So you’re at home all summer on vacation as a teacher and you’re trying to get scrappy. You know, looking for things around the house you can use to help you start your small teacher business at home. To make some extra income. But you don’t want to invest a lot of extra money and you’ve got to find time in between lounging in the sunshine, binge-watching your favorite shows, or feeding the kids! Here are all the top things I think you need to start a small business at home and what I would do if I was just starting my business all over again. 

Napoleon Hill changed my life when I was around 7 months pregnant back in 2018ish. I read his book Think and Grow Rich. I first heard of this book from Daymond John chatting about this book on Shark Tank. He said he never left home without it. He said someone on a plane asked him what book was in his bag and he shared it with them and said any time he needed a moment to remember why and what he was doing he’d take it out. I thought if it meant that much to him then it should be a good read. Little did I know that that book would change everything for me. I did exactly as it said and watched my wildest dreams come to life. I’m here to tell you today in case no one has told you this before, whatever you want in your heart and mind you can have. Stop making excuses and get started. 

Napoleon Hill chats about having specialized knowledge. And that is exactly what you have. And what I encourage you to lean into when I say define your niche and keep the main thing the main thing.

6 ways to support small business ideas as a teacher

Starting a small business basics

It’s easier than ever to make money online. And I believe we are entering into a day and time where a massive and I mean massive shift in education is about to take over and take control. The great news? If you're here you’re one of the very first teachers to get on this train. This new way of thinking makes online education easier than ever. 

Your Teacher Small Business Starter Package goes like this:

1. Audio is everything

I don’t mean expensive audio, I just mean exactly what I said – audio is everything. Audio helps deliver information, increases the production value, and helps you sound like a real business. Ever been listening to a podcast or video series that someone recorded and it has a lot of background noise or scratchy audio? Or the worst – a big vibration noise because they are talking too loud? You may not have ever noticed it before but because I’m mentioning it, I bet you’ll begin to hear what good audio is and what good audio isn’t.

2. Build Content Continuously (spoiler alert, everything is content)

How are you creating quality content that helps your audience learn about how you help? Maybe you haven't started thinking about how you help yet. That’s OK. We love the power of YET, over at the CEO Teacher®. You can take my personalized quiz and learn more about your unique teacher strengths to help you start a small business at home. No MLMs or gimmicks. Just your teaching magic and the world’s largest education platform.

The internet.

3. Choose someone who interests you and follow their lead. 

Basically, this means that if you want to learn to start a small business you would find someone who has the experience and has gone before you. You wouldn’t want to learn about building a small business from home from an international marketing guru. You’d want to learn from the teacher next door who did it from her kitchen table while rocking babies too!

4. Prepare a schedule each day.

Create a plan for making a product or service that will turn your teaching skills from the classroom into profit. 

• Lesson plans
• Physical products like stickers, journals, and organizational things
• Learning Centers
• Create Curriculum
• Online Tutoring
• Blogging
• Social Media Influencing 
• Podcasting
• Become a virtual assistant
• And so much more

5. Evaluate your ideal audience

The magic happens when you find the perfect balance between something that you’re passionate about AND something that people want. The first step to evaluating your audience and deciding to start a small business at home is; writing down your top few things that you’re passionate about. You know, those things you can’t stop talking about and that come easy to you in the classroom. 

6. Find a system 

I realized it was time to implement systems in our company when I read the book The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

It was insanely hard for me to pick just one quote to share with you from this book because it should really be the playbook for scaling any company but I narrowed it down to just a few. 

• “The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. …

So – how are you creating your life? Are you actively ensuring that it will become what you want? Or are you allowing your life to passively create itself? 

“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic!”

This one is funny and real and raw. I remember it being a literal slap in the face when I read “you don’t own a business” thinking  – he doesn’t know what I do day in and day out, but as I began really systematizing our company I realized over time that he was exactly right. The only way you have a real business is if you systemize every detail so that at any given moment you can leave or not be there and the company can run by itself. If you aren’t ready to hire anyone to help you just yet, getting these priorities in line will be beneficial for when you are ready for that next step. 

And finally, “With no clear picture of how you wish your life to be, how on earth are you going to live it? What is your Primary Aim? Where is the script to make your dreams come true? What is the first step to take and how do you measure your progress? How far have you gone and how close are you to getting to your goals?”

I’ve been guilty of living life day by day without a clear direction on what I want. If you’ve been around since the beginning you probably remember me asking you this question a lot, so here it goes “what do you want?” Can you tell me in a few sentences? Once you have what you want to be written down, then it's time to show me how you’ll get there. 

Just like our CEO Trailblazer of the week. Megan Peveto of @theSLPnextdoor, knows what she wants and how she serves her community through Toddler Communication & Toddler Intelligibility. And she can show me how she is going to get there and start with small business ideas. 

Megan recently released her opt-in and, within the first 24 hours, added over forty people to her email list using the strategies I teach inside of the CEO Teacher® Programs! Not only that, but her open rates for her welcome email sequence averaged 50%! She is surely going places! 

I want to help you on this journey to becoming a CEO Teacher®, too! I have a FREE Teacher’s Map of Online Business Secrets that you can use to walk through the process of finding your passions and reaching your dreams. Let’s start with small business strategies and ideas and grow together!