Summary

In this episode, I explore the mindset shift from tutor to business owner and why it can unlock new levels of growth. I discuss moving beyond educator thinking, letting go of guilt around profitability, embracing feedback, building resilience, and creating a business that supports the life you actually want.

Key Takeaways

• Thinking like a tutor and thinking like a business owner are very different mindsets

• Profitability and purpose can exist together in education businesses

• Success is not just about income, it is about designing the life you want

• Business strategy is always evolving and requires constant refinement

• Growth comes from resilience and adjusting, not giving up too early

• The people around you influence your ambition and mindset

• Feedback is information and an opportunity for growth, not criticism

• Delegation can create space for higher value work and better sustainability

• Protecting your time and energy supports both business growth and quality of life

• Small decisions should align with the bigger vision for your business and life

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👋🏽 Hello! I'm Sumantha McMahon, and I've supported over 100 tutors and education business owners.

As a teacher 'dropout' turned professional tutor, combined with my 20+ years as a business owner, I'm in it with you! Yes, I'm qualified too :-)

My training leans on tried-and-tested methods that are completely tailored to our niche.

Work with me to breathe life into YOUR definition of success:

#1 Bespoke 1:1 Mentoring

High-touch 6-month programme for tutors who want to make their business more lucrative, in a sustainable way for the future, while protecting the impact they make.

#2 The Tutors' Mastermind

The leading membership for tutors that combines tailored training (live and recorded), a community of like-minded business owners and exclusive discounts.

This podcast is recorded using Riverside. Sign up for your account here (free plan available)

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Sometimes, I share links to resources and apps that I recommend. They are all based on my experience - if I don't love them, I don't recommend them. In some cases, I earn a small commission for my recommendation, at no cost to you.

© 2024 Sumantha McMahon

I want to talk about something I see happening kind of quite frequently with tutors that I work with. It's this sense that you have where you know that something bigger is possible for you, but there's something stopping you and you can't quite work out what it is. So maybe you take action, maybe you invest in a course, maybe you try a new marketing strategy and it's still not quite connecting. So you feel frustration.

You're putting in effort, so why isn't it feeling right? Why isn't it quite working? Why doesn't it feel aligned? I'm Samantha McMahon and I'm a business mentor and coach for tutors and education business owners. And I specialise in helping tutors design businesses that are more lucrative and are more sustainable while giving them the life they actually want.

One of the most significant changes that I see happen in my work is when someone moves from thinking like a tutor to thinking like a business owner. So that's what I want to explore with you today.

So here's what I've noticed. When we're thinking like a tutor, our primary drive is to help people. And that's beautiful. That's why we became educators in the first place. But that mindset, the one that makes us brilliant at teaching, can actually work against us in business.

Because when your instinct is to help everybody, it becomes really difficult to say no. It becomes difficult to be selective about who you work with. And in business terms, that's essentially called niching. It is strategic. It's not unkind. It's just clear about the problem you solve and who you solve it for.

But there's something deeper underneath that reluctance to say no. And I want to name it because I see it so often. There's this guilt that comes with making good money from education.

We went into this field because we care about people and we care about learning. So the idea that we might be in it for the money too, or that we might charge premium rates, let's say, that can feel uncomfortable. It can feel like we're somehow betraying the purpose.

But the truth is you can care deeply about your students and also run a profitable business. Those two things are not in conflict.

In fact, the more profitable your business is, the more sustainable it becomes. And it means the more you protect your time and energy, the better you actually show up for the people you teach. So the guilt has to go.

And it goes when you start thinking like a business owner instead of an educator. The other thing that really shifts is what we measure success.

When I left teaching, my goal was to match my teaching salary. It was very simple. It felt logical. It was measurable. But when I look back on it now, I realised that it was maybe a bit limiting in a way.

Why did I need to match that salary? Yes, I needed to cover my outgoings, but actually I didn't leave teaching because of the money. I left because of the demands on my time and how it was affecting my health.

I wanted my voice back, I wanted to choose who I teach, I wanted a different kind of relationship with my students and their families.

So when you shift into business owner thinking, success isn't just about hitting a number, it's about designing a life.

What do you want your days to look like? What do you want to have time for and energy for? What matters to you beyond income?

Because for most of us, there's a deeply personal reason why we started this business in the first place. And if you're not measuring that stuff, you're missing half of the picture.

Now here's something that took me a while to understand. As a business owner, you have to accept that strategy is never finished.

It's not about finding the one thing that works and then coasting. It's about recognising that results come from multiple things working together.

You might have a solid social media presence, but if your positioning isn't clear, people won't know what problem you solve.

You might have a great offer, but if your pricing doesn't reflect the value, you'll under earn.

You might implement something perfectly, but if the timing isn't right or your follow up isn't strong, you won't see the result you expected.

It all has to work together. And that means that you're constantly thinking and adjusting and refining.

That's not failure when it doesn't work. It's actually what a business owner does.

But here's where it gets really interesting. When you're thinking like a tutor and you try something and it doesn't work, there's often a reaction.

Someone will implement a social media strategy, put in real effort for a couple of weeks, and if it doesn't immediately generate results, they disengage.

They stop posting or they keep posting, but there's no real thought or energy behind it anymore. They're just ticking a box.

As a business owner, when something doesn't work, you don't abandon it. You think about why it didn't work. You adjust, you try again.

You recognise that building a business is a process and processes take time.

The people you surround yourself matter more than you think.

I remember when I was around people who weren't particularly ambitious about their business. They were ambitious about other things and right now their business wasn't the priority.

But I was and I felt guilty for my own ambition. I actually felt a bit lost, if I'm honest.

That changed when I started spending time with people who were actively growing their businesses and excited about it.

Suddenly, ambition didn't feel guilty anymore. It felt energising.

Choosing your community deliberately isn't just about mindset, it's strategic.

Whether it's friends, colleagues, networking groups or coaching, all of it shapes your mindset and what you believe is possible.

Now I want to talk about feedback and growth because this is where a lot of tutors get stuck.

When you're a tutor, you're used to things working. You're competent, you know your subject, you know how to teach.

So when you move into business and someone gives you honest feedback, it can feel demoralising. It can feel personal.

But a business owner knows that feedback is information. It's not judgement on your worth or your abilities. It's data.

The second kind of feedback, the one that shows where things could improve, is often the most valuable.

It requires you to separate yourself from your work and see it more strategically.

The last piece is how you treat yourself as a resource.

I hired my first VA when I was in crisis. I had too much on my plate and delegation felt impossible.

The first thing I delegated was my social media content for my tuition business.

When you start treating yourself like a resource, everything shifts because you recognise your time is finite and valuable.

When I delegated and invested in support, my profit dipped initially, but I recovered faster and made more money.

As a business owner, I made a decision very early on. I don't work on Fridays.

My voice gets a rest, my body gets a rest, and it has really enhanced my quality of life.

When you're thinking like a business owner, every decision is filtered through what you're trying to build for your life.

The identity shift from tutor to business owner isn't something that happens overnight.

It's a gradual opening up to different ways of thinking about what's possible for you and your business.

As always, thank you for giving me your time. I hope this has given you food for thought.

And as always, you'll hear from me on Wednesday.