5 Biggest Mistakes Tutors Make
It’s the end of another school day and you head to your car. You put the key in the ignition but you’re so tired you find yourself sitting in the parking lot unable to move.
The day was overwhelming: a faculty meeting before school, a call with a parent about behavior over lunch, and two kids got into a fight at recess. You’re over it.
On top of everything else, you didn’t even get a chance to meet with your reading groups today because of behavior issues. Reading groups are your favorite thing to teach, and it just seems like the school day has so many barriers to actual teaching.
As classroom teachers, the expectations put on us can be daunting at times. You got out of college with an excitement for a new job and a fever to expand little minds.
The realities of teaching set in after that first year and so did teacher burnout.
How do I know? I’ve been there.
You see, it wasn’t all that long ago that I was sitting in the parking lot of my Title One elementary school crying wondering why teaching had gotten so dang hard.
It wasn’t until a former parent reached out to me about reading help that I realized I could make a change for the better and learn to love teaching again.
It didn’t happen overnight but with persistence and a lot of hard work, I slowly started tutoring 1-2 kids a week. 1-2 kids turned into 10 within a month.
That’s the magic of a tutoring business.
Grateful parents singing your praises to all their friends means your email will be inundated with requests to work with their child.
Which leads me to the first mistake I see tutors making all the time….
BEING AFRAID TO START
Imposter syndrome is a real thing. As a teacher, you’re perfectly positioned to tutor kids because it’s what you do all day in the classroom.
When you’re the CEO of your own tutoring business, you get to work with kids 1-1 or small groups on your terms. Unlike the classroom where you’re lucky to squeeze in small group time, tutoring provides the luxury of working solo with students while making the money you deserve.
Stop doubting yourself and start believing you can build a tutoring side hustle that you’re the boss of.
THE RICHES ARE IN THE NICHES
The second mistake I see tutors making is not niching down. Their website or emails to potential clients send mixed messages so parents aren’t exactly sure what problem you are solving for their child. Get clear on what you tutor, how you do it and what services you provide. This will build your client list fast and eliminate all the back and forth we waste time with.
SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES
Many tutors I’ve worked with start off flying by the seat of their pants. While this may work initially, it’s not a professional way to run a business. Questions you need to ask yourself: Does your tutoring business have a website? Are you sending out weekly content? Do you have an email list?
Yes, you need all of those things. If you work with me in the Tutorpreneur Academy™, I not only hold your hand, but I give you all my swipe files and templates that helped me go from $0 a month to $1,500 a month with just a handful of clients a week.
OVERTHINKING GETTING CLIENTS
Many teachers want to know how they can get tutoring clients when they haven’t tutored anyone yet. Classroom teachers are perfectly positioned to get clients by reaching out to former student’s parents. My favorite way to do this can be found in this blog post.
If you’re not a classroom teacher, that’s okay. You can reach out to people in your neighborhood or local schools and use the same email template I mentioned above.
COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS
You’re scrolling Instagram and see all these “perfect” teacher businesses and think to yourself “That will never happen for me.” If I’m being honest, it won’t if you have that attitude. Stop the scroll and stop comparing your journey to others. You have no clue when they started or any of the intimate details of their success. You do have control over your own teacher business and can eliminate the noise by focusing on your own story, brand and tutoring clients.
It’s okay to feel burnt out on teaching. We’ve all been there. Perhaps you still love it though and would like a way to get your flame back.
Tutoring is the perfect marriage of using skills you already have and making money right away. It’s the perfect teacher side hustle. Work on your terms, your own time all while making extra cash to do the things you’ve always wanted to do like buy a new car or pay for piano lessons.
Ask yourself this: why not you?
Grab the first 10 steps to start your tutoring business here.
Already started your business and need some direction? I’m your gal. The Tutorpreneur Academy™ doors are open and we’re waiting for you!
What can you do today to get your tutoring business started? Tell me in the comments below!
