Is Tutoring Right for You?

The reasons why you want to become a tutor might be noble and just. However, just because you want to be a tutor does not necessarily mean you should be a tutor, or that the conditions are right for you to be a tutor. A few things for you to consider about tutoring are the lifestyle and the financials.

The tutoring lifestyle is just that, its own lifestyle. Now is the time to look inside yourself and be real about a few things.

First, do you like working with people? I mean really like working with people. As a tutor of any type, you are going to run across the entire gambit of human personality types. Don’t get me wrong, one of the greatest parts of being a tutor is deciding who you want to work with. I much prefer working with college students to K-12 students. The reality though is that even within your ideal slice of clients, not every learner is going to be that “perfect” student, and not every student is going to necessarily learn from your primary place of teaching comfort. Successful tutors love the challenge that each new person provides them, looks forward to finding that key to unlocking understanding in that student’s mind, and also genuinely likes getting to know lots of new and different people.

Second, are you okay working by yourself? This question has two parts to it. First, can you handle the solitude? Second, are you a self-motivated person? You may decide to become a tutor as a part of an actual company that has bosses, has offices or meeting space of some type, and you will see other tutors there. If that is your situation or the situation you are looking for this probably does not apply. However, if you are looking to do your own individual tutoring, then it most definitely does apply.

When you “go to the office” as a tutor you might just be working from your own home office, perhaps a library, maybe a coffee shop, maybe the banks of a river. Where ever you go, you are most likely going there alone. If you are someone who needs the office banter, the water cooler chat, or company picnics, this might not be for you.

The other part of being your own boss is the fact that the only one that is setting goals, holding you accountable, or guiding you into the future is…YOU. If getting yourself out of bed every day is a struggle, if you find yourself doom scrolling on your phone for hours, if you can’t force yourself to break away from the social media without someone telling you, then you may have a difficult time holding yourself accountable and making sure you accomplish everything you need to be successful. When it is raining out and you need to go hand out flyers to potential clients, or show up with the cheery disposition in the middle of gale force winds to make sure your students get going on the right foot, it is only YOU who can do the personal motivating. No one else is going to hold you accountable.

Next, how are your nerves? This is again a question geared more towards tutors who are branching out on their own. It is really a question most small businesses owners have to answer. The answer is hopefully my nerve is strong. In this industry, especially when you are first getting started, it is hard to know where that next meal (client) is going to come from. For me as a tutor in higher education every semester begins with me not knowing how many, if any, clients I will get that semester. The longer I have been in business the more I started to see previous clients coming back for the next course, the word of mouth generate business earlier, and have a deeper understanding of my traditional monthly averages (only through consistent data tracking). Even with all of that I would be lying to you if I told you I felt complete secure at the start of every semester.

Finally, how are your budgeting skills? If you don’t have them, you will want to get them if you are going to be successful. Achieving good budgeting skills can come in several forms. You could hire an accountant to help you with your budgeting and taxes. You could hire…a tutor (you knew it was coming) to help you understand how to create, manage, and stick to a budget. However, you choose to do it, just make sure you do it. Tutoring can be a very cyclical job. You can have times of extreme highs and times of extreme lows. You want to make sure that you don’t waste the income from the high times so that you are hurting when the low times come.