Setting Fees
Money is always a contentious issue. Tutors need and indeed want to be paid. Yes, many do tutoring in addition to their normal day-to-day teaching job because they desire to help students to achieve success. Some do the additional hours tutoring as they need the extra money that tutoring brings in. Since tutoring is not an ‘easy’ option as it involves preparation, the time spent actually tutoring, possibly travelling or having the student attend at your own premises, reporting, recording, assessing and accounting it is not exactly a role to undertake lightly.
Wherever in the world you are based there will be a rough figure for tutoring in your area that is the ‘going rate’ charged by the majority of tutors. Research this figure yourself before you start tutoring.
It can be very tempting to price yourself at a level significantly lower than the normal market rate as you assume that it will win you more tutoring clients. After all what parent doesn’t want, or in this day and economic climate need, to cut expenses. In the short term you may indeed win many clients who see significant savings flash before their eyes. However, in the long term you are only storing up potential problems in the months or years ahead.
By undercutting the market rate you are devaluing your own worth and very likely giving off signals that say, ‘I’m not worth the going rate!’ Obviously that is not the impression that you want to give your clients or potential clients.
It is easy to say to yourself that you will charge a lot less for your services when you are new to tutoring and just starting out. After all you can raise your rates once you are more experienced. Can’t you? Well, in fact if people are used to paying you a lower rate than average and you decide that you want to start charging the actual market rate then you may find that your clients start looking around for a tutor who is starting out and charging less like you originally did. After all by putting yourself in the position where you are going to have to raise your fees significantly current clients will not look kindly on such a change and potential clients (who may have heard that you were ‘really cheap’) will be put off from contacting you. After all if you are making one major rate change what is to stop you doing the same again in the future?
Just because you are charging less for your tutoring services does not mean that you can expect to give a lesser service or to put in less effort, time and resources. Regardless of your fee level clients will still expect a high quality and professional service for their money. You will have to work just as hard for your smaller fee as if you had charged the proper local rate.
Researching Fees
Ring around local tutors in your area. You do not need to divulge that you are wishing to start your own tuition service as they will be used to receiving enquiries from potential clients. Create a list of possible questions that a potential client would ask a tutor when looking to hire one and ask those questions. This will mean you will have a good understanding of what other tutors in your area charge and offer in terms of service.
Don’t forget to include tuition companies as well as private individuals. Do they offer any additional benefits to the service over and above those offered by individuals? How do their charges compare?
Setting Your Fees
Once you know the charges of other tutors in your local area you can then set your own fee level. I have always gone with the average for my local area. For regular clients I often offer loyalty bonuses such as 10% discount for tuition in certain terms or holidays. I have also used a scheme whereby if they book and pay for a set number of lessons in advance then they get a reduced rate or an extra lesson free both of these methods have worked well for me at different times.
At the end of the day your fee levels are up to you. There is nothing to stop you charging different rates for different levels if you are tutoring across a wide age range.
Tutoring is not a way to earn easy money. Indeed actually asking for payment can be quite hard. If you have done your research, set your fees and display them on your website, adverts, business cards, flyers etc then your charges will not come as a shock to prospective clients.
Next time: Terms and Conditions
