I have a small tutoring business! By which I mean, it's just me. I tutor people. So, definitely too small to consider renting office space or anything of the sort. Until recently, I would go to my students, and tutor them where ever they were. This meant a lot of time biking all over the place - DFW's quite spread out. Tired of this nonsense, I recently lowered my rates and declared my students must come to me. Currently, that means meeting in the Starbucks right outside my apartment. But I also now have no roommate, and an apartment plenty big enough to devote some area to my tutoring business. I've listed some benefits to tutoring from home vs. Starbucks below, and I'd like your thoughts!
Starbucks:
- Safer. I'm a 30yo woman living alone with a small cat. Meeting in a public place is safer from physical attack, theft, creepy dudes, etc. I'm not natural paranoid on this topic; quite the opposite. I leave windows open, run alone at night, and I'm extremely lucky in that I've never had anything very bad happen to me in the creepy-dude/crime category. For exactly that reason, I don't trust my instincts here. Instincts say "Of course you can invite your students into your home! I'm sure they're all decent human beings! Even the returning college students! Also, puppies live forever, and rainbows are made by unicorns!"
- I don't have to clean. I'm not naturally a cleaner. If I tutored at home, I'd have to switch this completely and keep a nice, professional living room.
- Free internet! Currently, I just have a fairly cheap data plan for my phone, no home internet. Tutoring from home, I'd need wifi for my students. This would still be cheaper than Starbucks, because I wouldn't be paying for a coffee every day.
- Often more comfortable for students. It can be awkward, coming into someone else's home. They don't have to worry about finding good parking, or their slight allergy to cats. And, though it's not intuitively obvious, I find students focus better in a public place with some background noise, than a quiet home. Don't ask me to explain it, just my observation.
- Hey, coffee. $4 is a lot for coffee, but it's not a lot for coffee + hours of a table + internet.
- One time expenses: better table (my current's no good for spreading books all over on a regular basis), maybe a bookshelf to show off my collection of study manuals, which I'd also have to buy (I really don't use these much at all tutoring. Students bring their own.), better lamp, probably some other stuff to make the space look all nice and professional.
Home:
- Cheaper. I'd have to get home internet, but I wouldn't be buying a daily coffee, plus the occasional snack. I haven't researched home internet prices or anything, but $4 coffee * 6 days a week = $24/week ~> $96/mo. OMG, THAT'S RIDICULOUSLY INSANE WTF AM I THINKING!?
- ... That's really the only benefit I can think of. The Starbucks is THAT close.
So. Lots of reasons the Starbucks is easier and safer. On the other hand, let's call it at least $100/mo to go to Starbucks, which is clearly ridiculous. No, I'm not going to just not buy anything, I often take up one of their tables for several hours at a time. I could probably find something cheaper on the menu to buy as my token purchase, but they only go so cheap.
Third option: Public library. Yes, there's one just over a mile away. It would work fine. When it's open. During the regular school year, I get a ton of evening students, when the library's not open anyway, so I don't really consider it a viable option.
Thoughts? Suggestions? In the Dallas area and need a math tutor?
Thanks!