After well and truly having enough of retail work and all the usual crap that goes with it, I recently handed my notice in. Suffice to say, I'm relieved, and after a two week break I'm feeling refreshed. Time to get back to it.
For a while I've considered doing guitar tuition but didn't have the confidence to do it. My tutor had faith in me years ago and said I could easily be charging £20 per hour. So after this leap of faith, I ordered some business cards and flyers in an attempt to make this real and I feel all the better for it.
I'm under no illusion that I'll make megabucks from this venture, and I know it'll take time to build up clientele; however, I'm up for this and determined to make it work. Alongside guitar tuition, gigs, busking and a part-time job with a friend will be in place to rack up the income.
So having said all that, and because this is all very new to me, any advice on becoming a guitar tutor - electric, classical and acoustic, and specifically for beginners - will be most appreciated.
Comments
trust me you don't want them knocking down your door when you're trying to teach a student the intro to smoke on the water
On a practical note, get in with your local music shops. They might not have their own tutor, but you'll be thankful of the odd student they'll pass your way. BUT you've got to earn the trust. Get yourself out and about. Small flyers in shop windows? Renew regularly. Keep going around and renewing the contacts that will bring you the clients.
Be prepared before you have 50 students pounding your door and get some outline plans ready in advance for different types of student. Think how you'd help a newbie 12 year old, as distinct from a newbie 30 year old, as distinct from someone returning to the art after a few years away from the guitar. Be prepared to cope with a teenager who might know more than you do. Humbling? Your role as tutor may be a mentor to one student, a teacher to another, a sounding board for another ... so familiarise yourself with the different character types of people as this will have a big impact as to how successful you are retaining students.
And remember, a good coach/tutor isn't necessarily the best player, but is the one who can help the student to improve and reach the next stage. But it does help if you know your stuff. You'll be found out otherwise.
One good thing to do is register with the RGT (Registry of Guitar Tutors) - you'll need a couple of referees, but it's good to be on their database - students can find you through there, and being certified with them lends you a degree of credibility.
Also, make sure you have a decent social media presence and a website. Check out the local competition, and make sure your online presence looks as good or (hopefully) better than theirs. Looking around my area for example, there are loads of teachers; a couple with really good websites who have excellent videos/soundclips and are very good players. There are others though that have either really outdated or just very strange websites, and playing that's out of tune. You'll also want to boost your site (if you have one) on the Google rankings; lots of business will come from there (again, in my area, lots of the local music shops have now shut down, so not much advertising opportunity - I've done the card/leaflet thing like you). I spoke to a guy from Yell recently, and there are roughly 500 searches via Google for guitar lessons in my area per month, which isn't bad; if your site is on the first page of a Google search, and near the top, that's obviously going to help get business in. I have also aimed my site/teaching more towards what I'm good at; I'm not going to be teaching people flamenco or jazz for example...there are people around who can do that, but equally fewer around who can do the stuff that I can, if that makes sense.
Sorry, bit of a ramble but hope it helps a bit. I'm absolutely no expert and have been lucky enough to get loads of help from people who know what they're on about - sure you can do it. Having the confidence to actually start doing it was the biggest thing for me.
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar
@57deluxe - like I said, I don't believe I will make a lot of money out of it, but as long as I have enough to pay the rent etc, then I'll be happy!
@Vibetronic - some really good points here; you weren't rambling at all. I think having an online presence is an important aspect which will be the biggest challenge for me - it's not something that I get on with. But if it helps earn me students/money, then I guess I'll have to work at it. Becoming registered with RGT is also another area to work towards.
Cheers everyone, it's genuinely appreciated
# signed agreements / t&cs?
# payment in advance / block booking discount?
# discounted introductory lesson?
# cancellation policies?
# long-term bookings - maybe towards grades?
etc etc
The hardest thing is getting started. Advertise wherever you can, online, shops, schools etc. Get people in through the door and start building a name for yourself. It won't happen overnight so you have to be patient and be prepared for dry months (Christmas and Summer Holidays can be shitty for guitar lessons).
Also, don't be too cheap with your rates. I know with competition and the market can sometimes force you to go bargain basement prices but if you advertise for like £15-20 per hour you simply look cheap and people will wonder why you are so low in cost. Is that how much you value your services? I noticed when I was charging well over £30 I started to get more serious enquiries, and learners would actually practice. I've retained students for longer and the working hours offset against pay is much better. 5 learners at £30 per hour is better on time than 10 at £15 per hour. £15-20 means jack to people, I've got £20 in my wallet! There's no sense of investment in there so they are more likely to not practice or not even show up! I encountered this a lot in my early teaching days and lost a lot of money. Once the start having to pay better quality fees they're going to have to invest more time into it resulting in a more dedicated learner.
Also, to combat the whole late cancellations/no show thing I now charge in monthly blocks of 4 lessons, payment upfront via bank transfer before the first lesson starts. That way there's no messing around with people forgetting cash (have had learners running to cash points before the lesson, not bringing correct change or you not having the correct change), not showing up or cancelling on you, then not turning up ever again. You kinda get your wage for the month already there.
I use a written agreement for all my learners, via the Musician's Union. Its basically a contract which they agree to and sign meaning they'll forfeit any lesson fee they've already paid if they haven't given sufficient notice to cancel, or not show up. There's also a 4 week written notice policy to terminate the agreement so it gives me a month to find another student. Out of my 8 years I've only had to contact the MU for advice 3 times to help with lost fees. 95% of the time people are decent humans who pay on time, in full and turn up.
My first lesson is a reduced one off rate, however if they like it and decide come back I offer an introductory discount where they pay the 4 weekly lesson fee but get the trial thrown in so 5 lessons for the cost of 4.
I also do a 10 lesson block booking scheme for the more serious longer-term learners which is good but getting someone to pay for almost 3 months of lessons can be difficult.
I am a registered RGT and Rockschool tutor so can do all the grades if needed be. I'd say its 50-50 splitof my learners who do grades and learn for fun.
Doing your own accounts is really important too, I keep a spreadsheet of all my income and receipts and do my self-assessment once a year. The previous 2 years have seen considerable rises in profit I'm proud to say. The tax bill did kick me in the bollocks though.
Having your own website and social media is also very important to advertising yourself. On my website and Instagram I regularly post lesson video clips so potential customers can see exactly what the teaching room and myself look like and also there's a learner there doing a lesson so it proves I exist!
For the amount of local tutors I've seen round here that don't even have a website its shocking (good for me if they're competition) but how they do expect to sell themselves? Ads only contain a bunch of irrelevant spiel on how good they are and the video link is of them endlessly shredding. Seeing them performing is great but it offers no connection to the viewer. Last year I shot a lesson trailer video where I was in front of the camera introducing myself and also had 2 of my learners giving video testimonials.
Once the numbers build you can start turning people away and be a bit more picky about the ones you take on. There will still be timewasters around and ones who just won't respect your time.
It is very rewarding though if you get it right, making a difference to people's lives is what makes me pleased. The fact they couldn't play at all a few months ago and now they're strumming their favourite tune comfortable is good progress for me.
Alot of people will have a "dream" whether its to reach grade 8 or woo some girl with a love song. If you can sell that "dream" can come true guaranteed how much will people pay you to achieve it?
Anyway I think I've covered most points, good luck with it and feel free to ask if you need any more advice.
On the upside though anything you do buy is tax deductible. If you rent a space, buy furniture or buy guitars etc keep a receipt!!! and most importantly get friendly with an accountant. Im sure there will be some one here that can give you advice.
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life"
Good luck!
It is however the best job in the world. People pay you good money to sit there and witter about your favourite subject
Make sure you know your theory and that your reading is up to scratch. Insist that either your pupils do their Rockschool grades (or whatever you go with) or that if they don't sit the exams they do all the set pieces in the book to your satisfaction. Don't put them in for exams until you know they will be ready (but don't leave it so long they go off the boil either).
Haven't taught for a few years but the last recommended MU rate that I knew about was £30 per hour.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
It's only really worth it if a large part of your business is with other VAT registered businesses because they can claim back your VAT charge. Unless you are expecting to be over the VAT threshold, in which case you must of course.
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
"Ah'p norf" you'd be extremely lucky to get away with charging that much. Possibly so if you worked out of a shop doing 30min lessons @£15 You'd more likely be doing it as a sideline.