There are languages that are spoken by more people in the world than English, but still this is the language that is considered to be the universal language throughout the world. Hence it has become a mandatory skill to know English especially if you are travelling, for professional or even tourism purposes. Good English skills are also an essential part of students’ assessment examinations while they are applying for universities abroad. English is also the dominant language on the world wide web too.
Before the coronavirus wreaked havoc on a global scale hindering every industry’s growth, the live language coaching classes were having a great impact on the students and it showed good results as well. But with the onslaught of the covid-19 the need to develop an effective online tutoring software became the need of the hour. As studied by the TEFL academy by the year 2025, the English language market is predicted to grow at a rate of 7.1% which amounts to an impressive 54.5 billion US dollars.
And for those who are thinking about getting into this business there cannot be a better assurance prediction than this.
Through this brief article we will help you realise this dream of yours and try and assist you in your endeavour on how to start a tutoring business?
Table of Contents
1. Know your audience:
First things first- you need to know your audience. Your whole course work depends on what kind of student base you are targeting to reach out to. Because the planning of the course material, scheduling, tutors, course fee etc. depends on this aspect. Hence you need to first decide who your target audience is going to be. These are some basic pointers on which you can decide which type of audience you want to attract towards your virtual English tutorials.
a) Their age
b) Their academics
c) Their geographic location
d) Their native language
e) Their level of English proficiency
f) Their aim for the course registration etc.
2. Choose your niche:
Agreed that teaching English online is what you want to build a business with, however, there are different purposes people look forward to while they sign up with you. Some may be looking to just get good at spoken English, some might want to strengthen their foundation and grammar, some might be interested in your tutorials as they might be aspiring to take up competitive entrance exams and many more. So, carefully research every niche and see which interests you and you will be able to get an assured return on investment and then choose your niche. You can also choose to be multiple niched.
3. Formulate a business plan:
This is the toughest part of any online teaching business. The lack of student – teacher interaction makes it not only tough on the teacher’s part to be able to maintain and challenge their class but also on the students, especially when it comes to learning languages. Without proper and sufficient interaction, it is very tough to get the accent, phonetics and the pronunciations right. There are basically three types of business models that will help your amp up your online English tutorials.
a) MOOC (Massive Open Online Course): A regular online class format
b) Flipped Classroom Language Learning: A model where students are initiated into active learning with periodic assistance from the tutors
c) Blended Language Learning: A mix of pre-recorded and live tutoring classes
4. Draft a revenue model:
Once you are set with your business plans, next is to draft your revenue model. There are many ways in which you can route monetary funds into your online business. Here are a few that will help you gain good returns.
a) Membership or Subscription fee model
b) Fee for one-on-one classes
c) Fees based on certification and study materials
d) Charge an hourly course rate
e) Charge tutors for advertising or banner publishing etc.
You should also be clear on the types of payment gateways you will integrate into your online tutoring software. Some people might prefer direct bank transfer, some other modes such as google pay or paytm etc. hence you need to accommodate all the types of payment into your platform.
5. Decide what and how you want to teach:
The curriculum is what helps attract the required student base and help in them retain and also their expansion. Keeping in mind your target audience you need to build a curriculum. Setting the curriculum is the most complex part as you need to inculcate so many factors, ranging from time management to conducting assessments and calculating the progress of each and every student. All these might get a bit overwhelming hence you will need to develop your learning platform with a robust LMS (Learning Management System). This will take care of all the previously mentioned points.
There are many ways through which you can conduct your online classes. Either develop an in-built video and audio streamer or you can also rely on other applications like zoom, skype, google meet etc.
6. Develop your online tutoring platform:
Though this might seem like a herculean task this is actually the simplest task of all. People are often assumptions that in order to develop one’s own application (virtual or not) they must be adept with the knowledge of coding and all the technical aspects relating to it. But you can develop an application with us without the technical knowhow. Here are the two ways in which you can get your online tutoring software up and running.
a) Developing on your own from scratch or by hiring a tech team
b) Purchasing an already developed application, aka a turnkey solution
7. Promoting your online English teaching business:
Last but the most important part of any business, new or old is marketing. This is the only way that you can get the desired visibility. With the advancing technology and its many advantageous features, you need to leverage the medium to promote your business. Here are the most effective ways to market yourself-
a) Social media marketing
b) Multimedia marketing
c) SEO technique
d) Influencer marketing
e) Content marketing etc.
Now is the right time for you to step into the world of online teaching. Take it slow, and do your due diligence regarding every aspect of your business endeavour. This article covers all the essential aspects of starting a teaching business online. But, if you need any kind of further assistance with developing and executing your online platform do reach out to us and we will help you in any way possible.
