How to Work as a Tutor From Home

The need for tutors is increasing as students face a more demanding academic curriculum. If you are knowledgeable in one or more academic subjects, you can take advantage of this need by becoming a tutor yourself. Working as a tutor from home is a satisfying profession because you not only get to help a student succeed in school, but you can make some money while keeping your schedule flexible.

Unlike teaching, you don’t need a degree to become a freelance tutor, but it does help your credibility. Many private tutors were or currently are teachers, and you will have to compete with them to get clients. If you don’t have a degree or several years of experience in your chosen subject, consider taking certification classes to improve your credentials.

Academic skills aren’t the only thing you need to become a private tutor. You will be working with children who are struggling in the subject matter and who find the material difficult. You will have to be able to explain the subject to them in a way that they can understand. You will have to be patient, understanding and willing to explain something repeatedly and in different ways. You will also have to be organized and prepared to do some research and planning outside of the actual tutoring sessions.

If you opt to work as a tutor for a company or school instead of freelancing, you may need to have a degree in your subject and get the appropriate certifications and licenses. Be sure to check with your state to find out what the necessary requirements are.

Consider your degree and academic history when deciding which subjects you would like to tutor. Choose subjects that you are very knowledgeable about and are comfortable teaching.

For example, if you have a degree in Chemistry, you could tutor subjects related to math and science. You don’t need to be limited by your degree, however, if you have a good working knowledge in other subject matters. If it has been awhile since you were in school or worked in your field, you can check out some books to brush up on your knowledge.

You are not limited to just academics when it comes to tutoring. If you have the talent, you can offer voice or instrumental lessons as well. You could even offer workshops in car repair, woodworking or arts and crafts.

The ages that you should tutor depend both on how comfortable you are with the different age groups and how well you know your subject. If you have an advanced degree or in-depth knowledge in a subject, you could tutor kids up to the college level. If your knowledge is more limited, you should teach younger children because the material is more basic. Also, if you are more comfortable teaching older children, you should focus on subjects that you can teach at a more advanced level and vice versa.

If you will be tutoring students in your home, distance isn’t really an issue. But if you will be tutoring in the student’s home, you will have to decide how far you are willing to travel. The amount that you earn tutoring may not be worth it once you factor in the hassle and driving time. If you don’t want to turn down the client and meeting in your home is not an option, you could consider charging more to compensate for the travel time or meet at a more convenient location such as a library, school or church.

Making a plan before you actually begin looking for tutoring clients will save you many headaches down the road. If you haven’t decided ahead of time about the when, where and how of your freelance tutoring business, you are more likely to agree to a contract that you are not comfortable with or able to meet. There are several things you need to consider when deciding how to run your private tutoring business. Think about each of these considerations and decide ahead of time how you will handle them.

Set Your Tutoring Hours

Many children will require tutoring after school hours. Do you have the time in your schedule to tutor kids in the afternoon, or do you have other obligations like family or work? Other times that you could offer tutoring are on the weekends, holidays and summer break. Also, consider how you will handle vacations and holidays.

Set the Minimum Number of Tutoring Sessions

Will you require your students to sign up for a certain number of tutoring sessions at a time or allow single, sporadic sessions as needed? It is easier to arrange your schedule if you have regular clients that you tutor at the same time on a weekly basis, but not every client needs regular tutoring.

Handling Missed Tutoring Appointments

How will you handle missed tutoring appointments? You have a limited amount of time for tutoring and, if a student doesn’t show up, you lose both your time and the income from that student. Decide how much notice you require for cancellations and how you will handle no-shows. Make sure your policy is spelled out in the contract so your clients know what is expected of them.

Collecting Payment for Tutoring Services

How will you collect payment? Decide whether you will require payment upfront or bill your client after the tutoring sessions. The standard is to require payment at the end of each session; this saves you the hassle of collecting from non-paying clients. You also need to decide whether to accept personal checks or cash only. You could consider setting up a PayPal account and allowing your clients to pay you with a credit card.

Set Your Private Tutoring Rates

Decide how much you want to charge as a private tutor. Research how much tutors in your area charge and use this as a basis for your rates. Be sure to take into account how much experience and education you have. Decide whether you will offer lower rates for group tutoring sessions or a family discount. Once you have set fair rates, stick to them. You may be tempted to lower them to gain more clients, but you will end up working for less pay and it is difficult to raise your rates later. You could offer an introductory rate or a coupon, but make sure the client knows that they will eventually have to pay your regular rate.

Once you have decided how you will run your private tutoring business, you need to actually find students to tutor. Advertise around your community and neighborhood and visit the schools in your area to see if they have a list of tutors that they distribute to parents and teachers. Post flyers or ads at stores, college campuses and on community message boards. Visit businesses that teach classes for children, like karate or dance, and ask if you can leave flyers or business cards with them. Homeschool groups are another good source of clients. Many homeschooling parents look for outside help with subjects they are not familiar with.

Take advantage of the internet to find tutoring jobs. Set up a website, post in local forums and post ads on Craigslist to find students in your area. You could also sign up with one of the many online tutoring companies. These companies may match you up with students in your area for face-to-face tutoring or allow you to tutor someone online. Some of these companies require that you have a teaching degree or special training in your area of expertise while others don’t, so be sure to check.

One of the most powerful tools you can use to find tutoring clients is word of mouth. If your clients are satisfied, they are likely to recommend you to their friends. When you provide excellent and professional tutoring services, you won't have to spend as much time and money on marketing because new clients will seek you out. You can encourage your current clients to spread the word by giving them a business card and offering referral discounts.

When you become a private tutor, you also become a business owner. Set up a method to organize all of your client's information so that you can keep track of invoices and payments. Also, make sure you prepare a contract listing all of the terms you and your client have agreed to and have everyone sign it.

You will also need to pay taxes every year on your private tutoring income. Unless you incorporated your tutoring business, you are considered a sole proprietorship and will need to fill out Schedule C to determine how much you pay in taxes. When you work for a company, they pay for part of your social security and medicare taxes. When you are self employed, as in the case of private tutoring, you will have to pay all of it yourself in the form of self employment taxes. The self employment tax can come as a surprise if you are not prepared for it, so make sure you set enough of your income aside to cover the taxes you will owe. You may also have to file quarterly estimated taxes if you expect your tax liability to be over $1000.

The good news is that you can deduct the expenses of running your tutoring business from your taxes. Some expenses you may be able to deduct are travel costs to tutoring appointments, supplies, advertising, continuing education classes, certifications and tax preparation. You can also deduct half of your self employment taxes. Keep accurate records and receipts for all of your expenses, so that you can claim them when you file your taxes.