Fee Setting Guide for Private Tutors, Art and Music Teachers

If you are offering private lessons in art, music, or tutoring, you may be wondering how to set your fees. You don't want to charge too low a price and not be taken seriously, or too many people and not be able to accommodate everyone. You also don't want to charge too much and have people avoid you.

It's hard to find the right balance. Here are some pointers to help you decide what to charge for your tutoring, art, or music lesson business.

Where will you give the lessons?

When determining your rates, you need to consider where you will be giving the private lessons. If you are doing the lessons in your own home, you may not have to pay as much as if you were to drive to someone's home to do the lessons, or you may have to rent another place to do the lessons.

These costs need to be taken into account when setting the fee. Once you have included the cost of travel and renting space, the next step is to set the fee for your private tutoring, art or music business.

Steps to Setting Private Lesson Fees

1. If no one else offers lessons similar to what you are trying to offer, you can determine this by what other enrichment programs charge. You don't have to use these lessons to determine your fees, but they can be a good starting point.

2. Determine how much money you need to make an acceptable income. This will not only help you set your fees, but also help you identify how many students you need to make an acceptable income.

3. What kind of education do you have? Experience is important, but a degree is easier to prove and some people are willing to pay more for someone with a degree. Your education has value, so if you can offer better qualifications than others, after seeing what other teachers in your area are charging, you may be able to charge a little more.

4. Set the same price for everyone. It doesn't matter if you are a friend or a family member, if you are in business, you must set the same price for everyone. If you don't, word will get out that you are charging different rates than others, and you will not get any business.

5. Don't give family discounts. As tempting as it may be, your time is worth the same whether you are teaching one child of that person or multiple children.

6. Fees are not constant all the time. At some point you will need to raise your fees. You may lose some students as a result, but people will be willing to pay the increased cost if you are good at what you do.

If you have a full roster, you're doing two years without increased fees, and you're below the rates of teachers with the same degree and credentials as you, it's time to raise your rates.

The most important thing to remember when setting your rates for tutoring, art, and music instruction is to value yourself. Your time is worth something, so don't let people tell you to lower your rates. If they are not willing to pay the rate you set, do not conclude that it means you are overcharging for your services.