There are times when multiple factors make the entire market congenial for certain businesses and mobile apps to thrive. If we take into consideration the factors like the global pandemic, the shutting down of educational institutions, and the demand from parents for their child to be equipped better for the exams, now is a perfect time for an on-demand tutor app. The penetration and proliferation of smartphones also contribute to the relevance and lucrativeness of this business.
What are on-demand tutoring apps?
As the name implies, an on-demand tutoring app implements the Uber model for education. They bring students close to teachers through a platform using which a student can take personal online tuition from a tutor or join a batch of students that the tutor handles.
Unlike the classic classrooms, on-demand tutor applications give a considerable degree of flexibility to both the tutor and the student. The tutor can dictate their working hours and availability, and the student, after searching, can choose any tutor of their choice.
Why on-demand tutoring apps?
Until March 2020, there were compelling yet limited reasons. There were parents who wanted their child to get additional academic attention than what they provide in school. Some tutors have also gained the reputation of making subjects easily understandable.
However, ever since the break of the COVID-19 pandemic, tutors on-demand ceased to be an auxiliary aspect of education. It rather became one of the core aspects of learning as a lot of teachers have started to use online media to teach children. It has been estimated that more than an eighth of the total world population has been impacted by national school closures worldwide because of the pandemic.
Considering all these factors, and in addition, aspects like safety and social distancing, on-demand tutoring apps adequately fill the space without compromising on the extent and quality of learning.
The market size
The growth of the market for on-demand computer apps between 2020 and 2024 will be about $132.21 billion. The market was valued at $133.2 billion in 2018, and it is expected to grow more than 300% to reach a value of $369.69 billion in 2025.
All these statistics only indicate that the future for these on-demand tutor apps is quite wide and lucrative. It makes perfect sense for an aspiring entrepreneur to invest in an on-demand tutoring service app.
The business and the monetization models
Your tutoring app can either provide free services or charge a premium to use additional services beyond the free courses. You can also consider implementing a subscription-based model like Netflix, where a user can pay a subscription fee and access all the courses in a given slot.
There are multiple ways in which you can monetize your on-demand tutor app. You can run ads within the app using programs facilitated by Google and Apple. You can also charge subscription fees from customers and monetize the data that you hold from both tutors and students.
The most common monetization method is charging a commission from tutors for the courses facilitated by the app. This commission method, in essence, functions like an affiliate where the app is paid for, facilitating an additional income for the tutor.
Features of the On-demand tutor app
As you may have guessed, there are three different entities involved in that tutor app ecosystem: the student, the tutor, and the administrator. While the student and the tutor are provided with dedicated apps, the administrator is provided with a panel mostly accessed from a desktop computer in rare instances, mobile devices.
The student app
- The student should be able to easily register for the services, and for this purpose, your app should be integrated with social media login. The registration should immediately create a profile for the student, so they can engage in the purchase of books and download of study material, all connected to the profile.
- Based on multiple parameters, the student should be able to browse for tutors. They should be able to search based on the subject, the proximity, the available work hours, and the experience in teaching for specific grades.
- They should be able to check the ratings and reviews of the tutors and they should be able to include them as one of the search or sort criteria.
- The student should be able to view all the details of the tutor, including their years of experience, the qualification, and positive reviews and testimonials that they have received from other students.
- They should be able to easily select a theatre or post requirements for their specific needs. They should also be able to enroll for a class or a course where a tutor does not essentially handle personal classes but for an entire batch.
- Even if they choose personal tutoring, they should be able to easily select the tutor and proceed to make a payment.
- The app should be integrated with a versatile payment gateway that can accept payments from multiple payment instruments like credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, and wallets.
- The student should be able to communicate with their tutor or the support executives over a chat engine residing within the app.
- Push notifications should help tutors and the business keep the student updated about the courses, possible holidays and delays, and offers and promotions specifically created for that particular student.
The tutor app
- Just like the student, the tutor should be able to create a profile without much hassle. The profile should, in addition to the name, also contain information like their qualification, other specialization, years of experience, credentials, and anything else that might positively impact the probability of the tutor being chosen by a student. It is to be remembered that all these details constitute search filters for the student.
- They should be able to control their availability in terms of their timing and a calendar. The tutor, in essence, is a gig worker and they should have complete control over the timings with the knowledge that the number of hours of tutoring services is proportional to their earnings. Even within the stipulated hours, they should be able to toggle their availability and accept/reject requests.
- They should be able to keep a tab of their earnings over time. These earnings should be credited to their bank accounts at the earliest.
- They should be able to chat with students within the app and if need be, escalate certain issues to the administrator.
The admin panel
- The admin should be provided with a dashboard that gives them all the vital statistics required for efficient analysis. The statistics include the number of active tutoring requests, the total earnings, the total commissions, and the number of active courses.
- They should be able to manage services and tutors based on their subject expertise and years of experience. The pieces of information should also include the details about schools, colleges, and other educational institutions.
- They should be able to manage the commercial elements of the app like the earnings, the disbursal of the earnings to the bank account of the tutor, and the tasks related to taxation and compliance.
- They should also be able to manage students and the fees that have been paid by the student. They should also be able to handle support queries and, if need be, delegate the process to a customer support team.
- They should be able to control the content on the app and should also be able to manage promotional aspects like referral and loyalty programs and promotional codes.
Conclusion
The relevance and the viability of an Uber-like app for tutors have been established. If you are one of those aspiring entrepreneurs who would like to build a business out of tutoring on demand, all you need to do is get in touch with the company that specializes in on-demand tutor app development. You can, alternatively, make use of white label clones of existing apps.
With the availability of technology, it is just a matter of some effort in marketing and operations before you taste your success in this domain.
