this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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Right, can't be understated that the professional staff infrastructure digs deep into the profit margins. I'm thinking of tutoring companies, they charge something like $60-100/hr for private tutoring and pay their tutors in the $10-20/hr range. The justification is basically that the admin side and advertising/client acquisition costs money. Which is true, but how many people do you need to put up facebook marketplace ads and issue receipts to clients? Like how many fake jobs are you supporting to suck away up to 90% of the hourly wage.
I used to work for one of those companies pre-covid. I was making $15 an hour, mostly because it was easy to have someone else schedule students for me. Then they decided that tutors would just be given a list of clients and be expected to schedule appointments on their own. Having that list was literally the only difference between just doing the whole job on my own and they just gave it to me and expected to still take a cut. I spent the next week explaining the situation to my clients and letting them know that 1) I was about to quit and 2) I would be willing to continue working with their student for significantly less than they were already paying the tutoring company. I proposed that we met halfway between my previous wage and the company's previous rate. That's when I found out how much they were being charged and they found out how little of that I was getting. My boss was profiting $85 for every hour I spent tutoring. Every client was shocked that I was making minimum wage when they were having trouble affording me. I didn't feel right even charging them the ~60 that was halfway, so I offered $45.
Anyway, I ended up poaching literally every single one of my clients because it turns out most people enjoy saving $60 every week. Cushiest and easiest job I ever had. Four clients and about an hour, hour and a half of driving every day. I'd show up to a house and the SAH parent would have some snacks. I'd help the kid make it through high school, pocket what's closer to $60 of today's money, and leave for the next one. I went from struggling financially to saving money for the first time working less than 30 hours per week because my boss wanted me to do more of his job.
(Also if anyone is interested in tutoring, I haven't tutored since covid but I'd be happy to answer questions for anyone that lives within driving distance of a bougie suburb that also would like to make $45/hr, not clickbait)
I used to tutor when I was in grad school, to undergrads. I charged around $45/hour tutoring upper year engineering courses. I only recently found out how much the tutoring companies were charging high schoolers and was like holy fuck I could've had so much more disposable income during grad school.
I'm seriously considering shifting back to tutoring. Like even with time spent of finding clients and chasing down payments I imagine it's possible to make a good living. The main issue I haven't gamed out how taxes factor in (specifically sales taxes and pension payments). I imagine tutoring full time isn't something I can get away doing for cash and not repoting on my income tax.
I never paid taxes on cash, but I did on anything with a paper trail
It's definitely still possible to make a living tutoring, but the big challenge is your working hours. Kids are in school here until 2-3 and noone wants to schedule tutoring after 7:00, which means you only can get a few students in per day. I ended up taking a part time job for the mornings and tutoring in the evenings, but if you can crack the case on midday tutoring you'd be set up. If you have somewhere in public you can meet students, that cuts down on drive time between session to fit more in, too. I always met at their house which meant 15 or so minutes of driving between appointments.
A friend of mine was at a small business tyrant's tutoring company, and they made him sign a contract saying that he was an independent contractor with a non-compete clause. Obviously illegal and contradictory but it still made it hard for him to keep his clients when he decided to stop being exploited.
Oh, I would definitely advise not to tell one's boss that you're about to be their competitor. I'm fortunate enough that my boss was enough of a spacy dumbass that I genuinely don't think he put it together that me leaving and my clients leaving were connected. For anyone planning something similar: part of a tutor's job is to build a connection with the students and parents they're working with, so it's not unusual for a client to walk when their tutor isn't available. People aren't coming to tutoring because they love your boss.
Teaching
to my undergrads again this quarter, hopefully it sticks with some of them.
Rest in power comrade tt