So I’ve been sitting in with my kids during their weekly swimming lessons (already 3rd lesson last week), and an idea popped into my head:
“How much does a swim coach earn?”
The gears started to turn in my head, and I created a calculation table (in the video), and I realized that getting paid to teach others to swim is a fairly good and nice lifestyle business.
Upsides
Basic calculations based on my own experience: we pay $75 per 45 minutes for 2 kids. Just 2 sessions a day (1.5 hours) x 20 days a month will yield a swimming instructor $3000 a month.
It’s not bad.
Scratch that – it’s pretty good!
Dont forget the other upsides:
- There are so many things in teaching swimming, but the basics is making sure newbies wont drown. And many parents are willing to pay for this
- Secondly, there are so many things one can thing, ie there is longevity in teaching swimming. From teaching swimming strokes and techniques, to improving stamina, or speed.
- It’s very visual AND social. Other parents will see you teaching kids, and they will enquire – if they like you and the way you teach, more often than not, they’d engage you. Also, parents will refer other parents (we refer all the time too)
Quite a lot of upside to make it easy to grow the business.
Are there risks and expenses?
Of course there are, and they include:
- transportation costs
- insurance costs
- certification costs
- cancellation due to weather (can consider indoor pools) or others
- advertising and marketing costs
- injury risks
- there are a lot of competition (but this is okay, as people usually follow and recommend teachers they like anyway)
Is it worth it?
That can be a subjective question, but for me, it’s likely a nice lifestyle business which you can choose to grow if you want to, or keep a limited teaching schedule.
It’s similar to how we physical therapists and hand therapists do house call.
And if you’re very driven, you can grow it by:
- growing your personal clientele
- hiring other swim coaches
- selling products such as floaties, swimwear etc (or price it into your fees as part of advertising)
- etc