When Diane Wilson signed on as the third Tutor Doctor franchisee more than 12 years ago, she had no idea the role the brand would play in her family’s life. Read on to learn, in Diane’s own words, the impact of the Tutor Doctor brand and how her tutoring franchise became a family business.

Tutor Doctor: What originally drew you to the Tutor Doctor brand?

Diane Wilson: Our oldest daughter was struggling in physics and we were unable to find her a tutor. My husband and I then realized that if we were having trouble finding a tutor for our child, many other parents out there were probably in the same situation.

TD: In addition to helping parents find those tutors, what are some other benefits to owning an education franchise?

DW: Not only do we supply tutors for every academic subject imaginable, but we also do re-training for second careers, teach second languages, have music tutoring, art lessons, and work with senior citizens to help them feel comfortable with technology.

TD: What has been your biggest challenge in owning a Tutor Doctor franchise?

DW: Being a bit of an introverted personality, I had to learn how to get comfortable in front of people and get out of my shell to be present in our community.

TD: What is the most rewarding aspect of owning a Tutor Doctor franchise?

DW: The most rewarding aspect of owning a Tutor Doctor business is receiving amazing testimonials from our families and how we were able to change the lives of so many students in need. I don’t know of any other business out there that will give you this satisfaction!

TD: When you started your tutoring franchise, did you know that your daughters would take it over?

DW: I had no idea that my daughters would eventually be joining our business.

TD: How did your daughters decide they wanted to join your tutoring business?

DW: In January of 2012 after building a very busy successful business, I had come to realize that I would need to hire someone to help me and my youngest daughter told me: “Mom, if you can keep it together until May of this year, I’m coming to join you when I graduate!” That was absolute music to my ears!

I was not expecting my oldest daughter with a 5-year degree in science asking: “Would there be any room for me?” The rest is history! I hired them both fresh out of university and they’ve taken over and are running it full-time now.

TD: How involved are you with your Tutor Doctor franchise on a daily basis, now that your daughters run it?

DW: Since both my adult daughters have taken over all of the day-to-day operations, my role has become supervisory only. We have daily meetings in the morning to go over the tasks that need to be done, such as marketing, customer service follow-ups and administration. They [my daughters] have totally taken over running the day-to-day operations of the business and I am now part of the Tutor Doctor Franchise Development Team and absolutely LOVE it!

TD: How does your Tutor Doctor franchise incorporate tech and online learning?

DW: Tutor Doctor formed a relationship with a professional online tutoring platform years ago. As you can imagine since the beginning of the pandemic, all of our clients had to adapt to online tutoring. We’ve managed to transition about 70% of our existing clients to the platform to date and more as we move forward.

As a brand, Tutor Doctor is repositioning itself to become an industry leader in one-to-one online tutoring. We launched a tutor sharing program between all of our franchisees globally which now gives our franchisees access to hundreds of tutors in all subjects.

TD: In your opinion, what skills are vital to success for a Tutor Doctor franchisee? Did a previous career help you hone those skills?

DW: I feel that the “caring factor” is an important quality to have, as well as wanting to own a business that gives back. Coming from a customer service background in the insurance industry gave me a natural transition to allow me to help students of all ages who needed our type of service. People who care, with a willingness to give back, should do very well in this business.

To start your franchise journey with Tutor Doctor, reach out for more information.