Feb. 17, 2020 by Kelly

Trying to maintain a balance between having a competitive price while still valuing your skills and time can be challenging. It is important to remember that although a student may appreciate a competitive price, setting your price too low may inadvertently imply the quality of service a student could expect. Here are a few suggestions in helping you financially maximizing your time while still offering a reasonable rate.

1. Offer Dual Sessions:

Most tutors work with students 1:1. However, tutoring in a small group format (2:1) can double your hourly rate while allowing you to maintain a competitive price. Most tutors spend about half of their session “waiting” for students to complete an assignment, read a passage, or practice math problems. During this time, a tutor could give instruction to another student. Students often enjoy having another student present as it minimizes the anxiety that sometimes comes from knowing that someone is waiting for you to finish. Grouping students based on age or curriculum will allow you to efficiently tutor without sacrificing the quality of your tutoring.

2. Choose a Centralized Location:

By choosing a public, centralized location - like a library – you can tutor back-to-back hours without losing drive time in between. Having students come to you saves not only time but gas. Additionally, libraries have a plethora of resources that can enhance the quality of your tutoring without having to purchase the items for personal use.

3. Condense Your Schedule:

When creating your schedule, select a few days a week and funnel your students to those days rather than spread your tutoring out over a 5-7 day week. Tutoring back-to-back hours a few days a week minimizes time spent per week traveling to and from your tutoring location.

4. Respect Your Time: 

The most precious asset you have in life is time. It is important to consider this when determining your cancellation policy. By allowing frequent or last-minute cancellations, you lose money and potentially time. You are a professional. Your time is valuable and should be respected. Informing families ahead of time about your policy and remaining consistent in its enforcement will ensure a more reliable schedule. Reliability will allow you to maximize the amount of money you can earn with the schedule you have set. Of course, there will be times when cancellations are justified. But as a general rule, respect your time by holding to a consistent, reasonable cancellation policy.

Adopting these strategies can help you financially maximize your tutoring time without charging an inflated rate. By valuing your time, you improve the professional approach you have for your tutoring business.