Revealed: My Earnings as a Tutor!

I reveal 4 years’ worth of my revenue figures as a tutor in a tuition centre! Do leave a like in the YouTube video if you enjoy the content and want me to reveal more figures.

Most Singaporeans should know by now that we’re a country with a billion-dollar tuition industry, and it’s in this ground I planted a flag quite a few years ago with my friend, starting a humble business. In an industry where top earners can reach as much as $1 million salary annually, how am I faring?

Spoiler alert: nowhere near, but we’re getting there… or land or the moon or something.

Reasons why I’m sharing

By being open about my earnings, I hope it’d help people who are thinking of entering the industry by sharing my own experience. I suppose it’s a great way to boost our recruitment efforts too: if you’re interested in joining the industry, we are more than keen to have a discussion with you, particularly if you are an existing school teacher, or a private tutor with an existing tutor base looking to scale your business. Drop us a message!

Also, I am warming up to the idea of openness and transparency about one’s earnings. Accountants, lawyers, and other professionals all have some sort of benchmark to gauge their performance, something my line lacks. It’s difficult to find a “colleague” as a private tutor, and I haven’t the slightest idea how I’m faring against my peers in the same industry. Sharing such info is said to make remuneration fairer for all, and in that spirit I am going first in hopes that other people would share their numbers as well.

Finally, I have become yet another YouTuber who wants views and likes… My previous reveals of my condo buying experience and commission earned as an insurance agent did really well relative to my other videos, and I’m chasing that dopamine. Give me views and I’ll give you my numbers!!

Revenue figures

Unfortunately, due to business reasons, I am unable to share everything except for my revenue figures – essentially the amount of fees I derive from my students. There are quite a bit of costs involved in running a business: advertising, staff, rental, and even legal expenses, and all these are confidential information. There is a certain profit share percentage between my company and me, and I cannot divulge the figure. What I can do is to show you the total takings:

2018: $136,150
2019: $140,500
2020: $148,175
2021: $83,935

The numbers look quite good – well, to me anyway – but I was working 6-day work weeks. Also, remember that these numbers are before costs, and certainly not what I take home. As a growing company we incurred lots of costs to battle growing pains, but nonetheless I think this was an occupation I finally found some amount of sustainable income in after earning some $1,000 a month trying to sell insurance in an ethical manner.

Speaking of ethics, I’m also comfortable with the job of a tutor. The clash of interest between a student, his/her parent and me is very minimal. We all want the kid to do well, and if they don’t, they are free to switch to another tutor. My fees are competitive with the industry, and transparent – unlike the hidden costs of an insurance policy.

Notably, COVID-19 did not affect the tuition business heavily aside from the initial impact of centres being closed down. The entire industry quickly pivoted online, and escaped relatively unscathed from the whole pandemic. My revenue in 2020 even grew more year-on-year compared to the previous year.

If you’re wondering why 2021 saw a staggering 45% drop in my revenue, you’re looking at it: this site – along my now 5-month old YouTube channel – has taken up quite a bit of time, and I have thus reduced lesson time to dedicate more towards this hobby-turned-venture of mine. Honestly, I am also a little burnt out from the years of classes; teaching is something that requires more energy that it seems to take. Nonetheless, I still enjoy teaching it very much (most of the time), and 2022 looks like a reversal of the downward trend.

How much do you earn?

Would you share your earnings, or is that still something too touchy for you? Let us know in the comments!

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