Useful Software for Tutors and Tutoring Companies

Software that is useful for small businesses -- and specifically tutoring businesses -- is becoming more available and more affordable. The following list will introduce you to several software programs that might be useful in your tutoring business. These tools can help you communicate with your staff and tutors, manage your business, set up an efficient phone system, and more. Use these programs as tutoring software for running your tutoring business.

1. Dropbox

Dropbox is a useful tool for accessing your files from any computer. When you install the software on a computer a Dropbox folder appears on your desktop and you can simply copy files into that folder. When you use another computer with the software installed you'll find the same folder on that computer with all of the files from the other computer. When you add files to your dropbox account they are synced to the dropbox server and can then be accessed on other computers with the software or you can log into the Dropbox website and access your files from there.

You can create shared folders in Dropbox that great for sharing large documents with your tutors, staff or students, plus Dropbox is great to have if you have a home computer and an office computer and want to have easy access to the same files in both places. Dropbox is free for up to 2GB and $10/month for 50 GB and more for larger amounts of memory.

2. TutorPanel

TutorPanel is the ultimate business management system for tutors and tutoring companies. Unlike general business software, TutorPanel was designed specifically for tutoring companies and includes useful features for managing students, scheduling tutoring sessions, reconciling sessions and invoicing. You can set up different prices and tutor wages for different types of tutoring which makes tracking lesson fees and tutor wages very easy. With TutorPanel you can create user accounts for each of your tutors so that they can acess their schedules and reconcile lessons from anywhere. This tutor business software also lets you send lesson reminders to clients before lessons and lesson notes afterwards if you want to.

3. Rapid Classes

If you have a test preparation business or language school that offers courses or classes then Rapid Classes will be even more suitable for you than TutorPanel. Rapid Classes is a business management system that handles student, staff, schedules and billing. The system is designed for handling high student volumes efficiently and can definitely help eliminate administrative bottlenecks that may be holding back your business. Another advantage of the system is that it allows you to seamlessly add multiple locations so if you expand into a franchise or just open more locations you can continue using the same software. This class management software also offers a bulk import feature for students and staff to help you get all of your student and staff records into the system in minutes.

4. MailChimp

Email marketing is a great way to promote your business and having a monthly newsletter is a great way to keep current and former clients informed about your business, promotions and other useful information. There are several email management systems on the market, but if you have less than 2,000 people on your list and send less than 12,000 emails per month you'll want to take a look at MailChimp. If you're under these limits MailChimp is FREE! Mailchimp has a lot of great features and should meet the needs of most tutoring companies at no cost.

5. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a voicemail system for small businesses. With Grasshopper you can get a 1-800 number for your business. You can then log onto their website and set up extensions for different employees or tutors that will redirect the call to their personal phones. If you hire new tutors it's very easy to add an extension for them on your phone system, and if tutors leave you can remove their extension. Grasshopper also lets you set up rules for how calls will be directed or which voicemail message the caller will here depending on the time of the day. Prices start at $10/month.

6. Skype

Skype can be useful to tutors in a couple ways. First, if you get a Skype Online Number you can use it as your business phone for a price that's much lower than standard landline or mobile phone plans. Skype also offers some useful features such as voicemail, call forwarding and conference calling. Skype can also be useful if your company offers online tutoring. When combined with an online whiteboard tool such as skrbl you can use Skype to talk with students using video chat or speaking like on a phone and write on the same page that's displayed on the tutor's and student's computer.

7. Google Docs

Google docs is useful for sharing documents with tutors and clients. When you create a document on Google Docs your tutors or staff members will be able to access it from any web-enabled computer. It's also possible allow tutors to edit files on google docs. You can create a separate document for each tutor in your company and use it to track their hours. This way every tutor will submit their hours in a standard format and you have instant access to any changes they make.