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Hey all,
About time for a progress thread as I make the plunge into business development, inspired by @ValueSystems thread.
Current Situation:
So I've been 1 on 1 private tutoring for almost a year and a half and am now booked out for my capacity.
A couple of months ago I bought on two friends who aced their schooling and have been great tutors since. One of them only has one session each week (2 hours) (Tutor A) and the other does occasional drafting (Tutor B).
How I get Clients:
95% of my leads and business come from messages I've received from my Tutor Profile on a nationwide tutoring marketplace. Barely changed the copy since I first wrote it and have gotten around 15 regular students since then. $0 Customer Acquisition Cost: Total Profit $10k+. Currently reading Building a StoryBrand, and could definitely change the order and content of the post though.
How I retain clients:
Offering support with out-class help/texting if students need it, not strictly cutting sessions on the hour - I don't mind going a little over the session time if it means providing needed help to a kid at a pivotal time in their lives. Over-communicating with clients and being personable also helps while imparting my 'wisdom' on study methodologies in session from my experience/research (FYI, 'Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning' is a great read). As students start getting better grades they also want to stay and ultimately, building a friendship with the student and exchanging a few jokes is the best part.
I still tutor students who found me from the start so my churn is low with about 10 ongoing clients.
Recently as my total number of students has risen, word of mouth has been trickling in and I've started work with 3 new students in the past week. Have asked for reviews but not explicitly for referrals and that's definitely on the list which leads into the perceived predicament...
The Predicament:
Need to find and train local tutors (Tutors A and B live further out from where I get most of my business) to have the capacity for the current demand and further business/referrals.
Gross margins for tutoring per client are low when doing 1on1 ($50 Price p.h. - $36 tutor pay = $14 p.h.). I'm charging approximately market price but have some room and credibility to increase my prices further. Either way 1 on 1 is not sustainable and there are better ways for me and the team to provide more impact to more students.
Admin work also sucks but I'm about to try TutorBird and will post up how that goes.
Another growing issue is in my niche (and lack of). Currently, I've been offering Maths, Biology, English and a research subject for grades 10-12 and have started to feel like a 'Jack of all trades, master of none'. Up until now getting experience with students who've needed more broad help has been great but moving forward definitely need to niche down. I've always been more of a generalist but need to pick between the 3 core subjects so I can focus my attention, upskill, and build tailored resources rather than being somewhat good at all three.
I can aim to have other in-house tutors for a range of subjects or keep the whole agency subject-specific which is rare in my city's market, however, could be a good differentiator.
I've also always tried to focus on study approaches and techniques with students while trialing a 'Summer Study Workshop' earlier on. Branding myself as a 'study coach' could also be beneficial and lucrative as I can transition into a coaching model with better clients. There are good examples of this model thriving as students love working with a personable brand who they can relate to rather than a clunky business. This also targets the overlooked issue of students never really getting taught how to learn, only really what to learn. Something to think about.
Niching also helps to be seen as the 'expert' which will be great when I offer workshops and reframe my offer...
The Plan (6m-1y):
Transitioning into Productised Services and Differentiated My Offer:
A good next step in packaging my services is to reframe my offer into per-month services rather than per hour. This also leverages business assets I am building such as a discord group, study guides and checklists as I can provide students with access to this growing database as part of the service. This also prevents issues in cancellations and flaky parents. Will need to think about pricing but could do $449 p.m. for up to 8 sessions + full access to resources and have different tiers that are anchored. Any advice here would be much appreciated.
Study Workshops and Group Sessions:
As phrased by Alex Hormozi, in a video he did on tutoring/test prep, group tutoring is the way to go. This allows me to help more students in less time while also letting students form needed relationships with the other students and practice teaching and helping each other. Not to mention the benefit to the business is also great.
For this to work I'll need to focus on high-demand subjects/those not currently offered in workshops, work on my lead gen methods, be more active in FB groups, and potentially run some ads... I'll also start working on organic content alongside.
Build a Website, Trial Ads, and Getting the Word Out:
Having control of my primary client acquisition channel is vital so building a website is a must. I've built a few other sites and have the skill to also incorporate WooCommerce if I want to sell digital products or courses later on as a passive income source. I've already mapped out the website structure for the site and will give updates on the progress. Once I get a landing page up, I can test a small FB ad budget for specific local areas.
Down the track, I plan on utilising and building the second connections I have with schools and educators and really see if I can provide a streamlined package/offer related to study methodologies at a broader and larger scale to tackle some of the systemic educational issues as best I can.
Next Steps:
- Continue building high-value resources for students that can also be used as lead magnets on my site.
- Get the site up and running and trial ads
- Consult with other tutors and niche-down
- Reach out to current contacts and try to find 1-3 local tutors who can start work with new students.
- Trial an MVP of group tutoring - upsell/cross-sell to current students, grow a following...
- Work on a training system for tutors
- Continue to broaden my vision and adapt as I progress.
⚡ Pitfalls to Avoid:
- Action faking, over-reading before acting, perfectionism instead of testing and iterating, not getting feedback or help, getting distracted with other tasks and not having a clear focus, and under-utilizing pockets of time across my other commitments.
Rain, hail, or shine I'll post an update once a week for the next 6 months, even if progress is slow and we'll see how we go.
Alright time to get back to work!
About time for a progress thread as I make the plunge into business development, inspired by @ValueSystems thread.
Current Situation:
So I've been 1 on 1 private tutoring for almost a year and a half and am now booked out for my capacity.
A couple of months ago I bought on two friends who aced their schooling and have been great tutors since. One of them only has one session each week (2 hours) (Tutor A) and the other does occasional drafting (Tutor B).
How I get Clients:
95% of my leads and business come from messages I've received from my Tutor Profile on a nationwide tutoring marketplace. Barely changed the copy since I first wrote it and have gotten around 15 regular students since then. $0 Customer Acquisition Cost: Total Profit $10k+. Currently reading Building a StoryBrand, and could definitely change the order and content of the post though.
How I retain clients:
Offering support with out-class help/texting if students need it, not strictly cutting sessions on the hour - I don't mind going a little over the session time if it means providing needed help to a kid at a pivotal time in their lives. Over-communicating with clients and being personable also helps while imparting my 'wisdom' on study methodologies in session from my experience/research (FYI, 'Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning' is a great read). As students start getting better grades they also want to stay and ultimately, building a friendship with the student and exchanging a few jokes is the best part.
I still tutor students who found me from the start so my churn is low with about 10 ongoing clients.
Recently as my total number of students has risen, word of mouth has been trickling in and I've started work with 3 new students in the past week. Have asked for reviews but not explicitly for referrals and that's definitely on the list which leads into the perceived predicament...
The Predicament:
Need to find and train local tutors (Tutors A and B live further out from where I get most of my business) to have the capacity for the current demand and further business/referrals.
Gross margins for tutoring per client are low when doing 1on1 ($50 Price p.h. - $36 tutor pay = $14 p.h.). I'm charging approximately market price but have some room and credibility to increase my prices further. Either way 1 on 1 is not sustainable and there are better ways for me and the team to provide more impact to more students.
Admin work also sucks but I'm about to try TutorBird and will post up how that goes.
Another growing issue is in my niche (and lack of). Currently, I've been offering Maths, Biology, English and a research subject for grades 10-12 and have started to feel like a 'Jack of all trades, master of none'. Up until now getting experience with students who've needed more broad help has been great but moving forward definitely need to niche down. I've always been more of a generalist but need to pick between the 3 core subjects so I can focus my attention, upskill, and build tailored resources rather than being somewhat good at all three.
I can aim to have other in-house tutors for a range of subjects or keep the whole agency subject-specific which is rare in my city's market, however, could be a good differentiator.
I've also always tried to focus on study approaches and techniques with students while trialing a 'Summer Study Workshop' earlier on. Branding myself as a 'study coach' could also be beneficial and lucrative as I can transition into a coaching model with better clients. There are good examples of this model thriving as students love working with a personable brand who they can relate to rather than a clunky business. This also targets the overlooked issue of students never really getting taught how to learn, only really what to learn. Something to think about.
Niching also helps to be seen as the 'expert' which will be great when I offer workshops and reframe my offer...
The Plan (6m-1y):
Transitioning into Productised Services and Differentiated My Offer:
A good next step in packaging my services is to reframe my offer into per-month services rather than per hour. This also leverages business assets I am building such as a discord group, study guides and checklists as I can provide students with access to this growing database as part of the service. This also prevents issues in cancellations and flaky parents. Will need to think about pricing but could do $449 p.m. for up to 8 sessions + full access to resources and have different tiers that are anchored. Any advice here would be much appreciated.
Study Workshops and Group Sessions:
As phrased by Alex Hormozi, in a video he did on tutoring/test prep, group tutoring is the way to go. This allows me to help more students in less time while also letting students form needed relationships with the other students and practice teaching and helping each other. Not to mention the benefit to the business is also great.
For this to work I'll need to focus on high-demand subjects/those not currently offered in workshops, work on my lead gen methods, be more active in FB groups, and potentially run some ads... I'll also start working on organic content alongside.
Build a Website, Trial Ads, and Getting the Word Out:
Having control of my primary client acquisition channel is vital so building a website is a must. I've built a few other sites and have the skill to also incorporate WooCommerce if I want to sell digital products or courses later on as a passive income source. I've already mapped out the website structure for the site and will give updates on the progress. Once I get a landing page up, I can test a small FB ad budget for specific local areas.
Down the track, I plan on utilising and building the second connections I have with schools and educators and really see if I can provide a streamlined package/offer related to study methodologies at a broader and larger scale to tackle some of the systemic educational issues as best I can.
Next Steps:
- Continue building high-value resources for students that can also be used as lead magnets on my site.
- Get the site up and running and trial ads
- Consult with other tutors and niche-down
- Reach out to current contacts and try to find 1-3 local tutors who can start work with new students.
- Trial an MVP of group tutoring - upsell/cross-sell to current students, grow a following...
- Work on a training system for tutors
- Continue to broaden my vision and adapt as I progress.
⚡ Pitfalls to Avoid:
- Action faking, over-reading before acting, perfectionism instead of testing and iterating, not getting feedback or help, getting distracted with other tasks and not having a clear focus, and under-utilizing pockets of time across my other commitments.
Rain, hail, or shine I'll post an update once a week for the next 6 months, even if progress is slow and we'll see how we go.
Alright time to get back to work!
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