Hello all,
I have been a forum lurker for over 13 years, back when CENTS was in a different order!
Due to various reasons/excuses, I had never taken the reigns on my life. Very mediocre stuff.
Ready to start now, aged 33.
I am nowhere near as smart as other members here, my first real business is offline and classed as a J.O.B, but it does offer value, and has some legs to at least build some savings quickly, I thought I'd share the journey here for others here who haven't decided what to do, another alternative side-hustle idea.
Since January, I've been running a code-and-build club, where children aged 7-11 can learn coding & engineering fundamentals using popular mediums that children enjoy playing with. I work in IT and my wife has a science background.
We started at our children's school, the headteacher /principal was very happy with our offer as it ultimately makes the school look good, and is an alternative provision for parents to decide for their kids to do after school that's non-sports and might help spark interest in a STEM related field. The good thing for us with schools is that there's no venue hire costs.
We've since started running another club using a community hall as well.
Average net income is £100 per session (per hour excluding time to look after equipment + travel!)
We started by using free loaned equipment from a govt agency to start the club, as we're apparently considered to be in an underprivileged area. We've then used ticket sales to buy our own equipment slowly but surely. We can now cater up to 14 children per session but hope to increase that to 20 eventually.
I'm looking to expand to at least 6 sessions a week by next year, as follows:
Mon- Day job
Tue- Day job
Wed- Day job
Thur- Day job- School 1 + city hall 1
Fri - Day job- School 2 + city hall 2
Sat - Town 1 + Town 3
Sun - Town 2 + city 1 ( + city 2?)
*weekend sessions eventually run by other people I've trained- then eventually all days booked up*
Target net profit = £2k pcm consistently (with 2 PT staff)
I haven't included Mon-Weds as my ability to leave work at 2.45pm-3pm is impossible to get away with, I am incredibly fortunate to get the time on Thurs & Fri, and unfortunately I'm not too certain that this will be indefinite.
Turns out all schools around here have good email security and any marketing-esque cold emails are sent to spam folder (this is an assumption but email tracking says zero emails opened out of 20 sent).
I will be personally phoning schools due to this, just need to jot down final sales conversation to set up a meeting and go for it.
All marketing for community club is done via FB. Need to explore other channels.
Eventually once we've figured out a curriculum (parents want clear progression pathway) that can span years, lesson plans, bought all kit to cater to more children and summer bootcamps etc. I hope to put together a course with lesson plan / certification pathway bundle for those who want to do the same (Scale potential. Franchise?)
Another next step is school workshops. I will allocate 10 days next year and will try to book those in as a goal to validate idea and get feedback.
We haven't made a profit yet as we are still expensing ourselves on purchases we've made but we are building a brand and building a chest of equipment for the kids to play (and learn) with. Within the next 3 months, all equipment we'd need will be paid for (didn't use credit cards /loans) and it's all profit (apart from the odd replacement).
If you're good with kids and know basics of a STEM field, this is a very viable option to start up. The numbers work as a side hustle once equipment costs are paid.
Basic maths:
Parents pay £8-12 per session * 20 kids = £160-240 per hour.
Average venue cost :
£0 (school) - £40
Net profit:
£120-240 per hour
Spanned over 2-3 locations (home-ed children on a lunch break another potential) and you can make up to £600 in sales per day
Not bad, and room to hire assistance.
In order to do this you will be checked for criminal convictions by schools and for own clubs, you should do the relevant paediatric first aid training.
Hope this sparks some ideas, and I'm very open to feedback! Thanks for reading.
I have been a forum lurker for over 13 years, back when CENTS was in a different order!
Due to various reasons/excuses, I had never taken the reigns on my life. Very mediocre stuff.
Ready to start now, aged 33.
I am nowhere near as smart as other members here, my first real business is offline and classed as a J.O.B, but it does offer value, and has some legs to at least build some savings quickly, I thought I'd share the journey here for others here who haven't decided what to do, another alternative side-hustle idea.
Since January, I've been running a code-and-build club, where children aged 7-11 can learn coding & engineering fundamentals using popular mediums that children enjoy playing with. I work in IT and my wife has a science background.
We started at our children's school, the headteacher /principal was very happy with our offer as it ultimately makes the school look good, and is an alternative provision for parents to decide for their kids to do after school that's non-sports and might help spark interest in a STEM related field. The good thing for us with schools is that there's no venue hire costs.
We've since started running another club using a community hall as well.
Average net income is £100 per session (per hour excluding time to look after equipment + travel!)
We started by using free loaned equipment from a govt agency to start the club, as we're apparently considered to be in an underprivileged area. We've then used ticket sales to buy our own equipment slowly but surely. We can now cater up to 14 children per session but hope to increase that to 20 eventually.
I'm looking to expand to at least 6 sessions a week by next year, as follows:
Mon- Day job
Tue- Day job
Wed- Day job
Thur- Day job- School 1 + city hall 1
Fri - Day job- School 2 + city hall 2
Sat - Town 1 + Town 3
Sun - Town 2 + city 1 ( + city 2?)
*weekend sessions eventually run by other people I've trained- then eventually all days booked up*
Target net profit = £2k pcm consistently (with 2 PT staff)
I haven't included Mon-Weds as my ability to leave work at 2.45pm-3pm is impossible to get away with, I am incredibly fortunate to get the time on Thurs & Fri, and unfortunately I'm not too certain that this will be indefinite.
Turns out all schools around here have good email security and any marketing-esque cold emails are sent to spam folder (this is an assumption but email tracking says zero emails opened out of 20 sent).
I will be personally phoning schools due to this, just need to jot down final sales conversation to set up a meeting and go for it.
All marketing for community club is done via FB. Need to explore other channels.
Eventually once we've figured out a curriculum (parents want clear progression pathway) that can span years, lesson plans, bought all kit to cater to more children and summer bootcamps etc. I hope to put together a course with lesson plan / certification pathway bundle for those who want to do the same (Scale potential. Franchise?)
Another next step is school workshops. I will allocate 10 days next year and will try to book those in as a goal to validate idea and get feedback.
We haven't made a profit yet as we are still expensing ourselves on purchases we've made but we are building a brand and building a chest of equipment for the kids to play (and learn) with. Within the next 3 months, all equipment we'd need will be paid for (didn't use credit cards /loans) and it's all profit (apart from the odd replacement).
If you're good with kids and know basics of a STEM field, this is a very viable option to start up. The numbers work as a side hustle once equipment costs are paid.
Basic maths:
Parents pay £8-12 per session * 20 kids = £160-240 per hour.
Average venue cost :
£0 (school) - £40
Net profit:
£120-240 per hour
Spanned over 2-3 locations (home-ed children on a lunch break another potential) and you can make up to £600 in sales per day
Not bad, and room to hire assistance.
In order to do this you will be checked for criminal convictions by schools and for own clubs, you should do the relevant paediatric first aid training.
Hope this sparks some ideas, and I'm very open to feedback! Thanks for reading.
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