I am a tutor broker. When a family in my community needs a tutor, they call me. I match qualified tutors and teachers with kids of all ages and in all grades. From pre-school to pre-calculus, my company does it all. The parent doesn't have to leave their home. I meet their child in their home and conduct a complimentary consultation where I can assess the students' academic requirements as well as learning style and personality. Then I go to work matching one of the 70 plus tutors I have in my network with them. We tutor from the schools' curriculum and provide feedback after every session.

During the past four years, I have been in over 1,000 homes meeting kids and families and taking care of their tutoring needs. I contract with tutors who can work with special needs students; anything from severe autism to Attention Deficit Disorder, home schooled kids, public and private school kids and even college students and adults. If I don't have a tutor on my roster for a specific subject and one of my clients needs one, I will place an ad and find one for them - usually within 48 hours.

I am home-based and am busy twelve months a year. Do I have competition? You bet I do, but what sets me apart is the high level of customer service I provide. Huge learning centers (think Sylvan and Huntington) don't do what I do. Private tutors are limited in the number of clients they can personally handle. I have established myself in my community by fulfilling a much-needed niche. Supplemental education that is one-on-one exclusively in the parents' home is difficult to find and in high demand. My rates are affordable and I don't require a long-term contract. I am flexible and always try my best to satisfy my customers, without exception.

Do I have a huge staff? No. When a client calls they talk to me. I am the accounting department, complaint department and customer service department. I am the person that talks to the crying mother on the phone when their middle school child brings home a terrible report card. I listen to a parent lament about the fact that their first grader has to repeat first grade again next year. I commiserate with parents about how their learning challenged student isn't getting the services they need and I help them to 'work the system' and be an advocate for their kids. I have seen and heard it allfrom parents who are so overbearing and enabling that they do the homework for their children to parents who don't care to be involved in their kids' education but will pay me to 'fix it'. I have to make ethical and judgment calls every day given I am dealing with children. I have had a pen thrown at me by a belligerent teenager, a snake wrapped around my neck by a precocious second grader and witnessed a hyper kindergartener jump up and down on his mom's marble table screaming 'I don't want a tutor!' while the mom just calmly sat there and did nothing. But I love my job and can't imagine going back to my glamorous life as a hotel executive where I had the opportunity to shake hands with two Presidents and escort Hilary Clinton and the Secretary of State to functions at the famed Waldorf Astoria, where I worked.

I attribute my success to the ability to market and sell myself and my services in a low-key, friendly manner. After many years hiring and firing employees, I am fairly perceptive about people and contract only the top-notch tutors in my area. They have to be able to not only tutor the subject manner effectively; they also have to represent me and my company name in the marketplace with a professional demeanor. I am organized, an expert at multi-tasking and have been blessed with a wonderful support system (my family).

Because I love what I do and make a good living doing it (targeted to do $280,000 in sales this year, a 16% increase over last year), I decided to write a comprehensive manual, package it with a website, customized Accounting Software and other key marketing items and sell it to others who want to own a tutoring business. My new company, Home Tutoring Business, launched late this summer. Included with every package is consulting time with me via telephone, the internet or in person at my home office in Southern California. I decided to sell my business plan as an alternative to franchising. The cost of the packages are a fraction of the price of a franchise without monthly royalties or fees. The manual is packed with wonderful information and includes many of the secrets to my success as well as the mistakes I made along the way.

Working solo has many benefits. I work hard but I align myself with excellent professionals to whom I outsource some of my functions such as my web site design and development. I joined the Chamber of Commerce as soon as I began my business and found my attorney, accountant and graphic designer. I use them only on an 'as needed' basis which saves me money and keeps my overhead low. Luckily, my computer programming, software and hardware needs are handled by my husband, who has been an entrepreneur for the past fourteen years and has his own consulting firm.

I have two daughters, ages 7 and 11, two dogs and two cats. We all live and work harmoniously under one roof.