Promises...

It's getting near the end of the month and it's time for me to think about my February charity. It's easy on this occasion, because I made a promise some time back in January that it would be Amnesty International.

I don't know what it is about me but these young women seem to home in when they see me in Hereford City centre "High Town". She'd bounced up to me like they seem trained to do and had told me all about it...and I'd told her about my idea to give something every month and that I'd already promised January's donation to some other organisation.

But I did promise her that Amnesty International would be February's - and so it shall be!

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I dunno...they always seem to catch me when I'm on the way to the bank. It happened again today! A young woman with hair tied in knots like tow-rope but with a face that got away with it shimmied up to me and started talking about Concern International. It sounded very similar to Amnesty...

So I told her all my plans and I trust she believed me.

It's very pleasant talking to these young women - they must recognise a softy when they see one - perhaps that's part of the training too - but I hope to find other ways of coming across charities for my monthly donation. My sister's told me a little about CAF Charity Accounts. Anyone have experience/opinions of this?

Colin

The Financial story so far...

I've been analysing a few figures.

I have a full week booked to finish off February and - God willing, weather permitting and health allowing - I will have taught just over £1200-worth of lessons by the end of this month. Last February was my record month until October, which made a good end to my first year in business.

November 2009 is still the all-time record, which made a great start to my second year. "All-time" sounds rather too dramatic - I should say "the record so far". Then again, ALL records are 'so far', aren't they!

Here's the chart showing the value of the lessons I've taught for the last 16 months:

As my pupils pay per lesson or for a block in advance, this represents my turnover.

Expenditure shows some enormous 'blips'! That's because I had a lot of outlay when I first set up: insurance, a laptop, a laminator, advertising leaflets and office stationery...

After that it was fairly steady until I decided to go mobile in August, when I bought half a car and insured it. I paid another chunk of the car in November, when I also had to renew insurance for public liability and professional indemnity. I'm very grateful to Juliet for her advice about insurance - among other things. Several of my clients offer me tea and coffee and I feel a lot happier about spilling it over their computers now!
Juliet produces a very good book about How To Set Up A Computer Tuition Business...well worth a look!

How's it going for you?

Colin

Time Out

It's half-term.

Not that it affects my clientele, but I get nine days off from singing.

The eighteen boys in the Cathedral Choir need a break - they work very hard all term with rehearsals each day before school, then a full 'school day', then another rehearsal and Evensong which finishes about 6.15 p.m. And after that they have homework to do! Then there's the weekend singing as well...

The six men also need a break. Two of them are school teachers so they get 'half-term' anyway but the other four of us have to fit in leave with school holidays if we are going to give ourselves a complete rest from work.

It's so easy to tell myself that I can't afford to stop work - I might lose pupils if I miss a week - and that's how I felt last year. But it's nonsense. I need to take a breather - and everyone understands, especially when I say I need to visit my mother. After all, some of my clients are almost as old as she is!

So I drove straight off on Friday evening (having just started a new pupil!) and spent a long weekend in Dorset doing a lot of gardening. You know what they say: "A change is as good as a rest!"

It was great! I had a wonderful bonfire which lasted two days - my family loves bonfires - it's in my genes. It also gets in my hair and in every item of clothing. I shovelled tons of leaf mould and compost and it did me a power of good, not to mention the garden!

I always take the camera with me, intending to take lots of shots...but then the workload takes over. My mother's eyesight is failing so we got her one of those digital picture-frames last Christmas and a memory stick to go with it. I take my laptop down as well and show her photos on that but it's easier for her if we leave the memory stick plugged into the frame. I keep offering to give her computer lessons but she shoos me away. Perhaps it's just as well, otherwise I would never get a break!

The famous visiting Dorset Badgers come every night, but recently they've been coming very very late, so mother hasn't seen them for weeks - but the food disappears by morning! But by day a new friend has appeared and I managed to photograph him - through the glass door, so it's a bit hazy:

All jokes about computer tutors and mice gratefully received.

Returned to Hereford on Monday night and had a teaching-free day today, Tuesday. But not quite free of 'work' - as I prepared a few pages to add to a pupil's manual and I went out and 'blitzed' three villages with flyers!

All in a day's rest!

Hope you give yourselves a break...

Colin

Busiest ever

I'm pleased to say that I'm quite rushed off my feet with this business. At least, I feel busy since I started for this new year on January 4th.

I go out to all my clients and I only teach one-to-one. The earliest I have started a session is 9a.m. but the earliest most of my clients and I generally agree is 9.30....more like 10 a.m! I teach a minimum of one hour as "a session" and I have to stop by 4.30 p.m. so I can get to my 'twilight' job.

I give myself a minimum of half an hour between sessions to allow for payment, fixing a date for the next session and a general civilised farewell and exit before travelling to the next appointment, although as I spread myself around the county I often find I have to allow more like an hour between clients.

Over these last 5 weeks I've averaged just over 10 sessions per week.
The average session length was 1 hour 20 mins.

I haven't kept a count of the hours I spend producing manuals or doing other homework and research but it is a lot! I treat all that as 'part of the service' that I provide.

I have undercharged ludicrously for 'project work' - stuff that I do at home on behalf of clients, like video editing and website design - but this was because it was all new to me and I was learning as I went along. With more confidence now I must draw up some sort of rate for the homework I undertake.

So how does that compare with you? I know some of you do tuition as a sideline to repairs, installations, web design, consultancy etc. But are there any others out there who are doing mainly out-and-about tutoring? How busy is busy?