
Productivity tools such as Trello
Payments tools such as TransferWise
Blog tools such as WordPress
Other tools such as HARO, Acuity or Indeed

Resources

Books

Websites

Case Studies

Conclusion

Personal Experience I had

I remember one very specific tutoring experience I had in college.

The reason I mention this business is because there are so many things that they did right, in my eyes. It was also incredibly profitable.

It was a group tutoring session in a giant classroom off campus, and it was only offered the night before the midterm or final exam. It was essentially there for students to cram for their exam.

This is not to say this is the proper way to start a tutoring business, but here are the main takeaways as to why his business was so successful:

The tutoring session went from 6pm-11pm and cost $95 per person. There was always anywhere from 100-500 people in the audience (depending on the class and exam). That means that one guy made anywhere from $9,500-$47,500 in just 5 hours.
He had prior experience teaching the class and was able to provide us with the knowledge and materials we needed to succeed on that exam, guaranteed.
He was a total nut. People loved him because he truly had the most crazy energy that kept you engaged for the entire course.
He was able to create a community, and get people to keep coming back several times throughout the semester.. It was almost like the "thing to do" with your friends in order to prep for an exam. He got all the sororities, fraternities, associations from campus to invest in his service.

The point is: if you can identify and fill the gap for a specific need in the tutoring world, the chances of building a successful tutoring business is very high.

Hope you enjoyed this guide!

Part of

Starting A Tutoring Business: Everything You Need To Know

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meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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