Classroom to Business

In this enlightening episode of Classroom to Business, host Kirsty Gibbs invites financial expert Malisa Clarence from MBooks and The Ask Hub, to provide invaluable insights on handling end-of-financial-year tasks for small business owners, specifically tutoring businesses, especially in Australia.  As the end of the financial year approaches, Malisa emphasises the importance of reviewing profit a...

Join us in this inspiring episode, as we dive into the experiences of several female entrepreneurs who attended our 'Teachers in Business Retreat' in Northern New South Wales, late last month. Listen to firsthand accounts of business breakthroughs, personal growth and the incredible synergy of combining business acumen with personal development. Discover how stepping out of your comfort zone and e...

In this podcast episode of Classroom to Business, Kirsty Gibbs brings on Kerrie Parry from Bright Minds Co. to delve into the intricacies and challenges of catering to gifted children in the educational sphere. Kerrie discusses her journey as an educator, how she niched down to specialise in gifted education and the various services her company offers to enrich the intellectual and creative pursui...

In this insightful episode, Kirsty Gibbs sits down with the enthusiastic Kathy Norton from Rise Up Education , on the 27th floor of a Melbourne high rise to divulge the journey of her tutoring business. Giving a peek into the hard-earned lessons and strategic planning that goes behind a successful educational venture, this conversation is a goldmine for tutors and business owners alike. Kathy shar...

In this episode of Classroom to Business, Kirsty offers invaluable insights into the strategic decision-making process for tutors pondering whether to specialise or diversify their tutoring services.  As she delves into the question, "Should I just specialise or niche down in one subject area for my tutoring business?", listeners are treated to a thorough analysis of the benefits and challenges as...

In this episode of the Classroom to Business podcast, Kirsty  discusses the emotional challenges that come with starting a business. She acknowledges the fears, limiting beliefs and negative thoughts that often arise when teachers consider starting their own tutoring businesses or any other type of business. Kirsty shares her own experiences and provides insights on understanding fear, taking acti...

In this episode of the Classroom to Business podcast, host Kirsty Gibbs is joined by her daughter Imogen for a special interview. Imogen asks Kirsty a series of questions about her journey from being a teacher to starting her own tutoring business and eventually becoming a business coach. Kirsty shares her reasons for becoming a teacher, what she loved and didn't love about teaching, and why she d...

In this episode of "Classroom to Business," host Kirsty Gibbs discusses the importance of dreaming big when starting and growing a tutoring business. She addresses the common tendency for educators-turned-entrepreneurs to limit their aspirations and offers practical advice on how to overcome these self-imposed limitations. Kirsty emphasises the need to believe in oneself, explore the full potentia...

This episode was inspired by one of my memebers inside of the Tutoring Growth Membership.  It's a question I get asked a lot, and this particular member asked me to share it on the podcast.  So here we are! When starting a tutoring business, or any business for that matter, there are going to be challenges along the way, and in this episode I share with you some of the main challenges that I had a...

Natalie Hearn is the founder of Fundamental Literacy , a tutoring business that focuses on literacy from kindergarten to sixth grade. With a background in teaching, Natalie started her business in 2021 as a way to transition out of the classroom and have more control over her work. She offers one-on-one tutoring sessions, school readiness sessions and group sessions for kindergarten and first-grad...

Chantelle Elbadaoui is the founder of Attain Education , an online tutoring business that specialises in providing personalised and engaging lessons for primary school students. With a background in primary school teaching, Chantelle started Attain Education during the UK lockdowns in 2020, recognising the need for additional support for students during remote learning. She has since expanded her...

In this episode of the Classroom to Business podcast, I discuss the power of business cards in your tutoring business, in today's digital age. While many people have moved away from using business cards due to the prevalence of mobile phones and online contact information, I believe that business cards can still be a valuable tool, especially in the tutoring industry.  In this episode, I share: *...

Welcome back to a brand new year and another episode of Classroom to Business.  In this episode I share a theory that I have…. The 7 Month Freak-Out.  If you've been in business for more than a year, then you will have experienced it.  If you are in the first 12 months of your business then you might be experiencing it right now!  And if you're starting your business this year, chances are you wil...

This is a bit of a controversial topic, but I'm going to go out there and say it….. You NEED a really good website for your tutoring business if you are taking it seriously and want to grow your numbers and revenue. And to have a really good (amazing) website, there's a fair chance you will need to outsource this… Not go at it yourself. In this episode, I share What a website can do for your busin...

When we play a game, the only way for it to succeed is if everyone knows the rules.  Well, your business is very much the same.  If you haven't created rules, if you haven't shared them with the other players and if you haven't ensured that everyone is following them, then your game isn't going to fair so well.     Some people will start to 'cheat' (knowingly or not), and this will lead to all sor...

Last weekend I ran our first ever 'Teachers in Business Retreat' at Cabarita Beach, northern NSW, and it was a huge success.  It was the perfect balance of work, relaxation, connection and fun!   Over the weekend, a main focus for the ladies was to really get serious with their goals (and set them up seriously, not just as wishy-washy words that sounded good), and then work together to create supe...

The Christmas holidays are coming up and that means most tutoring businesses are about to lose all their regular students and hit a VERY slow period, which means a decrease in revenue.  It might not seem like a big deal, but from my own experience, I know that 4-6 weeks of little-to-no income can have you stressing out and really struggling to stay afloat.   To avoid this, we need to be proactive....

In this episode I chat to special guests Alison Perry and Jacinda Vaughan from Sounds-Write. Alison is an experienced Sounds-Write trainer and speech pathologist based in Brisbane. She founded Soundality with the goal of supporting educators and parents to help every learner achieve their full potential in reading and spelling, using evidence-based methods and resources. She is also a mum to two b...

If you are wanting to start your own tutoring business, then this is the episode for you!  Inside my course Tutor Bootcamp I show you step by step (with all of the tools and templates), how to create your own tutoring business, but today I am summarising this and sharing the 4 main stages that you will need to go through to ensure you have your business all set up and ready to open the doors for 2...

I think all of us have those 'memorable moments' in our teaching careers (possibly more than one), where something has really hit a nerve.  It's made us want to do more and it's made us even question if what we are doing in the classroom is enough. In this episode, I talk with Kristy Haworth from 'All Kids Can Education'.  Kristy opens up and shares what drove her to start her own tutoring busines...

If you're like me, you probably don't like confrontation.  It makes me feel all sorts of uncomfortable and uneasy.  In business (and even in the classroom), we can come across parents who are unhappy with something, and often we end up on the receiving end of anger, disappointment, confusion, overwhelm, etc.  I found the best approach was to be calm, positive and prepared!  Now we can't prepare fo...

All too often tutoring business owners bury their heads in the sand when it comes to their business finances.  I get it.  We are educators by trade.  We don't all love numbers and some of us totally freak out at the thought of maths beyond year 2, so trying to understand business financials seems like such an impossible task!  Plus we have lesson planning to do, resources to create and students to...

Back in episode 4, I covered 'What to Charge for my Tutoring Services' but today I am going one step further to a place that scares the heck out of so many people and makes most of us kind, caring educators feel super uncomfortable… raising prices in your tutoring business. In this episode, I share… The most common reasons why people don't raise their prices in tutoring businesses The benefits of...

Let's be honest, offering JUST 1on1 tutoring can only get you so far.   There are only so many hours in a day, which means only a certain amount of students that you can work with and only a certain amount of revenue that you can make. In this episode, I talk about the many benefits of running groups in your tutoring business and how you can effectively introduce them to your families.  I also dis...

A lot of us in tutoring businesses have big, kind hearts and are really passionate about making a difference and ensuring every child has access to the support we are providing.  This is not a bad thing, however when it's at the cost of our business, our profits and our own families, then it's definitely not a good thing! In this episode, I share some examples of when my feelings and emotions have...