Success Tutoring vs Private Tutoring: Tutoring Franchise or Going Solo?

Almost everyone who considers a tutoring franchise has asked the same question: why not just tutor privately? Plenty of people already do. Private tutors work from home, visit students' homes, rent a room at the local library or teach online, and the best of them are booked out for years. Others take the next step and build a small private tutoring business with a handful of tutors working for them.

This guide compares that path with owning a Success Tutoring franchise centre. It looks at the question first as an investor or career-changer weighing a tutoring franchise vs private tutoring, then from a family's perspective, because the reasons parents choose one over the other shape both businesses. Private tutoring is valuable work and the right choice for many people. The aim here is to show clearly where each model fits.

At a glance

• Who does the teaching: A private tutor teaches every lesson personally. In a Success Tutoring centre, trained tutors teach and the franchise partner runs the business.
• Income model: Private tutoring is usually paid by the hour, so income is capped by the hours one person can teach. A centre earns monthly membership revenue from many families at once.
• Start-up cost: Private tutoring can start for almost nothing. A franchise centre requires a lease, fit-out and franchise investment; see our investment schedule.
• Brand and marketing: A private tutor builds reputation one family at a time. A franchise partner trades under a national brand with launch pre-marketing and ongoing marketing support.
• Curriculum: Private tutors usually create or source their own materials. Success Tutoring provides a K–12 English and Mathematics curriculum and learning resources.
• Who it suits: Private tutoring suits strong educators who want flexibility and a personal income. A franchise suits people who want to build and lead a business, whether or not they teach.

Business model

Private tutoring

Private tutoring is the largest and most fragmented part of the industry. The Australian Tutoring Association has estimated the Australian private tutoring market at more than A$1 billion with over 50,000 tutors nationally (ATA estimate, 2022, cited in University of Sydney research), most of them individuals or small operators.

A sole private tutor sells their own time. Revenue equals hourly rate multiplied by hours taught, and the hours that families want are concentrated after school and on weekends. That creates a natural ceiling: there are only so many after-school hours in a week, and a tutor who is unwell or on holiday earns nothing.

Many tutors list on online marketplaces to find students. Those platforms charge for the introduction. Preply, for example, keeps the full fee for a tutor's first lesson with each new student and then charges a commission of between 18 and 33 per cent depending on hours taught, according to Sacra's summary of Preply's tutor FAQ. Fees differ by platform, so check current terms.

Some tutors grow into a small private tutoring business, employing other tutors and perhaps renting a room. That breaks the hourly ceiling but introduces everything a business owner has to manage: recruitment, payroll, insurance, marketing, child safety, rostering and quality control, all without a system or brand behind them.

A Success Tutoring centre

Success Tutoring was founded in Sydney in 2017 by Michael Black, who started tutoring at 17 from a spare bedroom in his parents' home in Western Sydney, so the brand began as private tutoring. The franchise model, operating since around 2020, was built to solve the problems private tutoring runs into at scale.

Families join a retail-style learning centre as members rather than booking casual lessons. Trained tutors deliver a K–12 English and Mathematics curriculum developed by head office. The franchise partner leads the centre: building relationships with families and schools, managing the team and growing membership. Revenue comes from many members at once, so the owner's income is not limited to the hours they can teach personally.

What students get

This is where the family's view matters, because it decides which business wins enrolments.

From a good private tutor, a child gets one-to-one attention, a relationship with one adult and often great flexibility on timing and location. For a student who needs intensive support in one subject, or a senior student preparing for a specific exam, an excellent private tutor can be hard to beat. Research supports the value of tutoring in general: Nickow, Oreopoulos and Quan's 2020 NBER working paper pooled 96 randomised trials and found tutoring produced large average gains, with stronger effects from trained tutors than from volunteers.

From a Success Tutoring centre, a child gets:

• A structured curriculum that maps where they are and what comes next, rather than relying on one tutor's own materials.
• Tutors who have been recruited and trained against a common standard, with continuity if a tutor moves on.
• A consistent weekly routine in a bright, purpose-designed centre, with a culture built on the values Motivate, Uplift, Inspire.
• Progress tracking and regular communication with parents.

Parents also weigh safety and accountability. In New South Wales, for example, the Office of the Children's Guardian advises parents to check that any private tutor they hire holds a valid Working with Children Check and to verify it online. A centre handles screening, supervision and records as part of its operations, which many parents find reassuring.

Neither option is automatically better for every child. Many families use a centre for core English and Maths and a specialist private tutor for a particular senior subject.

What franchise partners get

A private tutor has total freedom and total responsibility. A Success Tutoring franchise partner trades some freedom for a system. The "Success Kit" includes:

• Launch and pre-marketing support, with centres signing members before opening. Centres have reported opening with 45, 55, 60 and 70+ members on day one.
• Site selection, leasing support and fit-out support for retail-style centres.
• Tutor recruitment and tutor training through an online franchise training platform.
• Learning resources and curriculum for K–12 English and Maths.
• Marketing support and a national and international brand.
• A flat structure in which partners deal directly with head office leadership.

You do not need to be a teacher. Many partners come from corporate, engineering, finance and small-business backgrounds. An experienced private tutor can bring real teaching insight to a centre that serves far more students than one person could alone. Read how partners made the move in our franchise stories.

Investment and fees

Private tutoring is the cheapest way into the industry. A sole tutor needs little more than materials, insurance, any required checks and perhaps a marketplace listing. A small private tutoring business with premises will need a lease, furniture, software, insurance and marketing, all funded and designed by the owner.

A Success Tutoring centre requires a franchise investment plus the costs of leasing and fitting out a centre, and ongoing fees to the franchisor. We do not quote those figures in articles because they vary by market and change over time; they are set out on our investment schedule, and our potential earnings page explains how we model centre revenue. Our guides to tutoring franchise costs and tutoring franchise profitability put those numbers in context.

The fair comparison is not the cost of starting, but the cost of reaching a given scale. A private tutor who wants to build a centre with a team, a brand and a curriculum will spend money and years building what a franchise provides on day one.

Markets and footprint

Private tutoring exists everywhere, which makes it both accessible and crowded. A tutor's reach is usually a few suburbs or an online audience competing with marketplace listings.

Success Tutoring has reported 35 centres across Australia with a launch schedule for 80 more (Franchise Executives, 2023) and franchise territories sold in more than 100 Australian locations (Inside Small Business). It has publicly announced New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom and India. Current territories are on our available locations page.

Tutoring franchise vs private tutoring: who each option suits

Private tutoring may suit you if you are a strong educator who loves teaching every lesson, you want maximum flexibility and minimal financial risk, and you are comfortable with an income tied to your own hours.

Running your own private tutoring business may suit you if you want to build a brand from scratch, enjoy designing curriculum and systems, and are prepared to fund and manage all of it yourself. Our comparison of starting your own tutoring centre goes deeper.

A Success Tutoring franchise may suit you if you want to lead a business rather than teach every hour, you want recurring membership revenue, and you value a proven system, brand and launch support. If you are weighing online models too, read Success Tutoring vs online tutoring, and for the wider landscape see our tutoring franchise guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can a private tutor become a Success Tutoring franchise partner?

Yes. Teaching experience is not required, but it is welcome. A former private tutor can bring credibility with parents and an understanding of how students learn, and the franchise system supplies the business side.

Is a tutoring franchise more profitable than private tutoring?

A sole private tutor can earn a good hourly rate with very low costs, but income is capped by teaching hours. A centre carries more cost and risk, and earns from many members at once. Which is better depends on your capital, goals and how well the centre is run; see our potential earnings page.

Do private tutors need any checks or licences?

There is generally no tutoring licence, but child-safety laws apply. In NSW, for example, the Office of the Children's Guardian advises parents to confirm a private tutor holds a valid Working with Children Check. Check the rules in your state or country.

Why do some parents prefer a tutoring centre to a private tutor?

Common reasons include a structured curriculum, consistent progress tracking, continuity if a tutor leaves, a safe and supervised environment and a fixed weekly routine. Others prefer the flexibility and one-to-one focus of a private tutor.

If you have outgrown the hourly model, or never wanted it, and you would rather build a membership business with a proven system behind you, start with our Why us overview and then walk through the process.

All third-party trademarks belong to their respective owners. Figures about other franchises are taken from their public websites, disclosure documents or reputable franchise directories at the time of writing and may have changed; verify them directly before making any decision. This article is general information, not financial or legal advice.