Private Tutor

Since classrooms are getting larger and larger, many students’ needs are getting overlooked. Your services may be needed to bring a struggling student up to speed. Perhaps the best part about this type of business is that it is recession-proof! As long as there are students, there will be a strong need for capable individuals to guide them to scholastic success. Determine where your area of expertise lies and meet with teachers in this subject to ask for referrals. Once you get a few clients, word of mouth will grow quickly. You may find that you need to network with other tutors to build referral systems of your own. At any rate, as a tutor you will find out the student’s needs (probably in a written report from her teacher) and develop lesson plans tailored to those specific needs. Try to make the lessons interesting and empower the student so that each success feels like her own.


Purchase a few used textbooks (preferably with teacher’s guides) and buy yourself some good books on learning challenges and motivation to succeed. To be a good inspiration to your student, you’ll need to demonstrate your own willingness to learn. Your only other start-up cost will be advertising, and that will generally stay under $500.


Encouraging a young student’s success while fostering a thirst for knowledge can be richly rewarding if you are genuinely interested in education. Helping a student overcome what seemed like an obstacle offers you—and the rest of the world— optimism about our own possibilities. Aside from an occasional obnoxious child, what’s there to hate about that?

Approx. cost of start-up:$500Approx. potential earnings:$15,000 to $20,000Typical fees: $10 to $20 per hour


Where to promote: Classified ads, Yellow Pages, word of mouth (school principals would be a good group to network with), banner ads on sites like www.craigslist.org


Qualifications: Teaching experience or degree in area of expertise


Things needed:None


Required staff:None


Hidden costs:Mileage