How to start your

own Online Tutoring

Business

WizIQ
education.online
A publication of www.wiziq.com
Contributors: Chris Dawson, Dee-Ann LeBlanc
How to start your own online tutoring business? W hi te p a p er 1

Introduction Marketing

The idea of starting an online tutoring business can be

daunting, whether as an individual or an organization.
There’s a lot of information out there to sift through and it’s WizIQ Getting Started with WizIQ
difficult to know what choices are the right ones. What do
you need to plan in advance? How do you get started with an
online platform? Where do you find students in need of your
services? In this paper, we will answer those questions and Devising a Contract
more, giving you the information and confidence you need to
start a successful tutoring program, all from the comfort of
your home or office (or local library, or favorite coffee shop, or
anywhere else with internet access)! Initial Planning

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How to start your own online tutoring business? W hi te p a p er 2

Initial Planning
It’s important not to go into this blindly, so you need to organize must be answered whether you’re running a full business or
a plan. You probably already know what subject you want to tutoring independently.)
teach, but there’s more to consider than just that.
The more you plan before you officially get started, the
The first thing to think about is who you want to tutor—your smoother things will go. But try not to get so invested in your
target demographic. What age groups do you feel comfortable plan that it makes you resistant to change or unable to see
working with? Do you want to tutor students who are struggling when something isn’t working. Part of tutoring is learning as
with their schoolwork or those looking to study independently? you go and through trial and error, you’ll be able to see what
works best for you and your students. Make a plan, but remain
You also want to think about the way you’re going to handle flexible.
the sessions themselves. Will you and your student(s) log-in at
a designated time and chat instantly (synchronous tutoring),
or will you communicate through messages that you check and
respond to at your discretion (asynchronous tutoring)? Will you
communicate through text, audio, or webcam? It might also be
helpful to write up a lesson plan for the first few weeks of your
sessions if you plan to tackle more than just the concerns your
student brings to you. If you decide upon synchronous tutoring,
this lesson plan should include how often your tutoring sessions
will occur.

If you’re planning on starting a full tutoring business, you will

need to do extra planning. How many tutors will you hire? How
will you find those tutors? How much will you pay them? How
much will you charge your students? (Of course, that question

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How to start your own online tutoring business?
Devising a Contract
This step may seem like the least important, but it should not
be overlooked. When it comes to tutoring, the students can only
get back what they put in and you want to be sure they’re not
going to waste your time or theirs. The contract is as much a
commitment by you to teach as it is by them to learn (and to
pay you, regardless). They need to be clear on their financial
responsibilities, such as how much they’ll be paying, when
they’ll be expected to pay, how to make the payments, and
what they will pay for missed sessions.
The contract should include everything you want your student
to be aware of from the beginning. It should clearly outline
their responsibilities as a student and the repercussions if
they fail to fulfill those responsibilities. For example, what
happens if they fail a class in the subject in which you are
tutoring them? Presumably, this is their responsibility and not
yours. In the same way, what happens if you need to sever
the tutoring relationship? Whether because of a student’s
inappropriate actions or failure to pay or because of unexpected
circumstances, the reasons for terminating tutoring services and
the financial consequences from various scenarios should be
clearly delineated.
The contract should also outline the tutor’s responsibilities and
objective so that the student can be clear on what to expect.
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W hi te p a p er 3
For synchronous tutoring, it should explain the protocol in
the case of tardiness or cancellations from either student or
tutor. There should also be a section for names, signatures (of
both child and parent if your student is a minor), and contact
information.
You can create your contract from scratch or use a pre-made
one. However, you must be careful if you use a generic contract.
Regard it as a template instead of a finished product; you’ll
need to customize any contract you find to fit your specific
program, often on a per-student basis.
When your contract is perfected and it comes time to start
tutoring, send it to your students. You can do this in the first
session (so the tutor and student can go over it together) or
before lessons start. Have the students print out the contract at
home, sign it, and then scan or fax it to their tutor.
If you are starting a tutoring businesses and have multiple
tutors working, make sure they understand the importance
of the contract and have all their students review and sign it;
copies should be retained such that they can be referenced
later.
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How to start your own online tutoring business?
Getting Started with WizIQ
So, why WizIQ? The better question would be: why not
WizIQ? WizIQ has everything you’ll need to run your tutoring
sessions smoothly and effectively for as little as $19/month
for individuals or $99/month for small organizations. You can
WizIQ communicate with your students through text, audio, or video
and there are options for live communication (synchronous
tutoring) and posting pre-recorded content (asynchronous
tutoring). You can create tests for your students and give
them almost immediate feedback, which is a fantastic tool for
assessing their specific needs and ongoing progress in tutoring.
You can easily share files with your students and write on a
virtual whiteboard. You can even record classes as they happen
so you can review them and track your students’ progress!
And those are just some of the highlights.
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W hi te p a p er 4
After you register, you’ll need to set up a course. If you choose
to do asynchronous tutoring (which might be more useful when
tutoring students in drastically different time zones), you can
use this course as a collection of all your lessons via video. Or,
if you prefer synchronous tutoring, you can create classes to
begin at scheduled times.
Still not quite sure about WizIQ?
Take advantage of our 30-day free trial!
(No credit card required.)
www.wiziq.com | © 2012 WizIQ Inc. All rights reserved.
How to start your own online tutoring business?
Marketing
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to find your students! There
are many different ways to go about this and you should pursue
any and all of them, since you never know where people will be
looking.
The best way to start is with WizIQ. LearnerConnect gives you
the opportunity to see who is interested in your course and then
send them a private message offering your tutoring services.
This is a simple and efficient way to connect with serious
students who are interested and already familiar with WizIQ.
And be sure to take full advantage of your teacher’s profile!
“Showcase what you do best on your teacher’s profile and we’ll
make sure it ranks high on Google and other search engines.”
With WizIQ, you could have students coming at you from all
different directions!
Of course, there are other options to expand and find students
outside of the WizIQ community. There are plenty of websites
available that you can use to advertise your services. A quick
Google search can help you find free websites designed
specifically for tutoring ads, such as tutor-ads.com or
teachers.net (the latter of which has a section for people
seeking tutors—instead of waiting for potential students to
contact you, you are given the opportunity to contact them).
Some tutors even advertise on craigslist.
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W hi te p a p er 5
Similarly, creating a Facebook page and/or website for your
services provides a vital destination to which potential students
can be directed for more information and to contact you directly.
Though these online strategies are very useful in helping find
students from all over the globe, never underestimate the
power of old-fashioned advertising, especially if you have
access to community centers, schools, and college campuses.
Create fliers advertising your service, making sure to include
contact information (or just your Facebook page) and a brief
overview of what you do. This can be especially effective if
you’re targeting college students; college campuses are filled
with bulletin boards advertising all kinds of services. Bring your
fliers to any and all educational institutions you can reach and
figure out who to contact about posting them around campus.
For middle or high school students, contact the principal about
your service. Often there are school newsletters or websites on
which you could advertise or parent-teacher groups with which
you could become involved. Look into those options and be sure
to use word of mouth as well. The more people talk, the more
others will listen.
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How to start your own online tutoring business? W hi te p a p er 6

Conclusion
Starting any business is a huge undertaking, but that
doesn’t mean the process has to be stressful, or, worse yet,
unsuccessful. With proper planning, organization, and WizIQ as
your platform, your tutoring business should be up and running
quickly and smoothly. After you’re all set up, you don’t want to
worry about anything other than your students and ongoing
marketing. WizIQ handles the technical details, letting you focus
on teaching and running a business.

WizIQ
education.online www.wiziq.com | © 2012 WizIQ Inc. All rights reserved.