/biz/ - Business & Finance

[Anonymous No.416379]

Found out the agency I work for charges ~$70 per hour of which only $25 is passed to me for one-on-one maths tuition for secondary school students. I get that the agency is good at marketing/advertising and getting students for me so easily but that profit margin seems fucking nuts.

I want to go independent. How possible is it for me to charge a higher fee and still get clients without the agency's help and their image? I was considering making a website for myself and then maybe putting ads in the paper that point to the site, charging about $50 per hour. I can't remember exactly how many students I've had but it's upwards of 40 in the four years I've been at university. I'm good at what I do.

Any thoughts at all? Is my desired price totally unrealistic without an agency?
Also I'm in Australia if that affects anything.

[Anonymous No.416548]

>>416379
>How possible is it for me to charge a higher fee and still get clients without the agency's help and their image?
as possible as your network is wide. but random people are going to be more likely to pay a well established company than some random joe who bought a newspaper ad

[Anonymous No.416607]

See, this is what happens when the retarded peons see raw numbers.

Where did you get the idea the difference between 25 and 75 was the profit margin? They actually have overhead and must spend a lot in gaining attention to the agency.

You're probably making more money than the agency, and the only reason you're getting that is because people trust an agency with liability and reputation. You're not getting 50-75 going freelance.

[Anonymous No.416672]

>>416379
Thats nothing buddy. IBM charges clients $150/h, for a $35-40/h engineer. Let that sink in.

[Anonymous No.416993]

>>416607
I'm aware that they have their own overhead. My focus is more on the fact that the clients are convinced I'm worth spending about 70 on. The amount I'm considering charging is really whatever is above 25.

I'm getting really conflicting advice on the matter because people keep telling me how much they see freelancers charge in the newspaper and gumtree or similar sites but I'm not getting any proof that those individuals get buyers.

I already get about 50 from students that kept me after another agency of mine went bankrupt, and same thing from students that were recommended by word of mouth. The only idea I'm still attracted to is getting that amount from the get go. I would be willing to do a first lesson free or similar to sweeten the deal for new clients.

[Anonymous No.417021]

DONT LIKE IT OP? START YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS AND DO THE SAME FUCKER!

It's called "overhead" and the luxury of having your own business.

NOW GTFO!!!!!!

[Anonymous No.417105]

>>416993
The clients are convinced you are worth spending $70 on because of the reputation and reliability of the company you work for. They aren't hiring you at first; they are hiring a company that produces results. So, you have to decide how to prove the same thing to potential customers with no company name and guarantee. A newspaper ad would get bites, but not many, and if little Suzy fails anyways after your help or doesn't improve enough (no matter how stupid little Suzy is), then you're also going to have to contend with a bad reputation, which the Big Company doesn't have to deal with because they have better recourse options than you will.

So, you have to build an image, maintain an image, and prove your image to people. How are you going to do that? A website is necessary, but doesn't inspire confidence. Word of mouth is going to be your best way to go about this, but will you have enough of it? Advertising newspaper only isn't the best. It is a university paper? Can you affiliate with any schools? Get in good with teachers? Any schooling programs that would allow you to contact their members (after school clubs, YMCA or something, or neighborhood centers)? Online ads on local parenting websites, craigslist, pinterest?

I have no doubt that you could do some business, and there's a small chance you could find the same success. But you have to also account for all those hours doing your own billing, accounting, processing, advertising, advertising in the right places, getting recommendations, sharing the recommendations, etc. You are going to spend more hours not tutoring, because you're going to be spending time running a business. Do you want to run a business? Or do you want to just tutor? It's up to you how much work you want to put into this and how intelligently you'll do it.