This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Streamlining standardized test preparation. This is a very profitable business for a lot of people. We've featured numerous stories over the years, looking at different angles and strategies. Today, it is a throwback Thursday segment. We're gonna hear how one test prep tutor went from juggling individual clients, which as I said, can be profitable, but they found a way to run a membership platform filled with guided lessons, practice tests, and group support.
So all that is great for the clients, but it's also really great for this successful side hustler because she is pivoted from providing a direct service to setting up a service that can be accessed at any time on demand from the clients. And she's still doing a bit of maintenance work, but it's very different from every single hour that the client needs support. The side hustler, or the tutor in this case, needs to be there to provide it. So in this series, last week we heard from a freelance nutritionist, and she did something similar, a little bit different, but similar in the sense that she transitioned from personal meal plans to corporate wellness programs, which created ongoing value for employees and stable income for herself. So throughout the year, we're looking at these stories of how people go from a good idea that is working to a great idea, or at least a better idea, let's say, because it allows the business to run a bit more on its own.
So let's hear directly from Cass. She's gonna tell us the story of how this came to be, how she made that transition. I'll come back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
I'm Cass, and for years I tutored students one-on-one for the SAT and ACT. It started as a way to earn extra cash while finishing graduate school, but demand, it just kept growing.
I noticed a pattern. After a few sessions, each student would ask, any chance you have more practice tests, or do you have a schedule I can follow when we're not meeting? They wanted structure and continuity, but my schedule only allowed so many individual sessions. At some point, it struck me that providing continuous support through a central hub could streamline everything. Instead of emailing practice questions every week or scrambling to remember which student was working on what, I could build a resource library with guided study plans.
With that idea in mind, I shifted from strictly one-on-one tutoring to launching a membership-based platform. My first step was to record short video lessons and tricky math concepts, effective reading strategies and essay structures. These videos replace the lectures that I'd give in person, letting students watch them on their own time. Next, I compiled my best practice sets, both official tests and my own drills, into neatly organized modules. I set up a private forum where students could post questions and share progress, which immediately reduced the number of how do I solve the problem emails cluttering my inbox.
To validate the concept, I invited a handful of existing students to join at a discounted monthly fee in exchange for feedback. Most appreciated the flexibility. Some hopped on scheduled live Q&A sessions before school. Others caught up on recorded lessons during the weekend. This consistent interaction meant no one was falling through the cracks between sessions.
After a month, it was clear the model worked. I'd replaced three weekly individual sessions with 15 subscribers paying a monthly fee, surpassing my original income with less direct time investment. Next, I posted a monthly study calendar, outlining day-by-day exercises leading up to test dates. I reached out to a few colleagues who specialized in other standardized tests and offered them guest spots, expanding the resource library to include occasional GMAT or GRE tips. Although these weren't my primary focus, having a bit of variety gave advanced students something new once they mastered the SAT or ACT basics.
A few months in, subscribers asked if I'd host timed online practice tests. I arranged monthly test simulations where everyone started at the same time using a digital timer, and then we debrief in a group chat. Students reported feeling more confident because they practice under real conditions, not just casually doing a problem set here and there. Over time, my membership grew steadily. Students valued knowing that even if they got stuck on a problem at 10 p.m., there'd be a reference video or community forum posts to help them out.
From my perspective, shifting to a membership model allowed me to serve more students effectively without being tethered to an endless loop of one-on-one sessions. While I still take on a few private clients, usually for very specific needs, the bulk of my income now comes from the subscription. It's stable, scalable, and flexible. What started as a necessity, finding a way to support all these students who needed extra structure, evolved into a balanced approach that works for both me and my learners. [Music]
All right, big thanks to Cass for sharing those updates and well done with the transition.
As I said, it's always smart to think, how can you go from trading your time for money to building something that is a bit more sustainable? And sometimes it's not always a linear journey. And as you heard from Cass, she still takes on some private clients. Doesn't mean that you can't do that or you shouldn't do that. It's just more of an evolution of thinking, what is the best way that I can leverage my skills or put my knowledge and experience to good use to both serve other people and to hopefully create some wealth for myself.
Two good goals, as we often say. All right, let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of thousands of episodes. We're actually coming up on episode 3,000 very soon. I'm just amazed by that and I'm grateful to you. Our listeners, thank you for being out there.
New episodes continue to roll out every single day, every morning, in fact, seven days a week, always completely free. Follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
