One important aspect of learning how to be a tutor is taking care of the business end of things. You do spend a lot of time making sure the student's needs are being met, but don't forget to stay organized and keep good records.
If you are going to be a tutor as your own business (self-employed), you will need to keep track of business income and expenses, and make sure you are following all the guidelines to pay taxes etc. It is a good idea to keep a file box just for your business and have files for categories related to your tutoring business. I also found it helpful to keep a file of student names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. I used this once in awhile when someone asked for references.
You may want a shelf on a bookcase for all your reference books on tutoring, starting a tutoring business, how to be a good tutor, etc. You will probably also have text books in the subjects you are tutoring. Keep them all together for handy reference.
Buy an invoice book and a receipt book you can use when billing and collecting from your clients. Make sure they copy in duplicate or triplicate. You will need one copy for your clients, one for you, and one spare in case they lose their first copy. It is handy if you keep your copy connected in the book and only tear out their copy.
Keeping invoices and receipts in good order and matched up is a great way to keep your financial records organized.
It will be up to you to decide the billing period. Do you want them to pay each time they come or by the month? Maybe weekly is more convenient. You can decide this and then work out the details with your clients.
If you are employed through an agency, a lot of these details will be handles a certain way through the agency. Find out how they take care of billing and collecting. Most of the time, they handle those details and then pay you a certain amount for your time.
Showing posts with label tutoring business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tutoring business. Show all posts
How to Become a Tutor: Sharpening the Saw
How to Become a Tutor: Sharpening the Saw
Whether you want to be a tutor, or be a better tutor than you already are, you must learn to sharpen the saw. Sharpening the saw is a figure of speech, and what it means literally is that you can cut more wood, faster and with less effort if you take the time to sharpen the saw once in a while.
How this relates to your tutoring business is that it is a good idea to refresh your memory and your skills periodically. Preferably before the tutoring sessions begin.
In preparation to be a tutor, do a little bit of research. For example, I started tutoring high school chemistry after having been out of University for couple of years. To prepare myself, I obtained a copy of the high school chemistry textbook and perused it to refresh my memory.
How to obtain textbooks: There are several things you can try in order to be able to borrow a textbook for the class you will be tutoring. First of all, find out about the curriculum requirements for that class. Search on your state or province's school district site. Find out the books they require for that class. You can also phone your local school and ask about which books that class requires. If it's a high school class, often you can pay a deposit and borrow the book over the summer, when the school is not using it. After summer, return the book to get back most or all of the deposit. This process works extremely well for me.
If you are teaching a college or university class, try to obtain the textbook through a used book sale.
Sometimes your local public library can be a source of good information.
Sharpening the saw does not need to take a lot of time and effort, and will give you a boost in confidence.
Whether you want to be a tutor, or be a better tutor than you already are, you must learn to sharpen the saw. Sharpening the saw is a figure of speech, and what it means literally is that you can cut more wood, faster and with less effort if you take the time to sharpen the saw once in a while.
How this relates to your tutoring business is that it is a good idea to refresh your memory and your skills periodically. Preferably before the tutoring sessions begin.
In preparation to be a tutor, do a little bit of research. For example, I started tutoring high school chemistry after having been out of University for couple of years. To prepare myself, I obtained a copy of the high school chemistry textbook and perused it to refresh my memory.
How to obtain textbooks: There are several things you can try in order to be able to borrow a textbook for the class you will be tutoring. First of all, find out about the curriculum requirements for that class. Search on your state or province's school district site. Find out the books they require for that class. You can also phone your local school and ask about which books that class requires. If it's a high school class, often you can pay a deposit and borrow the book over the summer, when the school is not using it. After summer, return the book to get back most or all of the deposit. This process works extremely well for me.
If you are teaching a college or university class, try to obtain the textbook through a used book sale.
Sometimes your local public library can be a source of good information.
Sharpening the saw does not need to take a lot of time and effort, and will give you a boost in confidence.
How to Become a Tutor, or Why be a tutor?
How to Become a Tutor, or Why Become a Tutor?
If you have been thinking that you want to be a tutor, have you really asked yourself why be a tutor? Seriously, as compared to a teacher or something else? Is it because you want to be in education, do you have a passion for it?
First of all, it is very satisfying to watch your student learn and grow while you teach, instruct and demonstrate. You and your student will end up learning and growing together. You will become amazed at the relationships you can build through tutoring. I tutored many high school students who would confide in me and then remark how surprised they were to be telling me that, when they wouldn't dream of telling their own parents!
Secondly, being your own boss and running your own tutoring business offers you flexibility and income tax breaks as well. Check into your area and find out what local or federal laws are for home based businesses. It may be to your advantage to obtain a business license; you may find out you can claim a whole slug of tutor-related expenses against your income, and that's always nice. You can decide when, where, and how much tutoring you want to do each week. Sometimes you may want to be flexible towards the students as well, if they are requesting more tutoring time close to exams.
Thirdly, being a tutor generally pays very well. If you can, scout around your area and see what other tutors are charging. You may be able to find out by looking in the phone directory, calling schools or tutoring services, etc. I have found that a good tutor in Canada or the U.S. can easily make $25+ per hour. If you are highly specialized and live in a big city with a University, you can possibly make $40+ per hour. You may want to give a price break to your first students in order to build up some references, but never sell yourself short.
If you have been thinking that you want to be a tutor, have you really asked yourself why be a tutor? Seriously, as compared to a teacher or something else? Is it because you want to be in education, do you have a passion for it?
First of all, it is very satisfying to watch your student learn and grow while you teach, instruct and demonstrate. You and your student will end up learning and growing together. You will become amazed at the relationships you can build through tutoring. I tutored many high school students who would confide in me and then remark how surprised they were to be telling me that, when they wouldn't dream of telling their own parents!
Secondly, being your own boss and running your own tutoring business offers you flexibility and income tax breaks as well. Check into your area and find out what local or federal laws are for home based businesses. It may be to your advantage to obtain a business license; you may find out you can claim a whole slug of tutor-related expenses against your income, and that's always nice. You can decide when, where, and how much tutoring you want to do each week. Sometimes you may want to be flexible towards the students as well, if they are requesting more tutoring time close to exams.
Thirdly, being a tutor generally pays very well. If you can, scout around your area and see what other tutors are charging. You may be able to find out by looking in the phone directory, calling schools or tutoring services, etc. I have found that a good tutor in Canada or the U.S. can easily make $25+ per hour. If you are highly specialized and live in a big city with a University, you can possibly make $40+ per hour. You may want to give a price break to your first students in order to build up some references, but never sell yourself short.
How to Become a Tutor: Getting Started!
How to Become a Tutor: Getting Started!
Welcome to my blog. You must be thinking you want to be a tutor. Great! Here you can use my personal experiences in 25 years of tutoring to launch and maintain your very own personal tutoring business.
Tutoring is a business that you don't need certification for (make sure you check the requirements in your country), you decide the hours you want to work, work location, age range of your clients, how you will get paid, and how much you will get paid.
To become a tutor you do need a skills set. Some of these skills you may already have and some you can work on getting starting today.
Don't worry, you don't necessarily need to be a brain in math to be a good tutor. Tutoring covers many subjects and math is only one of them.
Word of mouth is going to become one of your best forms of advertising for your business. There are also other ways to advertise your business, such as ads in the local paper, ads on bulletin boards at schools or universities, and by putting your name on a tutor list available at many schools, especially high school. Just phone some local schools and inquire. Many parents will ask at the school office about where to look for a tutor, so they will often carry a list of tutor's names to pass on.
Welcome to my blog. You must be thinking you want to be a tutor. Great! Here you can use my personal experiences in 25 years of tutoring to launch and maintain your very own personal tutoring business.
Tutoring is a business that you don't need certification for (make sure you check the requirements in your country), you decide the hours you want to work, work location, age range of your clients, how you will get paid, and how much you will get paid.
To become a tutor you do need a skills set. Some of these skills you may already have and some you can work on getting starting today.
Don't worry, you don't necessarily need to be a brain in math to be a good tutor. Tutoring covers many subjects and math is only one of them.
Word of mouth is going to become one of your best forms of advertising for your business. There are also other ways to advertise your business, such as ads in the local paper, ads on bulletin boards at schools or universities, and by putting your name on a tutor list available at many schools, especially high school. Just phone some local schools and inquire. Many parents will ask at the school office about where to look for a tutor, so they will often carry a list of tutor's names to pass on.
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