need help: want to start a tutoring service this fall

Test Preparation
1

<p>hi. I've had this idea in my head for a while to raise money for charity by becoming a tutor. After reading some of the Xiggi method thread, I see my credentials are quite lax. I'm a rising senior and have done little actual tutoring. I help out classmates on homework when I can and I've prepped 2 people on the SAT/ACT for 20-30 hours( bitterly failed one and I believed I helped the other (she moved to Lousiana the weekend of the ACT though). </p>

<p>well my plan. gather 10 or so of the brightest students (and assuming best tutors considering how they help people in class) at my school and assign them to various clients depending on their compatability with said clients. Lot's of legwork and lots of guesswork, but it's a bit flexible and I plan on offering a money back guarantee( since this is our first time doing this)</p>

<p>I plan to charge $20 an hour. may lower it to 15. half goes to tutor, half to chairty (tsunami victims)</p>

<p>here is some more info I saved in a word document (sorry for not editing, I'm late for work)</p>

<p>again, sorry for incoherancy. I know my writing sucks</p>

<p>My email response to a very kind person from the CC who offered some advice :</p>

<p>Your method for tutoring( work in smaller groups, charging smaller price, refining my methods) would be ideal, but my charity project is very time sensitive. I need to gather around 10 of the smartest people in my class ( and assuming best tutors from how they explain things to confused classmates) and start advertising around the 5th week of school (right before report cards come out). </p>

<p>I'll need to hit teachers, friends, and all manners of restaurants and businesses. I'm going to make a flyer I plan to make known in my city. I think it is vital to start at this precise time because otherwise I will lose A LOT of clients. When report cards come out I think parents can get emotional and do anything to make sure their kid doesn't get another 'C' or something.</p>

<p>I want to charge $20/ hour because I need a price that will satisfy both the tutors and my charity aim. I figure 10 will go to tutor and 10 will go to the tsunami victims. I think I will need to offer a money back guarantee .(had to look up how to spell that one too :-P). Also I set up each client with the tutor that I think best suits the tutoree's (not a word) learning pattern, behavior, and schedule. and if it doesn't work, the parent can call me and I can arrange for a different tutor (and some sort of compensation for wasted time and money). I guess another money back guarantee.</p>

<p>here is my project outline. it's quite long so you might want to read it later ( or not at all)</p>

<p>Tutoring network outline</p>

<p>well here's the plan</p>

<p>I'm hoping to set up a tutoring network this fall.
some basic info:
- I gather 10-20 of the smartest and best tutors (loose sense- they really explain classswork well to friends) at my school and offer tutoring services (the brag sheet is quite impressive- 10 top students in class of 650, 4-5 national merit scholars, person who scored 2350 on SAT, etc).<br>
- charge: $20 an hour for services
-half money ($10/ hour) goes to tutors and half goes to a charity( thinking tsunami victims).<br>
-done some projections and if all goes well I can raise $10,000 - $30,000 by the end of the school year.
- need to recruit students (they are all my friends). Hone my persuasion and communication skills and make clear the incentives of joining the team (money for them, money ofr charity, putting their amazing abilities to good use)
*already recruited 2.<br>
-one is a mexican male who has officially tutored in the past. effective communicator, very sociable person, quick wit, amazing perception skills,and one of the smartest people I know. loves guitar and women.<br>
- the other is a white female. ranked 3rd in class of 650. scored a 227 on PSAT and a 2350 on new SAT( perfect scores in both math and writing subsections) Extremely nice, honest when asked, can grasp difficult concepts while barely trying, and the smartest girl i know at my high school. loves dance and being smart.<br>
- need to do massive advertising at just the right moment. </p>

<p>basic outline:
- Beginning of year: beginning gestating ideas for advertisement and flyer. pay attention in classes to potential tutors (ask them how to do this math problem, explain this physics concept, etc)<br>
- end of 2nd week, beginning of 3rd. begin recruiting. I know each of these people I will be recruiting so tailor points to their wants and needs. Use people I've already recuited for reinforcement to persuade undecided.
-end of 3rd week. Invite everyone to Chili's restaurant to discuss plans and enjoy each other's company ( I'm paying). after we eat, I'll remind everyone why we are doing this, give them a basic packet on our mission and goals and entertain any questions or comments. Basically prep them for marketing of the product. also hand out profile sheets they will need to fill out. Also, tell tutors to begin passing the word around. (whenever appropriate mention their tutoring service, why they are doing it, how it would help others, etc). Friends who tell them how they are struggling in a class, parents of children they are babysitting, people they meet at church or at parties (less so hear). At this stage, it is just to get the word out, not to persuade clients
-end of 4th, beginning of 5th week. begin advertising. </p>

<p>Credentials and “sizzle”
The Tutoring Network</p>

<p>Employed:
-valedictorian
-saluditorian
- top 10 students of MHS senior class
- girl who scored a 2350 (50 points below a perfect score) on the new SAT more than happy to share her strategies for success
- winners of 90% of math and science awards awarded to class last year
- winner of computer science regional science fair competition
- 4 national merit scholars
- recepiant of AP national scholar award</p>

<pre><code> - By now the flyer will be completed ( a sleek sheet that effectively and efficiently explains our mission and states our credentials (and a contact number/email of course)).

- Ask teachers if we can put flyers up in classroom. Also ask teachers we are friendly with if they know of anyone interested in our services. And teachers we are very close to if they would pass the word about us
-ask if we can put up flyers in every restaurant in our city. Some businesses too. Put them up on telephone poles and other places people will see them.

</code></pre>

<ul>
<li><p>After parents receive shock of low report card grades:
- I expect phone calls and emails to come in. not sure if it will be too much or too little for us to handle.<br>
-Regardless, I will talk to each potential client, go to their homes, and observe and talk to the person to be tutored.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I’ll ask for some basic info on person to be tutored. What grade he is in, his interest in learning, his hobbies and interests, and a tentative schedule of the hours to be tutored (how many hours a week and when during that week).
-I’ll try to match him./her up with the tutor that would best suit his/her schedule and needs. </p>

<pre><code> -and it’s a miracle if get there.

</code></pre></li>
</ul>

<p>Problems:
* By the way, I live in Midland, texas.<br>
-I cant drive a car yet. Sad but true. I’m a senior and I just took driver’s ed. Going to take my test on Thursday. If I pass that, I will need to apply for a hardship. Does anyone know how difficult it is to get that? My parents work most of the time and can’t drive me to school. I work too. And I need to visit colleges in the fall ( I can get my license on Dec 02- way too late to get this project underway) . But my brother (goes to college in the adjacent city) drives me to school and I walk to work. Course I wont tell the person who interviews me for my hardship bout this. But if they ask……….I may be screwed. Anyone know anything that could help?<br>
- too many or too few clients. Not really sure how this advertising thing will work. If I do it right, we may get too many people for us to handle. If I do it wrong (maybe over saturation will make people hate us- telemarketers all over again) we may not get enough clients</p></li>
<li><p>too few or too many tutors. Problem derived from too many or too few clients. Unsolvable I guess.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Well that was long. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Critiques? Berating?</p>

<p>I want this to work.</p>

2

<p>Advertising is the most important thing regrarding tutoring. I am sure there are professionals in your area who does this for a living. So you have to distingish your group from rest of the pack. I would advertise in your school's news letter, local newspaper, etc. But do not over advertise, that gives off a bad image. So, I wouldnt suggest using the telephone as a way of advertising...because that generally annoys people. Try to focus on the charity part of your bussiness along with the fact that the group is student-based. Honestly, I dont think you will have a problem with too many customers.But in my opinion, it can be very successful if you do it right.</p>

3

<p>only one response. </p>

<p>thanks for the advice B_B. would putting up a lot of flyers be overadvertising?</p>

4

<p>My advice is to contact people who you think would be interested and tell them to spread the word.</p>

5

<p>Well, I guess your group should look professional. Flyers are a good way to advertise but dont just put them everywhere. You can just post the flyers at certain important places, like the your school, etc. Having a simple wesbite is good, there are a ton of free web hosting out there. This way, you can request to have a link of your website posted on the local high schools' website.
Since you are the "boss" of this project, you need to have a organized bussiness structure. Maybe one tutor is good at math while the other is good in writing, you need to identify the merits of your tutors and apply them to your customers. You need to start organize now and advertise the entire year- dont just focus on SAT dates, etc.
Just a thought, maybe you should charge a little less or make the service free and ask donations instead. Because if parents see good results in their child's performance, they will express their gratitude in a fairly good monetray value.
And good luck...</p>

6

<p>why isn't anyone responding........</p>

<p>So how much is too much advertising? I know posting around school and passing by word of mouth to teachers is a must, but would it hurt to post flyers at restaurants and businesses?</p>

<p>I dont think I want to go any less than 15. u and I both know even grateful parents won't give that much (at least not as much as 7.50 an hour).</p>

<p>and I'm currently organizing my business structure. In my head............ I know the people pretty well and can identify a lot of their strengths and weaknesses. Need to work on persuasion skills b4 I actually talk to people (and I think I'll wait till school starts to ask em).</p>

7

<p>Depending on where you live, you might want to set a lower price. Where I live, tutors with masters degrees get $25 an hour. Most h.s. students also tutor for free and get volunteer credit for doing so. I wouldn't pay a h.s. student more than $15 an hour, and that student would need to be stellar.</p>

<p>I think that people who get tutors would be most interested in making sure that the tutor is effective, not whether or not part of the proceeds go to charity. For that reason, I don't know if your project will be an effective one when it comes to raising $ for tsunami victims.</p>

8

<p>Back that.</p>

9

<p>I live in Midland. that's in west texas. it's an oil town with a lot of mid-upper class white students whose parents put them in honor's classes. Most of them dont really care bout school but try nonetheless. I think the Princeton review SAT course is semi popular (I know of 3 or 4 peopel who took it). they say all they do is take tests there (worth thousands of dolars huh?). </p>

<p>so do u think $15 /hour is still too much?</p>

<p>I am very active in helping my friends out on schoolwork. For most of the past two years I've helped people study or understand their homework in most classes. I even ask peopel if they need help when I am really bored. I also have a very strong repuation with the majority of my teachers as a curius and vorocious learner who wants to understand and help others understand. </p>

<p>I also have a tendancy to analyze something until I understand it enough to explain to someone else. I did that a lot for physics this year. I spend 20-30 hours (maybe more) helping my friends understand physics homework. It was technically a physics study group but I always did all the homework beforehand and then showed everyone else how to do it . Most people were satisfied with my explanations. I think they were even better or just as good as my phenomenal teacher's (not tooting my horn or anything- it was a smaller group, I recently learned HOW to do the work, and people weren't afraid to ask questions)</p>

10

<p>In my city, some charge $40 an hour...yikes</p>

<p>If you have a good reputation, go back to your middle school and approach some of the teachers and parents...you don't need to focus on highschoolers only, many people want their kids to get ahead in math science etc. </p>

<p>My D loved math, and we had a tutor get her even further ahead...school math was too easy, so she learned more. As well, she needed to take an entrance exam for private highschool, so some extra math work helped</p>

<p>Where we live, the math is moving faster than the teachers can often keep up....</p>

<p>The girl we used handed out fliers which included her resume after school to the parents, another passed them out at sporting events, if you look respectable and clean cut, you should do fine.</p>

<p>Something else, can you get to peoples houses, that was what sold uson our tutor, she came to us!!</p>

11

<p>Okay I just saw the not drive part...sometimes my D met tutor at a quiet coffee shop or used a room in a library...or a store like Borders with tables, it give the parents something to do while waiting</p>

12

<p>I hope and pray I can get a hardship ( can drive by myself b4 the 6 month limit).</p>

<p>thanks citygirlsmom . those are some good ideas. never thought about going back to middle school</p>

<p>did u read the part where I'm trying to gather up a lot of my friends ( to maximize revenue) ? that changes things a littl.e I think for the better. cuz if one tutor is not compatable with a student, I can assign him/her another one</p>

13

<p>I just thought of a way to get a lot of clients. I'm going to start advertising around mid september, so I can offer free lessons for the entire month of septemeber. It's a calculated risk b/c I will still be paying the tutors, but I think I'll make back the money from all the clients who decide to stay on board</p>

14

<p>A good idea is advertise heavilly on your credentials.</p>

15

<p>planning to do that = )</p>

16

<p>citygirlsmom, did your tutor teach your daughter high school math (alg II, geometry, calculus) or more interesting math not learned in school (number theory, etc) ?</p>