The Secret To Growing A Teaching Business While Teaching Full-Time

How I built a teacher business as a full-time teacher

Growing a teaching business while still actively teaching in the classroom can seem intimidating. With the correct mindset and systems you will find it possible to scale and grow your teaching business. Today we are talking about steps you need to implement in your growing teaching business for success and work/life balance. 

Yes, I run a teacher business and I'm also a full time teacher.  I didn't feel like there were a lot of people on social media talking about the struggles of doing everything on your own as a solo teacherpreneur. It just seemed like it was one way or the other. Either you want to quit teaching to run your teacher business full time, and you just aren't there yet, or you have quit teaching and you are running a teacher business and you're making a lot of money.  It was a dichotomy, you know, one drastic measure to the other and it didn't seem like there was anybody in the middle. Where are the people that want to stay in teaching, but also want to run a successful teaching business? Hello, it's me, I tutor. As you may know, on my other blog, I give a lot of tips for that.  I also run a Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I want to break down how I got there and help you do the same thing. That's my ultimate goal is to see other teachers thriving, loving what they're doing, but also making extra money. So you can do things like go to Europe with your family, or send your kids to summer camp. I'm all about having the little extras in life that make the day to day so much easier. 

Growing my teacher business didn’t happen overnight.

Growing my teacher business didn’t happen overnight. It’s been 4 years of working hard and not giving up.

It’s been four years since I started my teacher business and it didn't happen overnight. That is the first thing I will tell you is yes, you might feel like the wheels are just turning in your brain right now.  You have all these great ideas, and you want a quick result.  You are a busy teacher after all!  I’m here to tell you, you have to be in it to win it.  You have to be in it for the long game, not the short game. Whichever analogy you prefere, just know it's going to take you a while to build a teacher business that's profitable and that's okay.  For starters, you have to build like, know and trust with people while also putting systems and processes in place that actually help you grow your business and aren't hurting your business.  It took me four years, that's just being honest, I started back in 2018 and here I am today running multiple businesses while teaching full time.  You can do it too, you really can. 

Work smarter not harder on your teacher business.

There were times when I didn’t have proper work life balance and I needed systems to scale my business so I could work smarter not harder.

There were times that I didn't have a proper work life balance and I regret that. There were times where all I could do was think about my business and I sacrificed time with my husband because of that, and my family as well.  Since then, I've put those systems and processes in place, I've become a lot more successful.  Here's one bonus tip for you. If you have everything on your brain, and you can't figure out how to just relax and let go for the night, make a list, you can either do pen to paper, or you can do a Google Doc.  Write down everything that you need to do and then put them into categories or put them into days of the week and chunk them based on what you need to accomplish. So for me today, for example, I knew I was going to film four YouTube videos.  That was on my to do list and they're all similar tasks so I'm not toggling back and forth between tasks.  Set yourself free when you’re on family time by writing down anything that’s holding you back from living in the moment.  

Having a Teachers Pay Teachers store has been on of the best things in my teacher business!

Once I found my niche in tutoring, I was able to expand my business and Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Once I found my niche in tutoring, I was able to expand my business.  Start with one thing and do it well before you start trying to do everything and develop a severe case of shiny object syndrome.  That was one of the hardest parts for me is I would see a new idea and just want to chase it.  You really have to get well known for something first and build the foundation of your house before you can add the roof.  In other words, get really good in your niche before you try to expand.  If you're trying to start your tutoring business, pick one subject to focus on.   If you're starting a TPT store, pick your favorite thing to teach and make resources that align with that so you can use them in your classroom as well as other parts of your business like your tutoring sessions. 

Staying focused has been the key.

Combining my favorite thing to teach in the classroom with both of my businesses helps me stay focused and excited about my business.

I combined my favorite thing to teach in the classroom with both of my businesses so that I was excited about both and able to expand.  When I say excited, it means I'm excited to create resources that help teachers teach reading better or work on writing or learn about the Daily Five.  In my tutoring business, I get to help kids with the same thing and I also get to help teachers create their own tutoring business and learn all the steps to put in place to actually have a profitable tutoring business.  I aligned all of those things so that I was sticking in my zone of expertise and also not having to stretch myself too thin. It's not too big of a leap for me to tutor a kid in reading and then to make a reading resource in the same day.  I'm using the same skills, I'm using my area of expertise, and I'm doing something that I really enjoy doing. 

So there you have it. That's how I grew my teacher business while working full time.  Just remember that it's not going to be an overnight success, you have to be in it to win it. But if you do, stick around and keep putting in the time and really working on your business, you will grow it, I promise you. 

Learn the 3 secrets to making daily sales on Teachers Pay Teachers

If you're thinking it would be great to get started but you really need a push in the right direction then join my free four day challenge where we're going to learn three simple steps to go from zero to cha-ching. Every day you'll get a video in your inbox and it's going to teach you something new.  On the last night, you get to join me for my free masterclass where I'm going to teach you those three simple steps and break them down into greater detail.  Now you know how to become a Teachers Pay Teachers seller, you just need to get a pedal to the metal and get started. 

Have you started your TPT store yet? Drop your store name in the comments!