Offering mobile swim lessons is easier than you think. Whether you’re looking for a side hustle in the aquatics industry, or your swim school is at capacity, and you want to diversify into in-home lessons, this article will cover the steps you need to take to start teaching mobile swim lessons to clients in their pools.
The first step to offering mobile swim lessons is an obvious one. You’re going to need some training. While you might not need certified instructor qualifications (research regulations in your area), obtaining basic lifesaving and first aid certifications is a good idea before you start teaching mobile swimming lessons.
Many students (or parents of students) will look for instructors with first-aid certifications for peace of mind, so get your qualifications up to date and then display your skills on your website.
As a swim instructor, you should obtain general and professional liability insurance before you commence teaching. This protects you from third-party claims of bodily injury and/or damage to property that may occur.
Again, this is something many clients look for when researching mobile swim instructors. Find the right insurance for your needs (including costs, coverage, deductibles, etc.) and then state that you are insured on your website's FAQ page.
A big step in offering mobile swim lessons is determining how much you will charge. Swim schools often charge a premium for in-home lessons because they are usually private or small-group lessons, and clients pay for the convenience of not traveling to fixed pool locations.
Look at other swim schools in your area and determine a competitive pricing strategy for your business. Here are a few questions to help you get started
Once you have your certifications, purchased insurance, and determined your pricing, the next step to offering mobile swim lessons is letting people know you’re offering mobile swim lessons!
If you’re operating locally, consider posting in local mom’s groups, asking gyms, preschools, etc., to put up flyers, and if you have the budget, run targeted local ads. You should also spend time optimizing your Google Business Profile and creating and SEO optimizing your website.
Related: Marketing Ideas for Mobile Swim Schools
Offering mobile swim lessons is a great way to keep overheads down because you don’t need to pay rent or maintain a pool. But that means you won’t have access to any equipment you might need, so you’ll need to buy some.
The beauty of mobile swim lessons is that they’re usually one-to-one or small-group lessons, so you don’t need to buy 20 kick floats. Here’s a list of lesson equipment you might want to consider
Scheduling is one of the biggest challenges facing swim instructors who want to start offering mobile swim lessons. When clients book lessons at a fixed pool, it’s easy. You post a lesson schedule, and they choose what times work for them — how long it takes to get there isn’t your problem. But scheduling becomes a lot more complicated when you’re traveling to lessons, which could be happening all over the city.
Unless that is, you use swim school software designed for mobile swim lessons.
MarketBox is appointment management software specifically designed for in-home and mobile appointments, making it the perfect option for your mobile swim school. The software makes scheduling appointments, coordinating swim instructors, and processing payments online easy. Customers can book lessons themselves online, 24/7, and MarketBox will filter the list of swim instructors by skills, location, and availability, so clients only see options that fit their criteria. The software allows swim instructors to set up travel zones and link availability to service areas so you can control when and where they teach on any given day. This helps you group appointments by area and minimize wasted travel time.
To learn more about how MarketBox can help you schedule mobile swim lessons (and so much more), book a personalized walkthrough of the platform with one of our experts.
Finally, you’re ready to start offering mobile swim lessons. But before you head off to your first booking, make sure you have a lesson framework that you can tailor to your student’s skill level and lesson goals.
By providing a personalized service, you can add value to your swimming lessons and keep customers happy and coming back for more.
Diversifying into mobile swim lessons is as easy as advertising your new lesson options and choosing a scheduling software designed for mobile appointments. Given how easy they are to set up, mobile swim lessons are a great option for swim schools at capacity in their original pool location.
Having a swim instructor come to your home or condo pool is much more convenient than bundling kids into the car and trekking across town (usually at rush hour) to a public pool for lessons. The convenience factor is a big reason why in-home swim lessons are becoming increasingly popular and why parents are willing to pay more for mobile swim lessons than they would for regular group lessons.
When you work with students one-on-one (or in small groups), it’s much easier to customize lessons to the student. As a result, students in private swim lessons tend to progress faster than those in traditional, large-group lessons.
For swim school owners, customized lessons are also a great marketing strategy and can help increase sales and boost revenue.
One of the biggest attractions for swim teachers is the low overheads associated with mobile swim lessons. Aside from paying for insurance and the small upfront cost of buying some basic equipment for your lessons, there are few, if any, other start-up costs involved.
By offering swim lessons in clients' homes, you remove the need to maintain your own pool or pay to rent a public one. As a result, you can price your lessons more competitively and retain more of the revenue.
Finally, mobile swim lessons are much easier to fit around your schedule. Rather than being stuck to a rigid lesson timetable, you can post your availability around whatever else is happening in your life, be it other work commitments or family life, making mobile swim lessons a great side hustle opportunity.
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