Expanding your tutoring centre...

Starting a tuition centre is challenging enough but once it starts running, the next step is expansion. At the end of the day, most (if not all) entrepreneurs aim to optimise profits and this applies to tuition centre owners as well.

There are many ways by which revenue can be increased: more student capacity, longer business hours, and higher fees. Our growth here utilized the former two ways in which we increased the enrolment and acquired additional teachers to maintain our low teacher-pupil ratio. This allowed us to keep our rental costs at a minimum while increasing our profits without compromising the quality of service we offer. Because large groups can get quite loud, it is a good idea to group the students according to their ages and then have one teacher lead each group. This grouping can also be done by subject and can sometimes work better because different aged pupils do not interact with each as much (which can be detrimental to their learning sometimes so we decided against it). We also increased our hours to ensure that we continue to have the capacity for more enrolment once we hit our ceiling.

Organising an open house is a good idea. Marketing it to current clients and then motivating them with referral bonuses can work wonders but a more conventional marketing campaign leading up to the event is crucial. This includes face-to-face marketing (eg stalls), flyers, and even localised cold-calling. Investing in a banner can also attract attention while the open house is taking place and you are caught up inside speaking to potential clients. Remember: because you are now relatively established, it is a good idea to flaunt your positive customer reviews to new parents because this will only add value to your service.

Finally, now that you are getting more students, it would be prudent to systemize your service; in other words, have a clear procedure which must be followed by all teachers to ensure consistency in the teaching. This includes (but is not limited to) tracking student progress, individualized learning plans, and explicit learning goals. Once you decide to open additional branches, such a system will save you a lot of time and effort; it is also useful when a certain teacher is absent and the supply staff needs guidance.

Stay tuned for more good business practices and success stories!