Episode Transcription

10: There Are Already Too Many Tutoring Businesses

Hello, lovely lady. Welcome to Classroom To Business, the podcast designed specifically for teachers working to become successful businesswomen and creating financial freedom and lifestyle flexibility. I'm Kirsty Gibbs. Business coach and mentor for educators and teachers just like you, who are ready to step away from the classroom and create something more.

The Classroom to Business Podcast is committed to helping you grow your business, break down those barriers to success, and replace your teaching salary without having to work more hours. It's time for you to find freedom and start being your own boss so you can once again enjoy what you do and wake up each morning loving life.

Let's get.

There are at least 20 tutoring businesses within a 35 minute drive of my house, and they're just the ones that I found doing a very quick Google search. So there would be so many more than that. That didn't pop up when I did a search side note, the importance of having a website, right? But that's a podcast for another.

20 tutoring businesses in 35 minutes of my house. That might seem like a lot, and it might get you thinking, why would I even bother? Why would I start a tutoring business or try and grow my tutoring business? When there is that much competition around when there are already that many established businesses out there, when there are already that many teachers and tutors taking over the market.

But, and this is a good, but there are at least 40 schools in that same distance, and there are tens of thousands of people in that same. That's a lot of kids, and according to the c e O of the Australian Tutoring Association, one in four students get some sort of academic support. There's 40 schools in that area, and again, that's about 40 schools.

I didn't count everyone in very, you know, closely. But even if we knocked that back, say maybe the schools aren't very big, we knock that back to 30. One in four of those students are going to get some sort of academic support. One in four of those families are going to need help from somebody like you.

My point is, if you are worried that there are too many tutoring businesses out there, don't be. So today I'm going to drop some truth bombs and then I'm going to give you some ideas of what you can do. To be seen in the market when maybe you're feeling that it's a little crowded, even though, like I just said, there are a lot of students who are going to need you.

So the first point that I want to talk about is a lot of the ladies that I work with have got wait lists for their tutoring services. This just means that they can't actually fit in all of the inquiries that they. So there are students who need you. They are literally overflowing with students. Now, this is not everybody, but this is some of the ladies that I work with, and it's totally achievable to get your business to that.

But that's not my point. My point is that if you look at those 20 tutoring businesses in your area or in the area that I'm in, Some of them might be full and have got overflowing students. Those students need to go somewhere. If you start your business, they can come to you. The second thing that I wanted to touch on is, unfortunately, the school system doesn't work so well for every child, and this means that they need something different.

And it is unfortunate, but that means you. Are there to step up. You can utilize your skills, your passion, your knowledge, and your superpowers to help these students. We don't want to sit back if there are this many students struggling. I almost feel it's our duty to step up and help out. We don't want to just let those kids slip through the cracks.

And by the way, this is not me having to go at the school system or teachers or classrooms or schools. We know what it's like most of us. Have come from the classroom. We know what it's like. We know how hard it is to reach every single one of those students on all levels through all subjects, through every minute of the day.

We know what it's like, but the services that you provide in your tutoring business are different for whatever reason that you've set your business up, whatever your superpowers is and your unique selling points, it's different to what is provided at. Maybe you are working with gifted and talented students, and I know I've seen this before.

Students in schools who are gifted and talented or who just put their heads down, work really hard, get things done, get good grades. They don't get extension, generally speaking. So maybe your services are there for those students. Maybe your services are there for those students who have got special. and the classroom is not a great place for them.

So you are designing something different. Your catering services, you are creating services to meet their needs. Maybe your services are for those children who are just lacking confidence and who need support in the every day skills. of getting through life, being organized, problem solving, having a goal at things, building that love of learning back up.

This brings me to my next point of your superpower. There might be 20 tutoring businesses in my area, but none of them are going to be exactly the same as me and my business. There might be some that are very similar, but none are going to be exactly the. Because you are different. The way you teach is different.

The subjects, the year levels are different. The way you even communicate and interact with parents is different, and that will set you aside. Not that that's something that you go out and advertise, that I interact with my parents differently to Joe Blog down the road, but you will inadvertently attract different people to you.

Your pricing will be different whether you run small groups or one-on-one. That will be different. Maybe you do during school hours. Maybe you have in-home services, maybe you are online. Maybe you are doing test preparation. Maybe you are doing transition from primary school to high school. Maybe you've only got qualified teachers working for you.

There are going to be things about you that are different to everybody else. That is so important to remember because there are people out there that need that unique makeup that you bring to the industry. When you are thinking about how many tutoring businesses or educational businesses that are providing services similar to you in your area, I want you to remember that some of these businesses have got wait lists.

Some of these students. Are struggling at school and they need you. And they need you because what you provide is unique. Now, the final thing that I want to mention here is that you might have families in your area who have got options to work with all of these other businesses, but maybe they've tried.

One down the road and it didn't work for them. But you open your doors and you are a fresh business with a fresh outlook, with different services and different superpowers, you are actually providing an opportunity for those families. To have a place to bring their children. Okay. What I want to do now is share some things that you can do when you are starting out to be seen in the market.

So to stand out in the tutoring industry, these are some of the things. So grab a pen and paper, take note, because these are super, super important. The first one is brand awareness. When you start your business, a common misconception is that I'm a teacher. I just started tutoring business. I say I've started a tutoring business.

Maybe I have a website or a Facebook page. I tell a couple of people about it and in six months time, I'll be making the same amount of money that I was making when I was in the classroom. It definitely doesn't work that way. There is more to. Yep, sure you might make that same amount in six months time, but there is much more to it that you need to do behind the scenes.

And the very first step is building brand awareness. So even before you build your brand awareness, you need to build your brand or establish your brand. And this is something that I help you do inside to, to bootcamp. But once you have your brand and you know what your business stands for, the personality of your brand, the colors, the fonts, the whole package.

Once you know that your first goal is to spread that everywhere, as many places as you can get it so that you become the person. Known for that particular niche or superpower. So for example, if you are working with gifted and talented students, your brand personality encompasses that. And then when I. As a parent, see your logo somewhere or see, you know, the colors of your logo somewhere, or a blurb from your website or something.

I associate that straight away with sessions for gifted and talented students or extension challenge sessions or whatever it is that you do. You want to be. The person in your area, you want to stand out and be known for what is so unique about you. What is so special about you? And it might be a couple of things and those will build over time.

But before you try to sell your sessions and get students in the door, you need to build brand awareness. Now, there might be incidental enrollments that you get from this, and that's fantastic. And to be honest, that's usually what happens. But your initial focus needs to be on telling people that you exist.

You can't expect to come into a market where there are at least 35 other tutoring businesses already established, already done the hard work and put their name out there and done their branding awareness. You are not going to poke through. You are not going to come through that market unless you actually push yourself in.

The next thing that I want you to do is tell everyone that you exist. Tell your friends, tell your family what you are doing. You might be thinking, oh, Kirsty, I don't wanna talk to my friends and family about it. They don't care, or they don't agree with what I'm doing, or I don't want them to judge me. Or What about if I tell them that I'm going to do this?

And then it fails. You have to stop thinking that. Okay. You are not going to get anywhere if you think that way. So little bit of tough love right now. You need to own what you are doing. If you want to be successful, you need to own that and talk about what you're doing. Be proud of what you're doing. If you are hiding in the corner, not telling anybody about your business and hoping that you can push into the market and build your brand awareness and attract.

Inquiries and then get students on board. You are absolutely dreamy. You need to tell people what you do and your friends and family is a great place to start. So I tell all of my clients that I work with, even if the first thing you do is share your Facebook page or your website on your personal page.

Now, that doesn't mean that you have to constantly be spamming people. That's not what it. . It's being proud of yourself and sharing what you do. You'll also be surprised, and if you've listened to me before I have said this, but you'll be so surprised at the number of people that you talk to who say, oh my gosh, that's so cool.

My son blah, blah blah. Just got his report card back and he really needs some help with his reading. Do you think you'd be able to help? That is how so many tutoring businesses actually start to build a bit of momentum is by having conversations with real people and them going, wow, you can solve my problem.

Let's work together. The other people that you could tell are school friends, so if you're still teaching, then obviously you need to respect your code of conduct and whatever rules are in place there, whatever contract you have. But if you've left the classroom, Or you've got friends at different schools or whatever you're allowed to do within your code of conduct boundaries, then tell other teachers what you're doing.

They are a great way of referring students onto you. Again, it might not happen straight away, but you're building awareness of your brand. So when a parent does come to them and say, oh, we really need a tutor, do you know of anybody? , you are the person that they think of, the other people that you want to tell about other local businesses in your area.

So this could be going down and building a relationship with your local cafe owner or other small businesses in your area and saying, Hey, I've just started up a tutoring business down the road. Just wanted to say hi. We do. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's a flyer. Can I pop this up? They might say yes or no, or Here's a poster.

Can I put this in your window? Do you mind if I give you my business card? That's ideal. That's like the best situation if you can leave something there for their customers to see. But worst case scenario, you've just told more people you exist and what you do, and they will tell more people what you do and that you exist.

The next thing is you want to have a presence online, so you want to have a website and you want to have your social. , even if it's just set up. So Facebook and Instagram, even if it's just set up at a bare minimum and has links to your website and has your bio describing what you do, that's the basics.

That's where you want to start, and then you can build from that over time. But having that online presence is really important in this day and age because. People want to see what you do and who you are before they get in touch with you. So like I said before, I did a really quick Google search for tutoring businesses in my area, and 35 did I say popped up, but I know for a fact of other tutoring businesses within that same area that did not pop.

Whether that is because they don't have a website or whether it is because they haven't linked properly to Google and got their little pin on the map, they're not being seen, so they're not being competitive in the industry. On that first page in Google, so you want to make sure you have an online presence so that people can actually find you, learn about you, see what you do, and then get in touch with you.

The next thing is signage. If you have a physical location, so whether it's from your house, whether you are subleasing somewhere, whether you have got an actual space that you put a lease down for, you want to have signage that can be seen as much as possible. So if it's just at my house, then it could be, you know, an A-frame thing that I put out the front every day so that people can easily find me.

But also, so when cars are driving past, they see what's happening. The same if I am subleasing, so maybe I've got a deal working with some other OTs or speeches and I'm subleasing one of their rooms. I've got my little A-frame sign that's set up out the front. Not only does it show people where to go, but all of those other families that come and go in those same services, no, I am in.

That has so many benefits. It's building awareness, which is our key when we're starting up our key focus. But also if those families are seeing those OTs and species and those types of people, it's very easy for them to come to you as well if they know that you are there. The other thing is they might not need you, but they might know of someone else who needs you.

Mom's talk, I mean, you know what, it's like you're sitting there having a conversation about, oh, how's such and such going? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good. This is happening. That's happening. Oh. How's your little one going? Yeah. Good. No, we've just got report cards back and not really doing so well. Then the first mom says, ah, I've just seen this really great tutoring business that's popped up.

It's in the same building as our speech therapist. You should definitely check it out. It's called blah, blah, blah. So that parent has almost just done that marketing for you. You want to be seen in as many places as you can. That is your very initial goal to break into the market The final. Is be unique.

You can't stand out if you are the same as everybody else. What is very hard to stand out if you are the same as everybody else, so your branding, don't copy anybody else. Make it your own thing. Your logo, your business name. Make them yours unique to your. All of your branding should stand out so that when people see those colors together or that logo, they know straight away that it's your business or that it's the name such and such business.

and that ties back in with your superpowers. You don't need to have every single superpower to be a successful tutoring business. In fact, if you've listened to my marketing masterclass that I do, you will know that to stand out, you want to have a superpower. Two maximum, but start with one and be unique with that.

I know of ladies who work with children who are dyslexic. I know ladies who work with children who are gifted and talented. I know ladies who work with year sixes transitioning to high school. Ladies who only do school readiness. Doesn't mean that they do that forever, but that's what they start with. To build up that reputation and awareness of who they are and what they do.

It's much, much easier than being more generalized and just casting a big net out there. Trying to say, I just do tutoring for everybody and cover all subjects in all areas and all ages. That's just like going to a GP when you need a specialized problem. If I'm a mom and I've got a student with reading concerns, I'm going to find the tutor who specifically helps with reading.

I'm not going to go to the general tutoring person. Does that make sense? If I have got a child who is absolutely killing it at school, just doing so well, but starting to get a little bit bored and you know, not really loving it as much as I used to. I'm going to find somebody who does some STEM stuff or does some gifted and talented sessions.

I'm not going to be going to the general tutoring business who does all ages, all subjects low to high grades. You have to be unique to stand. . All right. Hopefully that has helped you get past the thought that you may have had of there being too many tutoring businesses. Yes. Yes. There are a lot of tutoring businesses, but there are a lot of students who need your help, and if you think of how many tutoring businesses each of those businesses could actually serve, If you sit down and do all of that math, then you'll realize that there is 100% enough work out there for you to start your business and grow and be successful.

But you need to build your brand awareness. Tell everybody about you, get a presence online and be unique. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure you tag me. If you're listening, tag me on Instagram, send me a DM if you found this useful, if you've found it helpful, or if you have had that thought before about having too many tutoring businesses, I would absolutely love to hear from you.

If you enjoyed this episode today, I would absolutely love for you to leave a review. It only takes a minute, and if you haven't yet, Make sure you do to ensure that you never miss an episode. Finally, if you want to know more about what we do, head over to the website, kirsty gibbs.com or check out the link in the show notes below.

Thanks for listening. It's so great to have you here.