Setting up as a private tutor has the potential to be one of the most rewarding, exciting and potentially lucrative decisions a working professional can make. There’s really limitless potential for how far you can go if you are willing to put in the necessary time, effort and commitment, though there is of course the small matter of getting things off the ground in the first place. And with more private tutors in London than ever before – all of which are grasping for the same business – it’s never been more important to be proactive when it comes to finding that next job.
The good news however is that with a few helpful tips from the professionals, finding work as a private tutor need not be the mother of all challengers. You can’t expect to become enormously wealthy and successful overnight, but if you are willing to be as proactive as necessary, chances are you’ll have no real trouble getting your business moving.
So with this in mind, here is a quick overview of five helpful tips from the industry’s most experienced professionals on how to find work as a private tutor and ideally build a loyal and enviable base of clients:
Be Affordable
First up, and perhaps most obviously of all, it will always work in your favour if you are willing to be as affordable as possible. The simple fact of the matter is that with so many different private tutors and tuition services to choose from, parents tend to be pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to price structures. Of course, suspiciously low prices tend to be approached with caution – as they very well should be – but there’s nothing to say you cannot ensure that you are both charging toward a very lower-end of industry standards and offering plenty of special deals for new customers. Offering the first few lessons with a heavy discount for example can work wonders.
Be Flexible
Something else that will often make or break the success of any given private tutor is flexibility, or lack thereof. The simple fact of the matter is that as the service provider, it is up to you and you alone to ensure that the services you provide can fit in around the schedule and the general day to day lives of those you seek to do business with. Or in other words, if you limit your services to very specific times on set days of the week and are not willing to offer any kind of flexibility, chances are you’re going to struggle in a big way. The more flexible you are, the more likely you are to attract clients in the first place and hold onto them long-term.
Be Flawless at What You Do
Regardless of how experienced and adept you are in the subjects you teach, there is always room for improvement. Not only does each passing year bring a vast array of new teachings and theories covering practically every subject on the face of the earth, but advances are constantly being made in teaching techniques, resources, tools and so on. This means that while in a technical sense there is no such thing as being 100% flawless at what you do, you should be constantly striving for perfection. By demonstrating that you are proactively seeking to improve your service provision day in and day out, you will quickly build a reputation as a private tutor of outstanding-quality.
Be Willing to Travel
A quick point but an important point nonetheless, the more flexible you are in terms of traveling to potential clients, the more potential clients you have within your reach. If for example you are only willing to travel 15 miles from home, you’ll be cutting your target market in half compared to if you were willing to travel 30 miles from home. In the early days, getting things off the ground is of pivotal importance so you really must be willing to make a decent amount of effort at least.
Be Sure to Seek Feedback
Last but not least it always has been and always will be customer feedback that determines when and whether any given private tutor will in fact secure that next important job. Technically speaking, word of mouth and customer recommendations are the only things your target audience have to go on when it comes to assessing your professionalism and capabilities before actually taking you on. And as not all of your clients will be the kinds of people who are inclined to voluntarily give feedback without being prompted, it’s in your best interests to actively seek and request feedback from each and every client you work with.