Why Create a Traveling Education Business?

There are a thousand and one different businesses you could start. Why would you want to create an education business that travels?

In my opinion, there are some mighty good reasons.

First, let's look at the main obstacles that teachers face when trying to incorporate extra programs into their curriculum - and why your traveling programs are the perfect solution.

1. Money

This is the same limit placed on most of us. Whether it’s choosing your vacation destination, or the store you shop in for back-to-school clothes. We all have a bottom line and a budget to stay within.

When a teacher considers the cost of a special project, they’re looking at all considerations, not just the price of admission. When I used to run a farm-education program at an organic farm back in the early 2000’s, I heard from teachers that the bus ride to the farm was around $300. We were only charging $2 per child at the time. So for a class trip, it cost $60 admission, and $300 for the bus. That blew my mind!

Now 20 years later, I’m not certain of what the average school bus cost is but we can assume it has only gone up, as have admission costs.

But your program fees include it all. There's not several extra hundreds of dollars for travel that a teacher needs to consider.  Your price is a one-stop shop that comes to them. It’s one invoice that covers it all.

Yes, some schools will not be able to afford you. But those are likely the schools that can’t afford field trips either. We once had an inner-city principal book our programs for her whole school because she said there was no way they’d be able to afford the travel and admission for all her students to get to a farm. Yes, we were expensive, but our price was well below what it would be if they had to travel. Having us come to them was the only way her students would ever get to experience an in-person visit with animals as part of their schooling.

Other schools have parent organizations that fund special programs. If the PTO can save money by bringing a program to the school, rather than paying for busses, they can approve more programs for others.

I’m not saying to price your programs low. I’m saying that your price will always be lower than the total of admission and travel combined. That makes your programs an easy choice.

2. Time

Any time away from the classroom is time not spent learning. There are already countless breaks throughout the school day. Time spent changing classes, washing hands and restroom breaks, discipline, setting expectations, explaining the rules, etc. Teachers know how little time they actually get in quality instruction in-between all the comings and goings.

So it’s no secret that on a field trip, it’ll take time from multiple days to explain the trip, get permission slips out and back, make sure they bring the right clothing or lunch, and whatever else they’ll need for the trip.

Then teachers have the time sorting students into groups and loading busses. The time driving there and back. The time getting them back into groups at the site. The site’s rules and introductions.

Looked at against the actual time learning, kids are spending more time getting ready and to the field trip than they are there experiencing the lesson.

But if you come to them, there is no lost time at all. You fit into their regular school day. They don’t miss other classes or inconvenience other teachers. Your lesson replaces their regularly-scheduled lesson, making their day flow seamlessly with no lost work or wasted time.

3. Classroom management

Field trips are exciting, no doubt! But how much of that excitement is about the learning topic and how much is excitement about riding a bus with friends and getting to hang out away from the classroom. 

Field trips sometimes bring out behavior problems because the students don’t have the container of order they are used to at school. Teachers know well the exhaustion they feel at the end of an active field trip.

I’ve seen it for myself on the hundreds of field trips I guided over the years. Sometimes an active child cut the field trip lesson in half because they struggled to focus outside of their normal learning environment. I can’t remember the times I’ve needed to remind students that just because we were outside did not mean it was recess.

Now I’m not saying that excitement is in any way a bad thing. Kids with focus issues sometimes gain deep lessons in little amounts of time outside their usual learning space. I’m all for that!

But I am saying that teachers know the exhaustion of trying to control a classroom in a new environment, and you can definitely be the easy option and make their life a lot easier.

By bringing their field trip to them, the children are still in the mindset of how they should act in school.

Sure, you’re bringing excitement – you are a special visitor after all. So their attention will be peaked and they’ll hopefully be mesmerized by your lesson (if you keep it engaging for their level). The teacher can relax knowing that all the children are accounted for and someone else is taking over the lesson for the day. And the children can relax, already knowing the space and the expectations for their school.

4. Chaperones

While most parents enjoy chaperoning, not all teachers enjoy managing chaperones. I’m heard the question from teachers many times, asking if they “needed” chaperones. Because if not, they’d rather not bring any.

I get it. Sure, you’ll have some that are awesome. But you’ll also have some talking on their cell phones during the presentation, or talking to each other, over-disciplining their child to embarrassment or inactivity (this one is so common!), arriving late, not showing up, or just being a general pain in the butt. Many schools don’t have engaged parent populations and can’t find enough chaperones. Some have so many that it becomes an adult field trip.

All of that is just one more thing for teachers to worry about.

You save that whole step by bringing the program to them. Sure they still might want a couple extra hands, depending on your activity. But they won’t need one adult per so many children to keep everyone safe and accounted for in a public space. And they can save that precious parent energy for another day.

5. Your topic

Is there a field trip destination teaching your topic locally? Maybe. But maybe not. By offering unique topics, you may be creating an opportunity that they truly can’t get anywhere else, even if they wanted to travel to it. 

Those are some of the reasons why teachers would want you to come to them. Now let’s consider why you would want to structure your business for traveling.

1. Location

If you don’t already own an education center with public facilities, this is the number one reason to go mobile.

It takes so much behind-the-scenes to keep a facility up to public standards. Sure, you can clean up real good for a big event, buy special event insurance, rent port-a-potties, and create a fantastic good time at wherever you already are. But can you sustain that day in and day out?

Do you have the time and interest in cleaning up after a group of toddlers or teens? Are your facilities always well kept, dusted, weeded, etc.? Do you have the budget or interest in hiring maintenance staff?

If the answer is no, then traveling to your clients is a great solution. No facilities, besides storage for your equipment, needed.

2. Your hours are for you to decide

If you had a facility to maintain, it’s unlikely you’d be closed much of the day, or random days throughout the week. You’d need regular business hours.

With a traveling business, you don’t have that commitment. Your schedule is dictated by the availability you share with each client. If you’re  teaching at 10am, then you may begin loading equipment at 8:30am and could be cleaned up and back at home by noon.

Then you get to decide what you do with the rest of your day. If you’re like me, you’ll probably work at the computer for a couple hours. Or you could nap. Or take your dog for a walk.

It’s your schedule and it’s your decision what you do. It isn’t dictated by managing a public facility that people may or may not decide to visit that day.

You ultimately get to decide how much you want to work. No one even needs to know you’re taking a day, or a week, off. You simply schedule the programs on the days you want to work and are unavailable the other days (as far as your clients know, you are already booked at a school that day that you plan to be on the beach).

3. Working alone

Now this may or may not be true. And it may or may not be a benefit. But you get to decide what’s best for you.

Many of the programs I teach, I teach alone. However, there are some bigger programs that I need help with. When I first started my business, my husband worked full time elsewhere. So I found a couple people who were retired or had flexible work hours to help me for specific events. There was no commitment to keep them working a certain number of hours a week. They helped when I needed it. Yes, that cut into my profit, but I priced those programs accordingly.

As our business grew, I needed more help and we eventually grew enough so that my husband was able to leave his job and commit full time to our work. But at the beginning, it was just me.

I both loved it and didn’t. I loved the freedom and the flexibility. I liked not having to check in with anyone and to just do my own thing. Over time, I did start to miss the companionship of coworkers. But as with all things in life, I learned to adjust, and I found my socialization outside work. Mostly, I thrived in my own decisions, my own schedules, and the freedom of self-employment.

4. You decide how much money you want to earn

I know that sounds simplistic. But you truly can decide if you want just a hobby business where you work just enough to pay for groceries. Or maybe you want to make enough to pay your mortgage. Maybe you want to equal your full-time salary at the job you’re leaving to start this grand adventure.

You can stay small, or grow, hire staff or not. You are the CEO of your business and you get to decide how much or how little, you want to work. It's your decision if you want to scale and bring on a team, or if you're satisfied with a couple clients a week, or a month. Your earning is a decision you make as you make advertising choices and book reservations for your programs.

5. You can make a difference and have a career with purpose

None of us want to feel like we're just a cog in a machine. Everyone wants purpose. With a traveling education business, you get the amazing opportunity of being able to share your interests, hobbies, skills, and knowledge with others, and get paid for it.

You can create a business that not only feeds your family, but feeds your mind and soul. And the best part, is that it has the potential to make a positive impact on your community. There's no better step towards fulfillment than using your skills to serve and educate others. 

Is creating a traveling education business right for you? Only you can answer that. But the potential is definitely worth considering if you're passionate about sharing what you know with others.

To download our FREE guide: 5 Simple Steps to Building your In-Demand Farm Education Program, click here.