This is one of the small businesses you can start with very little or no cash capital. In Nigeria today, one of the most pressing issues is that of securing admission into higher institution. Nigerian publics schools are not doing greatly in this area and the private schools are so costly that they are not for the majority of the population. This means that there will always be a demand for private tutorials.

Requirements

A Sharp Brain
Well, to tell you the truth, you need to be good academically, for this. This will show in the quality of Results your students turn out and ensure people trust you and your business with more students. You don’t even need to know every topic, you could teach just one subject.

Business Card / Flyer
This shouldn’t be too fanciful or costly-you could do the flyers for now. You could just type your information on your computer and print on A4 sheets of paper. Your aim is to make sure the information circulates as widely as possible not on the quality of the flyer.

Materials
You need books and resources like Secondary School Syllabus especially for UTME, WAEC , GCE etc. As for textbook, you could ask the parents of the students to provide that but you will still need to get yours at home to prepare you lessons.

Perseverance
The “will to go on” especially when things are not working out. Believe me, you need this 100% even if you haven’t got the rest 100%.

Getting Customers
To get customers or parents to allow you into their house to teach their kids, they’ve got to see you as someone of credibility. The big problem is how to get them to trust you that much.
Now this is where your church comes in. This might be a good time to start going to church and participating in church activities. Now the strategy is for you to introduce yourself and business after the Church service. Don’t forget to distribute your flyer / business card)

Look Good
Your success in this business will depend largely on your personality. People will decide to give you their kids based on their impression of your personality and appearance plays a significant part. You need to always look good to enhance your personality. I don’t mean you should always wear costly clothes but aim to always be smartly and appropriately dressed.

Deliver the Goods
This is by far the most important part. Make sure you put in your best and teach. This is the deciding factor for your business. If it’s a topic that you are not so sure of, get help. The result will always show.

Don’ts
I don’t need to tell you to behave yourself. Keep away from the usual temptations like indulging the kids when the parents are not available, dating your female students etc.

Conclusion
This business is a very interesting and challenging one but it could really pay off. I remember turning down and offer to teach mathematics for a 2 hours for N2,500 on each day I show up. N2500 in two hours?! Think about it.

From here
The business doesn’t have to stop there, you could go ahead to rent a place and open for business, expand your number of courses/subjects, teach just computer appreciation(that’s another hot business), Creating and Selling tutorial CDs and DVDs, books etc.