Can you help me figure out how to do better?

[Eduardo Leal]

Ok, this is the thing. I’m an English teacher in Madrid. I work for a company (not mine) and I work under a figure called “autónomo” which is basically a freelance. So, even though I have fixed hours (usually around 30 a week) and the wage is ok (€19,90 per hour) you can imagine that it’s not the fastlane.
On the other hand, I am also a personal English teacher. I’ve been teaching online since 2018 and I currently have 7 loyal students whom I charge €96 for 8 sessions of 45 minutes. English teaching in Madrid is very competitive, there are thousands of teachers from all over the world. So it’s a very crowded slowlane. I also have a YouTube channel where I’ve poured time and videos with the intent of monetizing it. I’ve gained some followers, but I’m still not quite there.
I also have to say that I’m married, I have an 8 year old, we rent a flat, we arrived in Madrid in 2015 and we’ve been working our way to financial stability ever since. But it hasn’t been simple at all. And we’re not there yet.
I want to make MY business a lot better. The thing is that all I have is myself, so, time is also an issue. Yes, there are other English teachers, yes I could think about hiring others, but charging more for each session is not something I have in mind. Because of the competition, it makes no sense to charge more. And, honestly, any other teacher is able to do what I’m doing. Why would they work for me, when working for themselves could be just as good or better?
Am I at a dead end street? Is there something I’m not quite seeing that could make my own business a great fastlane idea?
Any feedback, idea, kick in the butt or slap in the face will be greatly appreciated.

Peace and $ to all of you.

 

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[rblitz]

Are you teaching 1:1? Can't you scale it by teaching (multiple) groups online? Or build an on-demand training which your students can use and 1 day in the week you're going live for a full hour.

Our build a platform for other English teachers and you bring in the students. So basic lead generation.

 

[RazorCut]

I’d try to find a way to extract yourself from the teaching roll. How do you find your students? How can you find students for other teachers in Madrid for a small ‘finders’ fee?

Can you find a suitable venue and attract students to learn in a small group format (cheaper for them compared to 1 to 1 teaching) and find teachers to educate the class

How does someone wanting to learn English find a great teacher? Is there a site that ranks them? What booking services are out there and what could you provide that was better?

You need to find something that can be scaled. Your job is to be steering the ship not working in the engine room.

 

[Eduardo Leal]

Are you teaching 1:1? Can't you scale it by teaching (multiple) groups online? Or build an on-demand training which your students can use and 1 day in the week you're going live for a full hour.

Our build a platform for other English teachers and you bring in the students. So basic lead generation.

I’ve been trying to create groups. For some reason people don’t love the idea of paying for an online class, sharing time with others. But I always make some effort on trying to create some groups. The other two ideas are very interesting, though. I will turn them around and inside out to see how to get the most of that. Thanks a bunch!

 

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[Eduardo Leal]

Thank you so much for your reply.
After pandemic, I don’t know how the face-to-face classes are going to be handled, but yes, finding a venue has been in my mind for a while. I‘ve been finding my students personally. Basically they’re friends of students that have taken classes with me and then friends of them that have been lured in. I’ve thought about offering each student a small discount for every student they manage to bring in. Taking myself out of the teaching roll is, I believe, a great idea. I will definitely look into this and see how to get in touch with other teachers looking for students. Being the middle man with the small finder’s fee sounds great, if I can also take a little percentage out of the classes taught. This is basically creating an online academy and taking care of the class planning and the backend. Thanks for your feedback, it’s been quite eye opening.

I’d try to find a way to extract yourself from the teaching roll. How do you find your students? How can you find students for other teachers in Madrid for a small ‘finders’ fee?

Can you find a suitable venue and attract students to learn in a small group format (cheaper for them compared to 1 to 1 teaching) and find teachers to educate the class

How does someone wanting to learn English find a great teacher? Is there a site that ranks them? What booking services are out there and what could you provide that was better?

You need to find something that can be scaled. Your job is to be steering the ship not working in the engine room.