So I've contemplated doing this for several years, but might finally take a shot at it. I've been working with students who have disabilities in a college setting for the last 10 years. Students working with an "academic coach" or educational consultant has become a huge business. In my current role, I actually end up communicating with some of the coaches that are assisting the students. I started thinking, "Hey, I could totally be doing what this person is doing on the side, and making some damn good extra cash." Now don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work, and I would start really small. Probably just with a couple of students.
These people do everything from- helping look for colleges with good disability programs, helping with disability support at the high school (helping as an advocate), helping with study skills/time management, etc.... In a lot of cases at the college level, parents are looking for someone to help hold their child accountable. A ton of this work happens via phone or skype. I would not have my own office, but would probably meet families at their homes from time to time.
I would obviously not be able to work outside of my position with students that attend the university that I work for, but I could work with students from high schools and other colleges in the area.
When I was talking to my accountant about this and saying I would set up an LLC, his advice was "don't even worry about that yet." He said register the business name with the state like you need to, find a few students and see how it goes before you pay the money and go to the trouble of setting up an LLC. He said that based on what I've described, he doesn't see liability issues if I'm working with a few families. I'm not sure if that's good advice or not.
So just based on what I've described, what other things do I need to be thinking about if I were to start up this side business? Thanks in advance.