Side Hustle: Teaching Online
Avoid These 3 Common Mistakes If You Want To Build A Successful Online Teaching Business
Avoid overwhelm & losing money
Going solo as a teacher without the support of a school and regular income behind you can be a daunting task. Many have tried and failed and gone back to a regular job or given up teaching altogether. If you are thinking of teaching English as a side hustle or you want to branch out and get your own students, then read on.
I’ve been getting my own students for a few years now. I’ve learnt the hard way and made some costly mistakes like buying courses that promised to deliver only to find out they were all hot air and pretty friggin useless. And signing up for expensive coaching that didn’t deliver because the coaches had no idea about the teaching industry. I seriously recommend you don’t go down those paths. Buy slowly and get some experience first.
So let’s have a look at 3 common mistakes that are going to hold you back.
1. The Wrong Mindset
Teachers are some of the loveliest and most dedicated people on the planet. They are motivated to help others and often put their heart and soul into helping others succeed. Which is often why they fail to get their own students or retain them long term.
In order to be successful at getting your own students, you have to change your mindset from being a teacher to being an entrepreneur.
This requires you to switch perspectives and stop acting like Mr. Nice guy and start acting like a person who has a clear business plan and well defined, achievable business goals.
A teacher that I know would often run over in the sessions. Frequently sessions were 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour. This is crazy.
Not only does it mean your lessons are not well planned, it is also disrespectful of the other person’s time and extremely bad for your profits. Some students might be happy to get double what they paid for. On the other hand, they might be annoyed that they have to spend longer than planned every lesson. The teacher got very few repeat customers, which is a clear indication something was wrong.
Changing your mindset doesn’t mean you stop delivering value. Far from it! It means you deliver value in the time allotted. This means creating a clear schedule. Having your pricing worked out, and a well-defined cancellation policy in place. People like certainty. Deliver it! Clear boundaries form the basis of a good system and systems will help you succeed.
2. Not Dedicating Enough Time To Your Business
Once you decide to step out and get your own students, you have to start planning and creating time for the endeavour. Your results will be directly proportionate to the amount of effort you put in.
It’s going to take a lot of effort when you first start out. You will need to learn about:
- Platforms
- Traffic
- Content writing
- Producing materials for your students
- Sales
These are the basics that you need to cover when you are marketing and promoting yourself.
Like everything, it’s hard when you first start out. You won’t know what to do or how to do it. You have to make the time and put the work in during the first 90 days. You need to be consistent and persistent during this time period. 90 days is the time you need to create momentum and good habits.
Before you launch yourself into the public eye, it’s worth sitting down and spending some time getting the basics sorted and a rough plan drafted before you start for real. You want to make sure you have time blocked out on your calendar for working on and in your new business. As they say, failing to plan is a plan to fail.
3. Not Knowing Your Strengths
Teachers are used to preparing lessons based on a set syllabus and following the course rigidly, even if they hate it. When you branch out on your own, you get a chance to teach on your own terms. You get a chance to teach the things you like (assuming there’s a demand for it).
The problem is many teachers just don’t know what their strengths really are or how to use them effectively. This is a big problem when it comes to deciding who and what you are going to teach and how you are going to brand yourself in the world.
If you are not sure of your strengths, then taking a free online personality type test will help you work out who you are and what sort of things you are good at. When you have this information, it’s easier to work out what you can package and sell.
Take one of the free online personality tests like the Myers Biggs or Tony Robbins to help you get started. Links below.
The high 5 test https://high5test.com/
The Tony Robbins disc test https://www.tonyrobbins.com/disc/
The Myers Biggs Personality Type https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Products-and-Services/Myers-Briggs
Watching out for and avoiding these 3 common mistakes will help you to succeed in building your own successful business or side hustle. If you want more tips like this, add a comment below and let me know what you would like to know more about.
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