Computer Tutor Business Handbook Sample

How to Set up and Run a Successful Computer

Tutoring Service for Adults

IN 10 EASY STEPS

By Juliet Lynn

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This document is the first 14 pages of my book ”Computer Tutor – The Complete Business Handbook” For more information please visit: www.julietlynn.com/book

About the Author Juliet Lynn works as a freelance Computer Tutor in the UK teaching

mature adults how to use their PCs or laptops in the privacy of their own

homes. She set up her business in 2005 and quickly found that there was

an immediate and growing need for her service.

Juliet has three children (two have now grown up and “flown the nest”)

and has therefore always sought work which would fit around their needs.

She has previously worked in administrative roles for various companies,

small and large, and has also worked as a freelance bookkeeper.

Her interests and passions include working in and enjoying her small

wildlife garden which she has created out of a scrubby wilderness,

learning about and actively supporting human and animal rights

organisations and those that preserve and care for the environment, both

locally and globally. And, of course, computers.

This book is a compilation of Juliet’s ideas and experiences when setting

up and running her Computer Tutor business (the ones that worked and

the ones that didn’t!) and is intended to be a complete reference for

anyone considering setting up a similar service, whether on a part-time or

full-time basis.

© Juliet Lynn 2009 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

This book is being offered as information only. There is no guarantee of success, either written or implied. The

author/publisher specifically disclaims any personal liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence of acting

on, undertaking or relying on any advice or information presented herein.

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Preface

If you have a good working knowledge of how to use a PC then you have amazing skills that are valuable to others!

It doesn’t matter what your career background is, with the right attitude,

you can succeed in this business, earn excellent money and love doing it.

Ask yourself if the following applies to you:

You want to be your own boss

You want to be respected and well-paid for professional work

You want to make a positive difference to the lives of others

You want your work to fit around family commitments and leave you enough time for a social life

You want to work with enthusiastic and motivated people

Whether or not you have formal qualifications in either teaching or

computing, if you identify with the above, then this book will provide you

with all the information you need to set up and run your own successful

Computer Tutoring business.

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How To Use This Book

1. Your first step is to make yourself a beverage of your choice and

settle down somewhere quiet.

2. Read through the book from cover to cover to get a good view of

the whole picture and highlight points or jot down notes as you go.

You’ll find that this book has been arranged in a logical order of the

steps that you need to take to get your business up and running

quickly.

3. When you’ve read through the book, turn to the Action Plan on

page 95. This is your blueprint for success. Follow through

each step referring back to the relevant sections of the book again

as necessary. (Page references are given).

4. On completing each step on the Action Plan put a check in the box.

Don’t worry if you do some things out of sequence, as long as you

complete each step you’ll be fine.

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Acknowledgements

I’m thankful to all my clients, without whom there would be no Computer

Tutor business.

My clients are always motivated, happy to see me and delighted to pay for

my services. Most are close to or above retirement age and have led rich

and interesting lives. Many an enjoyable story has been shared over a

cup of tea and a slice of cake – some of which I couldn’t possibly repeat!

These are people of integrity and spirit, with a zest for life that should

never be the exclusivity of the young. They are also brave, embracing

technology, which to them is often mysterious and sometimes just plain

scary. I’m grateful to each and every client as they have not only

provided me and my children with a means to exist but have removed

any fear I may have had about becoming older myself!

I also thank my three children who have always expressed pride that their

mother can run her own successful business, manage a home, be there

for them and do it all relatively stress-free. It’s to their credit that being a

parent is such a pleasure, and to the credit of this first class business that

I’m able to fulfil my role as their mother whilst earning a decent living.

My special thanks to my close friend, Elaine Collins, who has contributed

much to this book. Many of the ideas contained within these pages are

hers, and without Elaine’s contribution and inspiration this book would not

be the complete reference manual that it is.

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Contents Page

Preface 3

How to Use This Book 4 Acknowledgements 5 Contents 6

Introduction 8

Section One Overview of a Computer Tutoring Service 11

Section Two 10 Easy Steps to Success 15

• Step One: Your Initial Assessment 15

• Step Two: Get Equipped 23

• Step Three: Set Your Rates 25

• Step Four: Set Your Terms of Business 30

• Step Five: Other Considerations 35

• Step Six: Create Your Image 39

• Step Seven: Promoting Your Services 41

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Page

• Step Eight: First Contact With Clients 53

• Step Nine: Know Your Clientele 61

• Step Ten: The Tutoring Session 74

Section Three Offering Additional Services 85

Section Four Final Words of Advice 89

Section Five Action Plan 94

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Introduction

Thank you for purchasing this book. It has been written with the purpose

of explaining how you can set up and run your own business providing a

personal computer tutoring service to adults. These will be mainly, but

not exclusively, retired people, who want to learn how to use their home

PC for both pleasure and purpose.

You may wish to extend your tutoring service to include children, young

adults and the local business community, and much of this book will be

just as relevant in these situations. However, as a business model, the

focus of the book is on teaching mature adults in their own homes.

This is a market waiting to explode!

To date, adult computer tuition has been concentrated within the

workplace where it has been delivered to employees mostly by specialist

IT training companies. Many adults of working age have missed out on

basic computer tuition, and this has a detrimental affect on their ability to

contribute to the workforce. As a result, basic computer courses are now

widely available to adults, often free of charge, and usually leading to a

qualification which can be taken to potential employers.

So where do we, the Computer Tutors, fit in?

There is another group of people who completely missed out when it

came to computer education. It wasn’t available when they were at

school and for the greater part of their working lives technology didn’t

feature. And if it did, it was unrecognisable from the PC they have at

home today.

Proportionately there are more people aged over sixty-five in relation to

those aged under fifteen than ever before and these are people who have

as much reason as anyone else to use their PC for communication,

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information and leisure. And they’re now beginning to realise this for

themselves.

This group often doesn’t feel comfortable in a classroom when their

objective is not to get a qualification, or to learn how to build a complex

spreadsheet or database. I know this from first-hand, I’ve taught in some

of these classes.

Many mature adults simply want to be able to use their own PC to email,

surf the internet, type the occasional letter, be creative with their digital

photographs, do a bit of online shopping and banking, book airline tickets,

research subjects that interest them and keep in touch with family and

friends. And they want to learn how to do all this in private, in the comfort

of their own home, using their own computer and under the caring

guidance of an understanding, patient and friendly tutor.

For the mature generation, being able to use a computer can revolutionise

their lives. The internet opens doors that they never dreamed were there.

Emailing provides frequent and virtually or completely free contact with

relatives and online shopping can be an absolute boon. Hobbies become

easier to pursue and chat rooms can provide a way to find new, like-

minded friendships.

Often when I meet a new client they tell me that their

son/daughter/grandchild has tried to show them how to do things, and the

usual comment is that “they do it so quickly I can’t remember what they

did” or “they did it for me and now I don’t have a clue!”.

The main reason your clients will contact you is so that you can teach

them how to use their computers for the specific purposes that will

enhance their lives. Nothing more, nothing less.

Whether you’re looking to start a brand new home-based business, or

you’re already running an adult computer tutoring service, you’ll find

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helpful advice, information and inspiration within these pages. This book

will be an invaluable reference tool which will take you step by step

through everything you need to set up and run your own successful Computer Tutoring business.

The following pages are crammed full of everything I have learnt through

personally tutoring hundreds of clients. You will find details of teaching

methods that are appropriate with adults, how to promote your services,

set your rates and a system for record keeping, and much more besides.

Everything’s here to get you off to an excellent start and beyond.

There’s some important advice too about how to develop your own skills

and how to handle the rare but tricky situation. Also included are

references to other resources that you can turn to for more information.

When I started in this business I had no formal IT qualifications and

limited teaching experience, but with a good basic knowledge of home PC

use I quickly built a profitable tutoring service which gave me the lifestyle I

wanted, and you can too. It was a steep learning curve though. I fumbled

my way through the early months, not knowing what to expect or how to

handle a surprise situation. That’s not how it will be for you though!

I’ve included everything I can think of to make starting your business a far

easier experience than I had when I started mine. And you’ll be glad to

know that the pages aren’t padded out with general advice on starting just

any business – everything’s relevant to this specific niche.

My goal is to help you to develop a sound business, based on firm

foundations which will enable you to fulfil your own personal and

professional ambitions. With confidence gained through reading the

practical advice and tips within these pages, you can be up and running

within a couple of weeks and looking forward to many years of rewarding

work helping an inspiring and interesting group of people.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get started!

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Section One

Overview of A Computer Tutoring Service

Here we take a look at the background of this business, the reasons why the demand is so high and a basic outline of how this particular

business model operates.

et’s begin by defining the basics. A computer tutoring service can

take many forms. It can provide tuition to individuals or groups of varying

sizes and ages and at any level from beginners to advanced.

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It can teach a wide range of computer uses or concentrate on specific

applications such as office suites or graphic design programs. It can even

specialise in teaching a professional skill such as website design.

Teaching can take place in a specific environment such as a training

centre or an office, in the tutor’s or the client’s home or at their place of

work - and now even remotely over the internet.

My decision to operate my service in the way I do was inspired through

my work as a volunteer assistant for a beginners’ computer class held at a

local adult education college. As I had a good understanding of how to

make my home PC do what I wanted (well, most of the time anyway!),

and my aim at this stage was to take a teaching qualification for which I

needed teaching hours, this seemed like a good move.

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I quickly realised that for many of the learners (whose ages ranged from

mid-thirties to mid-seventies) this was not the most appropriate learning

environment for all of them. Because many of the courses were provided

through Government funding, the learning centre needed to produce a

high level of learners who achieved a recognised qualification at the end

of each course – not something all of them wanted or needed.

Although the tutors were excellent and well-prepared, a lot of the learners

felt very frustrated due to the high numbers in the class and the wide

range of ability levels which made it difficult to give everyone the help they

needed. Some learners who had physical difficulties such as very poor

eyesight, hearing, or arthritic hands were not always getting enough

personal attention.

One class member, a lady in her seventies who had an abundance of

enthusiasm, asked me if I would help her at home on her own computer.

These personal sessions were a fantastic success and I quickly realised

that there was a huge need for this type of service that simply wasn’t

being adequately met.

That was four years ago. Since then I have fine-tuned my businesses

and will now show you how to provide…

The ideal adult computer tutoring service

• You will visit your clients in their own home This eliminates any need for you to provide premises and pay all

the overheads entailed in doing so. Your client will feel more

comfortable in their own environment.

• You will use your client’s own equipment

It makes sense for your client to get used to their own system,

printer, internet connection, applications and so on and you can set

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their computer to their own preferences. You can work with the

client’s own files and documents and not have the expense of

purchasing and maintaining equipment.

• You will teach one-to-one

This is a virtually stress-free method for both client and tutor.

You’ll be able to give individual attention to your client and the

learning process will be faster. You may occasionally be asked to

tutor a couple or two friends and this can work well too provided

their needs are the same. This is also financially rewarding for you

as it gives you the opportunity to increase your fees without

significantly increasing your working time.

• You can choose to work days, evenings or weekends

Because most of your clients will be retired, their time will usually

be very flexible and they’ll be willing to accommodate your own

working hours.

Why Does This Business Model Work?

Your timing couldn’t be better. Each year more and more households

acquire a personal computer and the number of mature users is steadily

increasing.

The following is an extract from a BBC News article published in May

2005:

“A survey of nearly 1,500 people for Telewest

Broadband found that technology, especially the net, is

helping older people find new interests. Fifty-seven percent

of over-50s in the survey said being online had introduced

them to new experiences.

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"The internet can be an effective means of delivering

access to vital services and information about health,

hobbies and employment, as well as helping older people

keep in touch with friends and family and access vital public

services," commented David Sinclair, social inclusion policy

manager of charity Help the Aged. But, he said, better

education and advice was vital...

The above extract focuses on the over 50s, but there is a huge sector of

the adult population below this age that has yet to become computer

literate. Many people who are still only in their thirties did not receive

adequate IT education at school and have not acquired computer skills

through work.

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into our everyday lives, it

will become almost essential for the majority of this group to learn how to

use it. Private computer tuition will be a valuable service for many years to come.

Good news for the Computer Tutors!

Summary

• Adults generally prefer one-to-one tuition over classroom situations

• You don’t need to provide premises or equipment

• You can choose your own hours – daytime, evening or weekend

• You can work full-time, part-time or for an additional income

• The demand for this service is huge!

• The demand will remain for the foreseeable future

Computer Tutor Business Handbook Sample

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