Building Your Own Thing: When Self-Employment Makes Sense for Ex-Teachers

When self-employment makes sense for ex-teachers: realistic timescales, popular business paths, and why you need a safety net while building.

You've decided teaching isn't sustainable long-term. You've started looking at job boards, scanning through corporate roles, trying to imagine yourself in an office somewhere. But there's this niggling thought you can't quite shake: what if you didn't get another job at all? What if you built something of your own instead?

It sounds exciting and terrifying in equal measure. You've spent your entire career being employed, following someone else's rules, working within someone else's systems. The idea of creating your own business feels both liberating and completely overwhelming.

So when does self-employment actually make sense for ex-teachers? And more importantly, how do you know if it's right for you?

Why Teachers Consider Self-Employment

There's usually a reason you're drawn to the idea of working for yourself rather than simply swapping one employer for another. Maybe you've had enough of being micromanaged. Maybe you want control over your diary for the first time in your career. Maybe you've realised that what burned you out wasn't teaching itself, but the way the education system operates - and you don't fancy jumping into another rigid structure.

Many teachers who choose self-employment say the same thing: "I don't want another boss." After years of being observed, appraised, told when you can take lunch and having your professional judgement constantly questioned, the appeal of being your own boss is powerful. You get to make the decisions. You get to set the boundaries. You get to build something that actually reflects your values.

Self-employment also offers flexibility that employed roles often don't. You can work school hours if you have children. You can take on more work during term time and ease off in the holidays. You can choose your clients, your projects, your rates. That kind of autonomy is incredibly appealing when you've spent years having absolutely none.

The Reality Check: It Takes Time to Build

Here's what you need to know about starting a business: it doesn't replace your teaching salary overnight. In fact, it probably won't replace it in the first year. Maybe not even in the second. Building a sustainable business takes time, and you need to plan for that reality rather than hoping it'll magically work out.

This is where the part-time bridge becomes essential. Most teachers who successfully transition to self-employment don't just resign and launch straight into running a business. They build gradually, often while still teaching part-time, or by taking on part-time employed work alongside their business. Some start saving aggressively while still full-time, creating a financial cushion that gives them breathing room to build without panic.

Think of your business as something you're growing, not something you're launching. You might tutor a few students in the evenings while still teaching. You might take on your first coaching clients at weekends. You might start building your consultancy offer during the holidays. This gradual approach means you're not betting everything on an untested idea, and you're learning what works without the pressure of needing to pay your mortgage from it immediately.

The part-time employed role option is particularly popular. Maybe you work three days a week in an education-adjacent job while spending the other two days building your business. You've got guaranteed income, you're building new skills and professional networks, and you're testing whether self-employment actually suits you before committing fully. It is possible it won’t be for you, but working part-time gives you that security if it doesn’t.

Business Paths That Work for Ex-Teachers

The beautiful thing about leaving teaching is that you've got skills that translate into multiple business models. Some of the most popular paths we see former teachers take include:

Teacher to Tutor - using your subject expertise and teaching skills to work with students one-to-one or in small groups, often with much better pay and significantly better work-life balance than classroom teaching.

Teacher to Activity Provider - creating and running educational workshops, holiday clubs, or after-school activities that let you work directly with children without the constraints of curriculum and assessment.

Teacher to Coach - supporting other teachers, running training sessions, or coaching individuals through career transitions or professional development.

Teacher to Consultant - advising schools, education businesses, or edtech companies on curriculum, pedagogy, safeguarding, or other areas where your expertise is valuable.

Teacher to VA - becoming a Virtual Assistant, often supporting other small businesses with admin, social media, or project management. If you're interested in this path specifically, you can explore our dedicated Teacher to VA programme.

But these pathways are just the beginning. We've worked with teachers who've started ceramics businesses, become professional organisers, trained as mindfulness practitioners, or built therapy practices. Your business doesn't have to fit a neat category - it just has to work for you.

Is Self-Employment Right for You?

Self-employment isn't for everyone, and that's absolutely fine. It requires tolerance for uncertainty, the ability to wear multiple hats (you're the service provider, the accountant, the marketing department, and the IT support), and comfort with irregular income, especially in the early stages.

Ask yourself honestly: can you handle not knowing exactly how much you'll earn next month? Are you self-motivated enough to work without external structure? Are you comfortable with the administrative side of running a business - invoicing, tax returns, insurance? Do you have the financial runway to build gradually?

If you're nodding yes to these questions, or if you're willing to learn and figure it out as you go, self-employment might be exactly what you need. If the uncertainty fills you with dread rather than excitement, an employed role might suit you better - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that choice.

Taking the First Steps

You don't need to have it all figured out before you start. You don't need a perfect business plan, a fancy website, or thousands in savings (though the savings definitely help). You need a viable idea, a willingness to start small, and ideally some form of safety net while you build.

Start by researching what you'd actually need to do. What qualifications or certifications might help? What's the realistic market for your service? Who's already doing what you want to do, and what can you learn from them? Can you test your idea on a tiny scale before investing heavily?

Most importantly, connect with other teachers who've made the leap into self-employment. Their experiences will be invaluable as you navigate your own path, and you'll quickly realise you're not figuring this out alone.

Building your own thing after teaching is absolutely possible. It takes time, planning, and resilience, but for many teachers, the freedom and autonomy make every challenging moment worth it.

If you're ready to explore what self-employment might look like for you, the Adventures After Teaching Business School gives you access to courses, coaching, and a community of teachers who are building their own paths beyond the classroom.

Categories: : Career Change Ideas