CPR Instructor

No, you can’t teach CPR without a certification. To become a CPR and first aid trainer, you must be certified in CPR as well as in CPR instruction. There are several steps you’ll need to take to become a certified CPR instructor.

The important thing is getting certified to teach CPR before you start your CPR business. It doesn’t matter too much where you get your CPR teacher certification, as long as the awarding organization is legitimate. If you’re not affiliated with a CPR organization, then you won’t be able to award valid CPR certifications to your students, and you risk providing improper training.

Becoming a certified CPR instructor is a relatively quick and affordable process. Starting your own independent business on the side is another story. While it won’t take long to get your side hustle up and running, there are a lot of boxes you need to check off first.

1. Choose a CPR organization

When you go through the CPR instructor certification process, you’ll train with one of the major CPR training organizations, such as the American Heart Association (AHA) or American Red Cross (ARC). As an independent CPR teacher, you’ll be educating your students on the same principles you learned during your training.

Certification and affiliation with one of these CPR organizations will lend major credibility to your business. It also makes it easy to issue certification cards to your students. However, it also usually comes with an ongoing commitment to teach for them—at their facilities as well as at their designated rates.

If you’re planning to teach CPR on your own, one option to consider is getting certified through the Health and Safety Institute instead. Training and costs are comparable to the AHA and ARC.

However, you can devote all your extra time to your CPR business instead of working for their facilities. You’ll also get to set higher rates. The drawback is that other certifications are in greater demand among students, so you may find it more difficult to get students.

2. Draft a CPR business plan

Every successful business starts with a strong business plan, and a CPR business is no exception. Here are some things you’ll want to hash out:

• CPR company name: Research what local CPR businesses are called. Then come up with a name that’s easy to remember, related to what you’re teaching, and not already claimed by another CPR company.
• Available classes: Specify which types of CPR training you plan to offer. You could offer specialty training in addition to classic CPR classes.
• Class availability: In addition to coming up with a schedule for your CPR classes, decide how you want to offer them—in person, online, or a mix of the two.
• Payments: There are different ways you can charge your students. You can charge an hourly rate, set a tuition fee per person, or offer discounted packages. Once you know your payment structure, come up with competitive rates for your market.
• Documentation: You’ll need a system for documenting student information, recording class attendance, and managing CPR certificates. Finding secure, cloud-based business software to manage this information will be helpful.
• Training curriculum: Many CPR organizations will provide you with a curriculum to follow. If you don’t have one already or you want to customize yours, then now is the time to do it.
• Safety protocols: To minimize the risk of accidents and ensure the safety of your students, you should have a set of safety procedures in place.

Whether you’re starting a part-time or full-time CPR business, you’ll stand a better chance of success by taking the time to understand your goals, business responsibilities, and potential challenges.

3. Decide where to work

As an independent CPR instructor, you have a choice of several places where you can work:

• Teach out of your home: This is the most cost-effective route. However, you might not feel comfortable bringing students into your home, and it might be a hurdle to getting people to sign up, especially when you’re brand new.
• Rent a space for your own CPR training center: You don’t necessarily need to rent commercial space to do this. You can do CPR training at places like community centers, coworking spaces, and churches with unused space.
• Provide on-site training: With a mobile CPR business, you travel to gigs where the employer hosts you. There are a variety of organizations looking to hire independent CPR instructors, like schools, hospitals, daycare centers, corporations, senior centers, swim academies, and more.
• Teach CPR classes online: Although hands-on training is typically required at some point for CPR students, you can offer general instruction online. You can even teach online only if you collaborate with another instructor who’s willing to handle the in-person classes.

Which option is best depends on a few different factors. The big one is cost. Independent CPR instructors don’t make a lot of money, so you might prefer more cost-effective options like teaching from home or providing mobile CPR classes.

You also have to consider setting up your classroom. In addition to the cost of renting a space and outfitting it with all the necessary equipment, you have to make sure it meets building safety standards.

Location also matters. If you live in a suburban or rural area, the demand for local CPR instruction may be low. So mobile and online teaching might be your best options.

4. Acquire the necessary licenses and permits

To start your own business as a CPR instructor, you first need a business license. But before you get one, you’ll need to decide if you want to operate as a sole proprietor or create an LLC.

Depending on where you live, you may need to register with both your state and city to procure a license. Go to the website for your local business registration office or the chamber of commerce. They’ll have information on whether a license is required and, if so, how much it costs.

If you’re renting commercial space or operating out of your home, you’ll also need to find out if you need a local zoning permit. This is a common requirement in big metropolitan areas.

5. Purchase CPR learning equipment

When starting a CPR business, ensure you have all the equipment needed to teach CPR as well as enough of it if you plan on teaching large groups.

Here are some examples of equipment you might need:

• Adult training manikins
• Infant training manikins
• First aid kits
• EpiPen trainers
• Adult and infant bag masks
• Training valves
• AED trainers
• Gloves
• Wipes

The cost of a single manikin starts at around $150, though it can be much higher, depending on the type of training or person it’s built for. AED trainers cost about the same.

While you might be able to start small and get the bare essentials for $500 or so, many CPR instructors invest upwards of $1,000 to $2,000 to ensure their business is fully prepared.

6. Get liability insurance

As a self-employed CPR instructor, insurance is a must. Liability insurance will provide you with a variety of protections for your business.

There are two types of liability insurance you can get:

• General liability insurance: This provides compensation if your property or rental space is damaged. It will also cover any injuries that take place during your sessions.
• Professional liability insurance: This insurance provides protection in the case of business mistakes or errors. For example, it would come in handy if a former student or client sues you for not teaching them proper CPR technique.

Shop around and compare rates with different insurance companies. You can sometimes find affordable insurance bundles that offer both general and professional liability insurance for CPR businesses.

7. Advertise your CPR business

Once you have everything in place for your CPR company, it’s time to promote it so that potential clients and students can find you. Here are some steps you should take to market your CPR business.

Build a professional website

Your business website will explain who you are and where you got your CPR instructor certification from. It will also provide information on what classes you teach, how much they cost, where they’re available, and which certifications you provide.

Integrating the site with a booking system will also add an extra layer of credibility to your business and make things easier on your end.

If you put some effort into SEO for your website, you’ll make your business website more searchable online. That way, potential students will be able to find you when they search “CPR classes near me.”

Use social media marketing

Social media is a valuable tool for every business owner. There’s no need to be on every platform—just choose a couple that allow you to post high-resolution photos and videos of actual CPR training, like Instagram or YouTube.

The best way to build an audience and get business from social media is to give something away for free. So don’t just promote your training. Give away free tips and discounts as well.

It might also be worth it to spend some money on social media ads to help you grow your audience and find local clients.

Get listed in local directories

Unless you’re only teaching CPR online, you’re going to need help reaching locals interested in your classes. You could run targeted Google pay-per-click ads, but that can quickly get costly. Instead, create Google Business and Yelp pages.

You can also get listed as a CPR provider on your organization’s website. Once you start getting students and good reviews, it’ll become easier to get students.

You’ll need to pay to get certified to teach CPR, but there are also other startup costs you’ll need to factor into your budget before you launch your new CPR side hustle. Keep in mind that you’ll have various ongoing costs to pay every year to be a CPR trainer. For starters, you’ll need to renew your liability insurance every year and CPR certification every 2 years.

As for what you can expect to pay at the start, though, the table below shows a breakdown of the typical costs for a CPR business.

CPR Company Startup Costs

Typical CPR instructor pay rates aren’t incredibly high, and you may struggle to pay all of your bills in this economy if you’re teaching CPR on the side. That said, you can earn more, even working part-time, by making some strategic choices about your business. Here are some tips to get you started.

Automate your bookings

With a side hustle, you need to be smart about where you spend your time as no one is paying you to manage the administrative aspects of your business. One thing you can do to alleviate some of this burden is to add a secure student management and online booking system to your website.

When it comes to bookings, in particular, students can make their own appointments and pay ahead of time. Also, by using booking software, you can program the system to remind students about upcoming classes and give them tools to cancel and reschedule as needed.

Align your marketing efforts with seasonal demand

Some of the businesses looking for CPR instruction might need your services more during certain times of the year. For example, swimming schools would likely need to get new teachers and/or lifeguards certified before summer. So that would be a great time to reach out to them.

Once you decide who you want to teach, schedule your marketing campaigns so that you reach those prospective clients at the right time.

Reconnect with former students

Another way to use timing to your advantage is to keep track of all your students. Since CPR certification typically needs to be renewed every 2 years, set reminders for yourself to follow up with former students as that time approaches.

Renewals might not bring in as much money as initial certifications, but they can be a great way to keep generating money if things are slow.

Add other certifications to your repertoire

Because the cost of starting a CPR business is pretty high, you might not want to spend too much money on advanced certifications or specialties at first. However, once things get rolling and you’re making money, consider diversifying your class offerings. This will not only give you more opportunities to make money but also make you more competitive in the local market.

For instance, you can get certified to teach basic life support (BLS), automated external defibrillator (AED), advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS), and pediatric advanced life support (PALS) classes.

Teaching CPR is a rewarding side hustle in and of itself, and starting your own CPR business as an independent instructor gives you more freedom and control over your work. However, CPR company startup costs are relatively high, and the earning potential is relatively low.

For a CPR business to be worth it, you’d need to invest quite a bit of time, effort, and money into getting set up. An independent CPR side hustle is well suited to people who already need to maintain CPR certification for their primary role, such as health care professionals, lifeguards, and teachers.

The good news is that CPR instructor training and certification isn’t a lengthy process, so you’ll be able to get things up and running pretty quickly. Plus, there are ways to increase your earnings, like with automation, advanced certification, and making savvy marketing choices.

Pros and cons of a CPR business

Starting a CPR training business takes time and effort, so consider all the benefits and drawbacks first before you decide whether it’s worth it.

Is a CPR business profitable?

The average CPR instructor makes $25–$50 per hour. On its face, that doesn’t seem like a bad rate.

However, this salary range is less impressive when you factor in the upfront and ongoing costs involved in running a CPR business. If you spend $2,000 starting your CPR business, for example, and you earn a typical hourly rate, you’d have to work 56–112 hours to pay off the initial investment.

Going forward, your annual costs of doing business will be around $1,000. This includes things like liability insurance, certification renewal fees, rent or travel costs, equipment and materials, website-related fees, and more. It’ll take 20 to 40 hours of work to cover those costs, depending on how much you charge.

So, can your CPR side hustle be profitable? It can be if you have enough hours to commit to it and you’re able to maximize your earning potential.