Hello to everyone,
I am 32 and became a private maths tutor 3 years ago and have been self-employed since then. I give online lessons to high school students in France. I live near Paris.
I actually didn't plan to work in that field but regularly gave lessons to pupils as a side hustle or pocket money since high school. I eventually graduated from a business school and discovered that I couldn't feel good in the various jobs I got. I wanted more freedom. After several years working in the banking sector I decided to work in fruit trees cultivation or in a job in nature and studied again, while doing internships.
Although there were great moments, I didn't enjoy this work more than my corporate jobs, which was a very depressing realization. My dream job was not actually one.
The only work I could do for long periods and really enjoy was teaching.
So I decided to become 100% focused on that track instead of scattering in all directions. I told myself, aim for "good enough" for the time being, and figure out things from there.
At first I taught many different subjects, but in France, the one with the most demand is maths, because the French public school system has major trouble and the overall level is declining sharply. Yet, most universities and schools selection in France is based on maths. As a consequence most pupils in high school take lessons.
The irony is that maths was my worst subject. I was minoring maths during high school and my business studies and eventually improved and enjoyed maths late in my studies.
Because of maths not being natural for me, I can put myself in my students shoes and know better how to help them. Also the maths resources online are great and free. Nowadays with good practice and method everyone can become good in maths.
A bit before Covid, I switched from in-persons to online lessons.
This is working really well and I get lot of customers.
My
goal is that my students get the best possible grades in order to access the top universities and schools, and I would say I have been pretty successful in that regard. I would say I'm one of the best private teachers for high school in terms of results, and am solidifying my teaching system every year.
BUT I am facing several challenges that I find overwhelming, and I feel like I might take a too-slow approach that will take years to bear mediocre results.
So I really need your help !
I am currently stuck at around 80K Euros/Year in total revenues, and I would like to develop my revenues further.
I know that the best teachers in France do between 300 to 500K/euros per year.
In Asia like Singapour or Hong Kong, some teachers make more than 1million euros/year in total revenues.
My
goal is to reach at least 300K euros in revenues in 3 years.
However I have major obstacles hindering me and I need your advice:
-First of all, I teach well but my maths level in itself is not great. I teach the high school level very well. But am rusty with university level. This level is much more demanding, but there is also less competition and the hourly rate is slightly higher. It gets really good if I become one of the best university private tutors. Some of them make like 800 euros/hour, teaching to a few students at a time. The most expensive individual lessons can reach 150/200 euros/h. (I am currently charging 100E/h and increasing incrementally)
Becoming really good teacher for university level will take me 3 to 4 years in my opinion. I almost have to start from scratch.
I think it's worth it to try to get this level, to get better skills, and at least be able to teach the first one or two years at university level. This way I could keep some of my students for a longer time and build step by step my knowledge. It's not an all or nothing scenario.
I have a friend of mine who is a doctor in computing science and maths. He is teaching me for free several times a week, to help me do it faster.
What is your opinion on that ? Is it worth it to climb this high mountain ? Is it the priority or should I just get super good for high school and settle for that ?
A side thing about it, is that I think about teaching worldwide in English, and knowing other school systems. I would like to not be dependant only on French customers. I sometimes teach to students from Dubai, Switzerland, Singapore..
-My second problem is France. I mean its tax system. As a self employed small company, I pay only 25% in taxes. If I get over 80K, I will pay more than 50% in taxes. Also I have a fiscal advantage for my company. French State pays half of the lessons I give. My customers only pay 50 Euros for a lesson. I get payed half by the State and half by my customers. Maths lessons are already pretty uberized/commoditized. It's only a small niche of wealthy customers who are interested in getting the best tutors.
Because of that situation I get comfortable hourly rates, but it's completely artificial. I can't scale my revenues with my current company structure and if I move abroad, I instantly lose half my revenues.
I would love to move broad, but first I want to increase both my hourly rate and my total revenues, to make it worth.
-My last problem is the difficulty to separate time from money. As a teacher I get paid only while I teach. I occasionnally think about ways to generate "passive incomes", but so far nothing seems especially promising. This is why I want to fine tune my tutoring/ get the best I can and design a great teaching system.
But I would like to scale and get a way to explode revenues.
I don't know if I can find this idea, and even less if I have the knowledge to pull it off. The market seems pretty saturated of content creators, platforms etc..
So I come to you, asking what I am missing. I am looking for some
perspective. I got some from great books like the Fastlane Millionnaire that I just finished reading, some by talking to more successful teachers than me. But these days I feel trapped in my way, having difficulties to find the way to break past this plateau quicker.
I believe if I continue for a few years, and give small group lessons and have more high earning customers, I could reach 300K/year. If I reach that stage, it will be already great, since I don't have major financial goals yet and it would enable me to live okay in any country. I just want to have a comfortable stream of income to pursue my hobbies and be 100% financially free.
What matters to me is to free up my time and get good at some of my hobbies faster, throughout my life, and not be hindered by financial matters/ working too long hours forever.
I hope this thread was not too confusing. And I will really appreciate your insights. I don't have people who are in the Fastlane mentality in my social circle, so it will help me a lot !
Looking forward to participating and reading on this forum
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