In the realm of education, the pursuit of wealth is seldom the driving force behind our unwavering passion. As dedicated educators, we wholeheartedly embrace our roles as champions of knowledge and mentors to our students. However, the demands of the profession often leave us grappling with burnout, yearning for greater control over our time and energy. This realisation has sparked a growing trend among educators as they explore alternative avenues within the private sector, seeking opportunities to unlock passive income streams. Rather than perpetually trading our time for money and stretching ourselves thin, we possess a vast reservoir of expertise waiting to be harnessed. Join us as we delve into the world of passive income options specifically tailored for tutors, where we can thrive both personally and professionally.
Defining Passive Income
Before we embark on this transformative journey, it’s essential to understand the true meaning of passive income. Contrary to popular belief, it does not imply a complete absence of work. In fact, most of the effort is invested at the outset, making things appear worse before they get better. The term “passive” refers to the liberation from the conventional model of selling time for money — a familiar practice in service-based industries. Although the upfront investment of time and/or money is required, passive income ultimately grants us the freedom to reclaim our time in the long run.
Breaking Free from the Time-for-Money Trap
Tutoring often confines us to selling our time, placing a cap on our income potential and the number of students we can assist. However, we possess a wealth of knowledge and experience that extends far beyond the limitations of one-on-one sessions. By introducing passive income streams into our professional profiles, we can amplify our impact and share our expertise with a wider audience. Seasoned educators likely possess a treasure trove of valuable content that can be repurposed and shared through various platforms with just a little time invested in polishing it for a broader audience.
Discovering Your Unique Path to Passive Income
Passive income need not be limited to tutoring-related endeavours. Many tutors possess marketable skills beyond their educational support, presenting additional avenues to add value and generate income. Take a moment to reflect on your expertise and ask yourself: What areas do I have more knowledge and insight in than the average person? By brainstorming and exploring your areas of interest, expertise, and audience needs, you can identify potential passive income ideas that align with your passions and capabilities.
Transforming Knowledge and Assets into Passive Income Products
There are numerous ways to convert your knowledge and assets into lucrative passive income products. Consider some of these options:
Renting out physical space or property
Creating digital information products
Establishing memberships/subscriptions
Exploring affiliate marketing
Engaging in wholesale or craft sales
Exploring investment opportunities
Don’t limit yourself to just one option—having multiple streams of passive income not only diversifies your earnings but also strengthens your financial stability. Take that crucial first step today and start building your passive income empire.
Learn more about Passive Income Options for Tutors
Incorporating passive income into your tutoring business model can revolutionise the longevity of your venture, enhance your energy management, and enable you to support a greater number of students. It’s a win-win situation for educators and the clients we serve. If you’re eager to explore the potential of passive income in your tutoring business, we invite you to check out our upcoming course, “Passive Income Options for Tutors.” This comprehensive course covers essential topics such as selecting your unique passive income idea, customer research, building an online audience, setting up effective sales funnels, and valuable automation and tech tips. Upgrade your skills and seize the opportunity to thrive in the world of passive income by purchasing the course at the introductory rate of £50 GBP through this link: https://georginagreen.thrivecart.com/passive-income-options-for-tutors/?ref=blog.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, its that no one achieves anything by themselves. Elvis had Colonel Tom Parker, Beyonce had Destiny’s Child, and Lewis Hamilton had Anthony Hamilton.
Now I’m not saying we’re about to start winning any golden awards (although you might) but growing a business is still pretty epic and it takes more than a few helping hands along the way.
My business started back in 2012 when I was still working full time in a laboratory role and renovating my home. I have had the support of several business coaches along the way, as well as managers in my employment, my tutor team, virtual assistants, my family, and various contractors. But the really aligned and consistent growth happened when I made a concerted effort to grow my network and meet other small business owners on the same journey as me.
Now that I’m on this side of it, it seems so obvious. But for a long time I didn’t know anyone else in business. I found all of my answers from Google, from watching what other people did, or from spending money on training. And so I didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas around with over a cuppa, or to be really honest with about how hard it is to grow a business from scratch.
There were many times when I considered packing it all in and just sticking with paid 9-5 employment (the horror). When inevitable roadblocks hit, I looked to those I could see in business from the outside, and their apparently effortless success made me feel like I was wasting my time.
But here’s the ‘shocker’ – it isn’t easy for anyone. When we have others in our corner who not only understand our challenges but understand the solutions they give us the boost we need to deal with those roadblocks. It doesn’t get easier. We get stronger when we’re not trying to do it all alone.
And what’s more, connecting to others in the business world is a great addition to your marketing strategy. These folks have an engaged audience of your target market? Why wouldn’t we want to connect with them.
So where do we find our Destiny’s Child?
Online communities.
The internet has opened up a whole world of connectivity that we can dive right into. But while there’s a party for everyone, we don’t want to be part of everyone’s party.
These are the places I go to find my Business Bestie Boosters.
Tutors Need Tutors
Of course I lean on my own community within Facebook. These folks have been by my side since March 2020 and they give me a daily pep boost. Initially launched to support classroom teachers with the transition to online working, the group has grown massively since 2020, and the members are always ready to support each other. The ethos that it was started with has spread through the community, so it is extremely rare that we experience any negativity in there.
There’s now a library of resources around tech that you can use for online lessons, filling your calendar with customers, and business advice from guest experts I’ve worked with in the past. If you’re a tutor, there’s something in there for you.
The Love Tutoring Community is the internets educator love-in. Not only is it bursting with positivity and encouragement for all of its members, but there are always wonderful things being organised by the LTC team that you won’t want to miss out on.
And even better, they organise in person events so that you can meet up with other educators in real life. Do you remember those days?
They offer masses of value to their free community and to their members. If you are an educator, or involved in the world of education, you will want to get involved.
I’ve been working with Kimba since very early on in my business journey, when she ran a course on using Instagram to grow your business. Kimba’s training and delivery method suited my scientific mind. She’s organised, honest, and very motivated to add value.
Since then, Kimba has established the Online Growth Club (KOGc), with a library of training resources and an online community all designed to support small business owners in growing their business.
Kimba always adds a fun element to her courses and trainings, and it was no surprise when she set up her gamification business. The networking events within the Instagram course and the Online Growth Club were the inspiration for the fun sessions at the Love Tutoring Festival. Kimba knows how to bring the right level of fun, inspiration, and focus.
The Online Growth Club is only open for new members at specific times of the year, but Kimba is generously offering the chance to sneak a peak at what a KOGc networking event looks like. She’s opened up the next networking event happening 12pm BST 4th May for anyone to join in.
The membership is usually £47 per month, but you can join the event for just £5, or £9 to include a trial of KOGc. That means that you can attend the same networking event as me for less than I am paying 😉 Come and smirk at me through Zoom.
I actually often hate networking events because of the many stuffy conferences I attended in my past employment. But I really enjoyed the KOGc socials. Kimba plans activities that will bring everyone in but not put anyone on the spot. Lots of fun and totally non-cringy, which is what I worry about when I join networking events.
Tutoring is becoming more widespread, and it’s a wonderful thing to see. I have seen a corresponding growth in resources, tools, and training for personal tutors. Alongside this, it can be a challenge for a parent to connect with a suitable tutor as I see requests for a tutor inundated with a variety of offers as soon as they are shared. How can parents choose the right tutor for their child and know that their investment will pay off?
Skills Verification
There are no qualifications required to be a tutor, and this is one of the main qualms in choosing a tutor. The usual response to this is to choose a qualified teacher. While this means that they are training in pedagogy it does not mean that they are qualified to tutor. The two are different specialisms, and it is well worth digging deeper than this.
Many parents are unaware that there is in fact a Qualification for Tutors available from Qualified Tutor. This covers:
Unit 1: CPD Safeguarding
Unit 2: Relationship Matters
Unit 3: The Learning Loop
Unit 4: Barriers for Learning: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Mental Health
Unit 5: Powerful Feedback
The training is specifically focused on one to one or small group tuition, which is a different skill to classroom teaching.
All of the Green Tutors team are provided with this training. We also contribute to the training and discussions in building resources for tutors with Qualified Tutor.
Alongside this training, Qualified Tutor provide Skills Audits to confirm that tutors have the required subject, examination, and curriculum knowledge to support their students. This verification from an external training provider can give you absolute confidence to choose a tutor qualified in what they offer.
Safety First
Working in the private sector also means there is no requirement for safeguarding or criminal records checks before someone can start working as a tutor. This is something that professional tutors are well aware of and take seriously, and I encourage you to ask for proof of a DBS certificate and Safeguarding training.
The Tutors Association is a professional membership body for tutors providing criminal records checks and a code of conduct for tutors. All tutors signed up to this organisation have agreed to a code of conduct which requires them to practise safe and responsible tutoring. This is something that TTA takes seriously and any tutor found not to be holding to this will have their membership revoked.
Ask to see a DBS certificate (Disclosure and Barring Service) and Safeguarding Training certificate issued within the last 12 months before scheduling any appointments with your potential tutor. This is something that all Green Tutors have and yet no parent has ever asked me to share them in all of my time tutoring (since 2011). This simple step can help you to identify a professional tutor.
Community Referrals
Those tutors most committed to professional development and responsible tutoring are part of an online tutoring community. There are many, including the Love Tutoring Community, Tutors Need Tutors, and the Tutors Learning Network. I am a contributing member of all of these communities (and founder of Tutors Need Tutors) and have learned much more through the connections these have allowed with other tutors than in any of my previous training. While community is not a requirement of a professional tutor, it is certainly a green flag for responsible tutoring. Being able to choose a tutor referred to you by an existing tutor in these communities should give you even more confidence in their standard of tutoring.
Choose a Responsible Tutor
While anyone can set themselves up as a tutor, responsible tutoring shows and will be reflected in their reputation and practices.
Does your tutor communicate with you exactly what to expect from lessons?
Do they support your child with their studies outside of lessons, and encourage them to build independence?
Are they helping to identify goals for their progress, and encouraging a positive attitude to learning?
Responsible tutoring ultimately leaves the tutor redundant as a sign of success. We aim for our students to not need us anymore, and the sooner that can happen, the better we have done our job.
The long term pay off from this is that clients will sing our praises and will be happy to refer us to their friends.
If your tutor is not able to share stories and referrals from happy customers despite claiming to have experience in the industry, there is likely a reason for this.
This is not to say that you can’t trust a new tutor. They will also be learning as they go, but their commitment to responsible tutoring can easily be demonstrated by any of the previous points made – community membership, safeguarding training, DBS certificates, and relevant qualifications.
Specialism
While there are many qualified, responsible tutors, we are all different. Each tutor will offer a different service, a different relationship, and a different journey for your child. You should look for those with a specialist interest in the tuition you need. There are 11+ tutors, exam skills coaches, STEM tutors, SEND tutors, retired teachers, student tutors, dyslexia and dyscalculia specialists, teachers turned tutors, and many more.
Who is the best fit for your child?
What do they need?
Rates
“How much do I charge for tutoring?” is a question I see asked pretty much weekly. There isn’t an answer for that question. Much like everything else in the private sector, it tends to increase with qualifications, experience, and the fullness of your calendar.
It is important to know what your budget can stretch to, as tutoring is often a long term commitment. You get what you pay for, but if you are happy to invest in a student for long term support, it can be worthwhile for your child to grow with them.
The below is a very rough idea of the sorts of prices for one to one tutoring in the UK.
Green Tutors pay scale
If you’re looking to connect with a tutor, a great place to start is the Qualified Tutor Accredited Tutor Directory. All of the tutors in this directory have been assessed against the International Tutoring Framework, and have been found to meet the gold standard for tutoring businesses committed to delivering the highest quality tuition.
As we come to the end of the year, thoughts naturally fall to plans for the new year. This post-Christmas week is one of my favourite times of year for that very reason. There are no expectations, schools are closed, students are on holiday, and my time is entirely my own. It’s the perfect time for some thinking and planning.
In this blog I share my annual planning process for my tutor business, and some resources to help you with your annual tutor business plan.
What is your financial goal?
When it comes down to it, we all need to pay the bills. Tutors aren’t generally in it ‘for the money’ as there are many more affluent online business models, but there’s no shame in having a financial goal.
Do you know much money you need to earn this year in order to comfortably pay your bills, and take yourself on holiday, plus whatever else you want to do? Spend a few minutes jotting it all down, and perhaps check your monthly bank statements to work out how much you’re spending each month.
Don’t forget to make a note of your regular business expenses here. They’re often overlooked when it’s one off software costs, or a stationary top up. But note them all down because they all add up to wondering where your money went.
Bear in mind also that costs tend to grow as businesses grow, so if you’re making big plans this year you may need to upgrade your software or bring in new staff to manage it. This will also add up to more spending, so make a note of it.
When you have your total income goal here from all of these elements, we need to consider tax. I tend to add a third of this entire amount on again to account for tax. Of course it varies, but that’s a reasonable rough estimate.
How many hours are you hoping to work?
If you were to generate this income by one to one tuition, would this be possible? How many lessons are you prepared to sell each week? The chances are this would be more than you are hoping to work each week. Especially when you consider planning, admin, marketing, and development time.
In order to achieve this financial goal, do you need to add in some passive income options?
Do you work with others, as an employment business? How many hours do you need to sell through this business to meet your goals?
Spending the time setting out a plan to include all of these elements will give you a much better chance of achieving that financial goal. You may need to set aside some time up front to develop resources to sell, but that time investment will lead to a stable source of income down the road, and so is well worthwhile.
Will you need to seek out help to achieve this? It is best to factor that in early too, as you may need to budget for it. If you are recruiting tutors, that can take some time too, so start early and set up a rigorous training plan for them.
Prioritise your projects
You may well have lots of ideas for ways to boost your income in 2023. How do you know where to start?
I start by sorting all of my ideas from most passive to least passive. Passive options require the least time for money earned. This is a valuable way to secure regular income without committing yourself to working lots of additional hours. It makes sense to start with these and give your income a boost, so you have more flexibility to invest in future plans.
Are there any costs associated? Will you need to invest in software or manpower for this project? What will it cost? Factor that into your expenses to make sure they don’t make a dent in your income. This can also help you with setting the price for your product or service, as that can be difficult with passive income projects.
What income goals can you predict achieving with this project? Once you’ve set a price, how many sales will you need to make to achieve your goal? When you break that down monthly and/or weekly does it feel achievable? It must not be overwhelming, so you may need to make adjustments. The idea is to make progress and not to burn yourself out.
Break it down into high level steps
When you have picked your first project, consider the tasks you have to schedule to deliver it. What timeline can you deliver them on? Consider these at a high level initially, to plan them into your timeline. You can add the details later when it comes time to deliver them.
How much time are you planning to work each week? Are you planning to take a holiday? Don’t overcommit your time. Factor this all into your calculations so that you don’t fall behind schedule, or take your laptop on holiday with you!
With all of this considered, do you have time to fit these in? If not, perhaps you need to stretch out your timeline, or seek support to deliver it.
Consider your wellbeing
With all of these elements you need to consider your wellbeing. Your plans should make time for work, rest, and play each week. Life is not all about working and you will soon lose interest in your goals if you are not also supporting your health, and spending time with your loved ones.
If you’re not already planning a holiday, perhaps you should schedule something for 2023.
Do you have family commitments? Are you hoping to attend the school play, or football matches at the weekend? Schedule them into your diary and make work fit around them. Last minute panic may push you into decisions that you’ll later regret. Schedules help to prevent this.
I hope this helps you to feel better about 2023. If you are working on your annual plan, you can get a copy of my spreadsheet template here so you don’t have to start from scratch.
Maths Anxiety is defined by the Maths Anxiety Trust as a negative emotional reaction to mathematics, leading to varying degrees of helplessness, panic and mental disorganisation that arises among some people when faced with a mathematical problem.
As you can imagine, this doesn’t allow students to perform at their best in maths papers or in lessons. Students with maths anxiety often relate this difficulty to deliver in maths papers to a general failure on their part and tend to move away from maths as a whole.
For students experience maths anxiety, it can present as negative self-talk (I can’t do this, I’m stupid) and cognitive overload (brain fog) when presented with a mathematical challenge. They may also experience physical symptoms of anxiety (tension, headaches, dizziness, stomach cramps, sweating). Generally the whole experience is very unpleasant, and so understandably leads to avoidant behaviours. These may be described as disruptive in a classroom environment (back talking to the teacher, comedy interruptions, storming out, repeated absence, truancy, temper tantrums, shutting down, copying, talking when asked to listen).
Initial assessments
When a student with anxiety reaches out for support, those students are often quite anxious about their initial session. That can present in a number of ways as described above. In those situations, it is far better to avoid anything that looks or feels like an exam. This already has negative connotations for the student. The physiological response they would experience in this scenario is similar to my having inflicted physical pain on them. We are trying to build trust and confidence rather than torturing them. Instead I opt for a verbal assessment, and we discuss the content they remember covering in class.
I always start out by getting to know my student. If they’re anxious around maths, we won’t talk about that (at least not obviously) at all at the beginning. Ask them what they enjoy, ask them how school went this week. Ask them what they would like to do in the next stage of their learning, or anything else that means them talking about themselves and the things that make them happy. Whatever they say, find a genuine way to be enthusiastic about it and relate to them. Do be genuine, as they’ll spot fakery and it’ll damage trust. By talking about things they enjoy, you’re already putting them into a good mood and building a connection with them.
Identifying the source of anxiety
Asking the student about their memory of maths lessons (in the context of identifying a topic) can lead them into a discussion of their emotional experience too if they’re feeling comfortable to share. I encourage this, and it allows me to normalise the experience for them. This will hopefully remove some of the isolation and judgement they may be feeling. Acknowledge what they’re feeling, and share that many students feel maths anxiety. It is not their fault, but it is something that can be overcome. I don’t make any false promises though – nothing happens without hard work on their part. I have my own experiences with anxiety, so I can relate to their experiences here.
It may also lead us to identify the source of their anxiety, if they’ve had a particularly bad experience. Often there is no single event, but a boiling pot of anxiety that has built up over time. The aim is to enable them to understand their emotional, physical, and mental experiences separately. I want to separate their anxiety from their comprehension. Without the requirement for delivering in this initial session (an informal chat) the hope is to identify their ‘wins’ and start to show them there is a more positive path for their future learning.
Building confidence for exams
Exams are often an anxiety trigger for these students. This is why we don’t start with a test, but they are an unfortunately staple part of the learning experience. Over time, we work to build confidence so that the exams are less daunting by the time they come around.
Can you remember a time that you had to do something that terrified you, and you overcame it and did it anyway? The chances are that it took up a lot of your mental energy in the process. And I’ll bet that after having done it you had a moment of elation. Sharing that with your student will help them to relate to you. It will also show them what they can achieve if they are willing to invest the mental energy up front.
The eternal confidence Catch-22 is that confidence comes from taking action. We very often wait to feel confident enough to do something before we start. We are left in a constant state of inaction which only confirms the ‘I can’t do this’ idea. We need to take one or two steps out of the ‘comfort zone’ to the ‘growth zone’.
Where is the growth zone?
The important thing to remember here is that going too far out of our comfort zone (boredom, no challenge, distraction) leads us into overwhelm (avoidance, panic, refusal). This is where those anxiety symptoms of brain fog and physical discomfort return. This is where our negative self-talk gathers more evidence for itself. It is so important to be supported in these steps so that students remain in the growth zone (asking questions, self-doubt, visible progress over time). They should be repeatedly shown evidence of their success.
You can also get a free copy of The Ultimate Guide to Exam Success, plus more helpful information like this, by signing up at https://subscribepage.io/greentutors.
Green Tutors pay scale
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