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2Feb
Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Tutoring From a Business Perspective

Technology has improved significantly over the last 20 years to the point where it is now quite easy and cost-efficient to provide tutoring services online. While many independent tutors and tutoring companies view this as a favorable change in the industry it also poses many threats to existing businesses. Many articles look at the advantages and disadvantages of online tutoring from the perspective of the student – this article will explore this topic from the perspective of the tutoring business.
Advantages
The availability of technology for online tutoring is most advantageous to new tutors or tutoring companies that are not yet established in the market. Online tutoring requires low start-up costs, it opens the tutor up to a much larger market and offers more flexibility for scheduling. Let’s take a look at each of these advantages one at a time:
Lower barriers to entry
Although many independent tutors also have low start-up costs, if you are a tutoring company and decide to go the online route, you can avoid many of the expenses associated with starting up a traditional tutoring company. Traditional companies often require an office for administration or where tutoring takes place, marketing through local media, driving to meetings to prospective clients, etc. Online tutoring companies do not require an office other than a home office and definitely do not require a building for teaching students. Online marketing is lower cost and can be targeted more directly than traditional marketing, and talking with clients can be done online or by phone. These low start-up costs make it much easier for new businesses to start online.
Larger market
Traditional tutoring companies are limited by geography – they cannot cost-effectively serve students outside of their geographic area due to time-constraints related to transportation and the cost of transportation. For this reason, tutoring companies have much smaller markets and can only enter new markets by adding new locations. Online tutoring businesses do not face this limitation. They can reach anyone with an internet connection and the only real limitation is language. For this reason many individuals prefer to start an online tutoring company so that they can reach a much larger market. This can be a very good strategy if your company teaches a highly specialized subject that would not have enough people locally to support the business.
Tutoring companies can also hire tutors from a much larger area and may be more successful in finding top-quality teachers in the subjects they offer.
Flexibility
Online tutoring companies have more flexibility since they can choose to teach students in different time zones. Tutors that are only available to teach in the late evening can easily teach students from a later timezone where it is afternoon. This makes it easier for independent tutors to fit their tutoring into their personal or work schedule.
Lower operating costs
The ongoing operating costs of running an online tutoring business are also lower than traditional tutoring. Some of the eliminated costs come in the form of building leases, phone, transportation and marketing. Online tutors can do everything from their home, they can use free or low-cost online phones like Skype for communication and they don’t have to spend money driving to the tutoring office or to clients’ homes.
Disadvantages
Many of the advantages of online tutoring can also pose challenges for tutoring companies. We’ll look at the disadvantages below one at a time.
Lower barriers to entry
Low barriers to entry make online tutoring attractive to new tutoring companies, but for incumbents this is a negative since it makes it easier for new companies to enter the market and compete with them. This ultimately leads to more price competition and lower profit margins.
Competition from other markets and other countries
Online tutoring overcomes the geography barrier which is also a disadvantage for existing tutoring businesses. This means that instead of facing competition only from tutoring companies in their immediate market they now face competition from tutors in other parts of the country and in other countries all-together. Many online tutors are from countries like India where the cost of living is much lower. Thy can teach American students online and charge a rate that is still much lower than standard rates in the United States, yet still well above the rate they would earn for tutoring in their own country.
Technology limitations of students
While most people have a personal computer at home and internet access, many students who need tutoring do not have the required technology to receive online tutoring. In addition to a computer, a high-speed internet connection is ideal, a headset and microphone are needed for talking with the tutor, and hardware such as a writing board may be required depending on the subject. This means if your business wants to provide only online …
7Jan
Advantages of Tutoring Companies Over Independent Tutors

Tutoring companies face strong competition from other companies and independent tutors. Independent tutors can often afford to charge much lower rates, which makes them more attractive to many potential customers – so how can companies position themselves to attract clients despite their higher rates? There are several benefits companies offer potential clients that independents don’t – and by emphasizing these benefits, tutoring companies can attract more clients.
The following five characteristics can set tutoring companies apart from independent tutors. The extra value clients receive from these characteristics justify the higher rates that companies charge – companies just need to make clients aware of these benefits in order to attract more clients.
1. Time Savings
It’s quite easy to become an independent tutor, so there are lots of people with a wide range of education, experience and skills in this field. People looking for tutoring services typically look for a balance between the quality of the teaching they will receive and the price they will pay. However, evaluating independent tutors to determine the quality of their teaching can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Companies can help by completing this process for people.
Most tutoring companies have hiring processes in place for screening resumes, conducting interviews, evaluating experience and skills, completing background checks and more. They spend time finding high quality tutors, which saves parents and students from this process. Parents and students can simply ask a company how they screen their teachers and based on the response they will quickly be able to determine if the company will have high-quality teachers.
2. Quality
Not only do thorough screening processes save parents and students time when searching for tutors, they also help tutoring companies find top-quality tutors. As companies gain more experience they will be able to refine their hiring processes to find better teachers – this will lead to a better reputation and the ability to command higher rates.
In addition to finding high quality teachers, tutoring companies also usually have more established systems for handling scheduling, billing, communication and performance tracking than independents. Established systems that have been honed over the years make the entire tutoring process go smoother for clients which is valuable to many clients. Some independent tutors may be organized but the probability of finding one with well-established processes that ensure a smooth teaching process is lower than with companies.
3. Accountability
Another advantage tutoring companies have over independent tutors is that they have more invested in their reputations. Whereas independent tutors might have a couple students and rely on free advertising, companies have tens or dozens of students and invest considerable money in marketing and building their brands. In order to build and protect their brands, tutoring companies have more motivation than independent tutors to ensure their students receive top-quality teaching. Mention your business’s reputation in your marketing materials and when meeting with potential clients, talk about the number of years you have been in business, the number of students you have tutored, the size of your company and more. All of these things demonstrate that you are an established company that is obviously doing something right and that has a reputation to uphold.
4. The Right Fit
The x-factor in the tutor-student relationship is how well a student and tutor get along. A lot of this has to do with the personality of the two individuals. This relationship has a large impact on the effectiveness of a tutor and often can’t be evaluated until the tutor and student have been working together for a while. The problem with independent tutors is that the parent has likely invested significant time into finding the ideal tutor – one with the right education, experience and skills. But if the tutor and student’s personalities conflict the parent will have to settle for poor results or will have to begin the tutor search all over again.
Tutoring companies make it easier to match the right teacher to the right student. Companies have already screened their teachers so most should be high-quality. If a tutor and student don’t get along well, the company can assign a new one to the student with little disruption.
5. Focused on Teaching
Independent tutors often face the challenge of managing both the administrative and the teaching side of their business. This can be a distraction since the independent tutor is not focused solely on teaching his or her students, but rather also needs to focus on finding new students, billing, collecting payments, etc.
Tutor’s in working for a company or agency are able to focus solely on teaching their students while the company’s admins handle the administrative work. This results in more focused and productive tutors that can teach better.
6. Reliability
Tutoring companies can usually offer more reliable service than independent tutors. When …
4Dec
Advantages of Online Tutoring

Online tutoring is that method of learning which is done by a computer with internet connection. It has gained tremendous success in last few years for both students and tutors. It is a win-win for both students and the teacher. The main reason behind this wonderful success is that online tutoring is free from time, distance and transportation. Moreover one-on-one tutoring enables both tutor and student to ask for clarification and discuss problems in details. Online education or tutoring is a much focused way of tutoring because the tutor has to give time to only single student at a time. One-to-one tutoring provides students an extra advantage for asking questions with hesitating.
The main advantages of online education and tutoring are following:
1. The primary advantage that students get with studying online is that it allows the flexibility to schedule your learning and that with the comfort of your own hose. What you require for all this is to have only computer with an internet connection. Also student have their own wisdom to select the time and date for tutoring sessions.
2. It is a lifeline for handicapped students who can not travel to have tutoring easily.
3. With the facility of online tutoring student can very easily learn foreign languages with help from appropriate online tutors.
4. Students do not need to go far distances to have tutoring.
5. This tutoring can be taken in vacations also to keep yourself in touch with your subjects.
6. Online tutor companies offer 24/7 support for students which lets students to decide their own time for tutoring.
7. Online tutors are experts of their subjects and can play instrumental role in enhancing the abilities of a student.
So, clearly online tutoring and online education is going to be a preferred way of learning.…