How I’d Build an Online Tutoring Business From Scratch in 2026

Summary

Elliot Phillips outlines how he would launch an online tutoring business from scratch, drawing on his experience at The Teacher Project and work with more than 3,000 clients. His central advice is to focus on one type of student, sell a group-based service, validate demand before building materials, and use early student outcomes to support higher-priced, ongoing enrollment.

Playbook and Recommendations

• Choose one specific student and problem. Avoid serving different age groups, subjects, or needs at once. A focused audience makes it easier to shape the offer and teach students with similar needs in groups.
• Use a group-tutoring model to leverage teaching time. Groups can increase the number of students served per teaching hour, reduce repeated preparation, and avoid relying solely on one-to-one teaching.
• Prioritize lead generation and sales over course-building.
  • Use paid ads on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram to reach the intended student or parent.
  • If time allows, supplement paid advertising with organic posts and outreach.
  • Keep the proposed ad flow simple: ad → Messenger conversation or Facebook instant form → qualification and trust-building → sales call.
  • Send prospects useful material before the call, such as a teaching sample, program overview, or—later—a student case study. This helps them understand the approach and arrive better informed.
• Schedule protected business-development time. Use scheduled work blocks for lead follow-up and sales calls so these activities aren’t displaced by preparation or administration.
• Pre-sell before building out the program. Run an initial enrollment period, take payment, and begin teaching after the presale period. Create materials as needed instead of spending months building a course or membership site before confirming demand.
• Offer an initial, limited beta. For early clients, offer a lower-cost, 30-day trial-style engagement in exchange for participation and feedback. The goal is to establish trust, learn from delivery, and gather evidence of student progress.
• Deliver, then retain and expand. Support the first students closely for 30 days. If the service is working, offer a longer commitment—such as a 12-week program—at a higher rate. Applying the initial payment toward the longer program may make the transition easier.
• Use outcomes to strengthen marketing. Collect student testimonials and, with permission, use them in ads and pre-call materials. Case studies can explain the student’s starting point, the intervention, and the result.
• Relaunch and enroll continuously. After the initial delivery period, raise prices, restart ads using the testimonials, and continue enrolling students.
• Hire before reaching full capacity. Keep some room for marketing, sales, preparation, and administration. At roughly 75–80% of teaching capacity, consider adding tutors or teachers and an operations assistant.

Metrics, Targets, and Timelines

• Phillips says he has helped more than 3,000 clients over five years and describes The Teacher Project as having reached multiple seven figures in annual revenue. These are claims made by the presenter.
• First presale period: 3–4 weeks.
• Initial beta offer: The first 25–50 clients, with a suggested example price of $97 for 30 days at a reduced rate.
• Group-capacity example: 10 groups × 5 students = 50 students, requiring about 10 teaching hours if each group meets for one hour.
• Initial delivery period: 30 days, followed by an offer to continue for 12 weeks or, in some tutoring cases, an academic year.
• Capacity threshold for hiring: Approximately 75–80% of teaching capacity.
• Work-block framework: Phillips calls the 90/90/1 routine “9091”: 90 minutes of focused work, once a day, for 90 days. He suggests using 60-minute blocks with 10-minute breaks if that is more practical, or adding further blocks when time allows.
• No specific CAC, conversion-rate, margin, or retention targets are provided.

Presenters and Sources

• Presenter: Elliot Phillips
• Sources and frameworks referenced: Robin Sharma’s The 5 AM Club (for the 90/90/1 routine); Phillips’s Teaching on Your Own Terms; and The Teacher Project’s tutoring-business approach.