As I talk to Teacher Entrepreneurs across the country time seems to be an issue for everyone. I understand that. Being a great educator is time consuming, so is being a great entrepreneur. The good news is that most of the successful Teacher Entrepreneurs I know already manage their time effectively. They have to or they will not be successful. As I have said many times before, the skills that make teachers effective in the classroom are the skills that will make them successful in business.
If you want further explanation of the similarities between teaching and running a business go to my homepage www.TeacherEntrepreneur.com . You can enter your email address to obtain a free copy of my report “6 Ways Running a Classroom is Like Running a Business.” If you have not previously taken the time to consider the similarities you might be surprised.
Tip #4 Don’t Use School Equipment has become a bigger issue in the last several years as technology has taken on a larger role in education. Virtually all districts now have an acceptable use policy for their staff and many specifically prohibit using school equipment to run a business. Fortunately, almost anything can be done from a Smartphone so there is little need to use school equipment. In some ways being a Teacher Entrepreneur is a lot easier today than it was 10 years ago.
Tip #5 Understand Your Value is a good one for educators to consider. As teachers we are not used to making much money and we are nice people, so we don’t want to overcharge anyone. Put these two traits together and we end up under-valuing our time and expertise. By doing this, we commit ourselves to working harder for less money. I think all teachers work hard for too little money during the school year.
In your business you should charge market rate for your services, even if that is more than you are used to making as a teacher. Provide your customers with great service and they will reward you. As Yul Craig Martin from Biggby Coffee stated a couple of weeks ago in our Teacher Entrepreneur profile http://teacherentrepreneur.com/teacher-entrepreneur-profile-yul-craig-martin-biggby-coffee/ “Relentless customer service is what it’s all about.” If you provide great customer service your rates shouldn’t be an issue.
I hope this article was helpful to you. If you have any tips you would like to share, please leave them in the comments section below.