The honest answer is yes, but it isn’t always easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, commitment, and hard work.
There are often adverts popping up on social media explaining how you can tutor from anywhere in the world and make thousands of pounds in the process, but to be honest I would treat promises like these with caution. My story, my experience, is very different.
What does a “full-time income” actually mean to you?
Everyone’s idea of a full-time income is different.
You might be coming from a senior corporate role with a high six-figure salary, or you might be looking to replace a more average wage. Understanding what you’re trying to replace is important, because it will shape your expectations around time, growth, and reality.
It may also affect how much you’re able (or willing) to invest financially in the early stages, particularly when it comes to promoting your services and building awareness.
When I started tutoring, I had just moved into a part-time job. I worked out that I only needed ten regular students to be able to leave that role and focus fully on tutoring. I achieved that in under six months with very little marketing (largely because, at the time, I didn’t really know how to market). Instead, my reputation grew quickly through word of mouth and my beliefs about how children learn.
Within eighteen months, I had more work than I could manage alone and needed to bring in additional tutors. That pattern has continued fairly consistently since.
So, the answer is yes...but... there are contributing factors such as how hard are you willing to work, how many hours are you willing to put in? What is the full-time income you are trying to replace?
In this episode I talk from my experience of building Clara James Tutoring over the past 14 years. It has taken hard work, there have been real highs and incredible lows, but has it been worth it? Yes, most definitely.
