Private Class Guidelines
I can’t count the times I was asked to do private classes when I was abroad. I would choose carefully which private classes I took on based on how well the class would fit my schedule. For private classes that I accepted, I judged how much my free time was worth to me and charged accordingly.
I made sure that my private classes were lucrative for me. I may not have had a lot of private classes, but all of my private classes were worth it. In fact, while I taught in Mexico, most of my income came from private classes.
There are some obvious downsides to teaching private classes, but they can be reduced. The biggest problem is handling payment and it is followed closely by handling cancellations. I handle these based on my belief that private classes have several advantages for students, but those advantages shouldn’t focus on easier payment terms and easier cancellation terms. That’s why I came up with my guidelines for private classes. I doubt that these will work for you, but they should be a good base for coming up with your own guidelines.
1) All private classes are taught in the context of a course. A course has a set length of hours with at least several objectives to judge performance against.
2) All course payment is due up front.
3) Students are allowed one free last minute cancellation per course for sickness, meeting, etc. They are allowed 3 other cancellations, but they must be made at least 48 hours in advance. Anything above those limits are lost classes.
These terms have sometimes seemed strict to some students who have approached me for private classes, but private classes are business and I conduct them professionally. If a student is unable or unwilling to agree to the guidelines then I do not waste my time teaching them.
What guidelines do you use for your private classes?
Comments
One Comment on Private Class Guidelines
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Daniel on
Thu, 17th Nov 2011 6:43 am
Well Rico,
I guess the guidelines you have mentioned are enough but if your using a website it will make it much easier for you as well as student’s if want to cancel a lesson. And when it comes to payments then having a website will surely solve your problem.You can set up upfront payment for you private lessons.
Thanks for sharing the information. Hope to keep them in mind.
Chao
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