How to open an English school: a business plan, interesting ideas and features

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Today, knowledge of English is one of the main requirements for candidates for a prestigious job abroad. Therefore, various foreign schools and courses are in demand more than ever. Nothing prevents you from bringing this idea to life, you just need to draw up a business plan correctly. An English language school will always be in high demand, even during periods of economic downturn. And this means that you will receive a consistently high income. You can create both a narrow-profile institution, for example, only for schoolchildren and exam preparation, or an educational center for various categories - adults, students, young children.

Where to start?

So you've decided to own your own business. What does it take to open an English language school? A business plan necessarily includes such steps as choosing a legal form and registering an enterprise. As a rule, novice businessmen prefer to take shapeas individual entrepreneurs. However, this form has one important drawback - an individual entrepreneur cannot issue certificates after completing a training course. At the same time, they can engage in educational activities and hire staff. But in the work book of your employees, an entry will be made about hiring a specialist in foreign languages, and not a teacher. Perhaps this will not suit someone.

Company

How to open an English language school? The business plan will differ depending on how much start-up capital you have. If there is enough money, then you may well try to register your own company. However, in this case there will be much more subtleties. But your school will have the right to issue full-fledged certificates to people who have completed the training. To register a company, you must submit all the required documents to the tax office. This process may take 5 to 20 days. Also, if you plan to engage in educational activities, you will need a license. It can be obtained from the local educational authorities. To do this, it is enough to provide information about the premises in which your school is located, as well as the qualifications of the teaching staff.

Selection of premises

This item should be given special attention. A business plan for opening a school of foreign languages must necessarily include such an important stage as the choice of premises. It is best if it is located near a shopping center or educational institution. It is advisable not to place a foreign language school in a residential area. Most likely, you simply won’t have enough customers there.

Furniture and equipment

Another important step in opening an institution. The business plan of the English language school for children provides for the purchase of the necessary equipment. There are no special requirements for the equipment of the premises. Basically, you can learn languages anywhere. However, in order to create an appropriate image, it is recommended to purchase modern stylish furniture. You will also need various teaching aids for classes. Consider purchasing multimedia materials as well. Today on sale you can find a wide selection of interactive programs, video and audio recordings for learning English. It's also a good idea to get a few laptops or tablets. In this way, you will be able to offer students of your courses new teaching methods. When expanding the business and making more profit, the money earned can be used to purchase a projector and an interactive whiteboard.

Teaching staff

What should an English language school be like? What is needed for success? The main thing in any educational institution is the teachers. The profitability of your business will depend on the work of teachers. Finding qualified teachers can be time consuming. You can use the services of recruitment agencies or hire people on the recommendation of acquaintances and friends. It is better to hire teachers who have experiencework with school children. The teacher should be able to interest the child and attract his attention. If you are also focused on teaching adults and students, then it is already better to organize classes in such a way that they are taught by a native English speaker.

Advertising

What else would an English language school not be without? A business plan must include an advertising campaign. Marketing activities today are most effectively carried out on the Internet. Your organization will need its own website. Here you can post information about the organization of the learning process, the teachers of your school, as well as the benefits of the courses. Advertising must be placed on thematic portals, forums and social networks.

You can also use standard advertising tools. These include:

• television;
• radio;
• media;
• posters and banners;
• flyers.

Try to regularly hold interesting promotions. For example, "bring a friend and get a discount on tuition." This type of business requires constant promotion by advertising. Therefore, it is advisable to entrust this matter to an experienced specialist.

Teaching Methodology

How to draw up a business plan for a school of foreign languages, courses? An important element is the choice of teaching methods. This aspect is sometimes overlooked by aspiring entrepreneurs.

There are three main approaches that can be used to solve this problem:

• programs designed by experienced teachers;
• standard programs;
• opening a franchise school.

Each of the presented options has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of standard programs are simplicity and efficiency of organization. A unique methodology developed by an experienced teacher can demonstrate high efficiency. In addition, other schools of foreign languages are not able to offer anything like this. The last option will help you build a business under the name of a well-known brand. If necessary, you can use the support of the franchisor. However, this system is not for everyone. Many are confused by the fact that in this case the business will have to be conducted according to someone else's conditions.

Educational software for kids

Special attention should be paid to the development of educational programs for children. All parents want their child to receive quality education. Therefore, educational programs for children will always be in great demand. It is extremely important for teachers to use active elements such as drawing and modeling in the lessons. You can diversify the learning process by adding outdoor games to it. Children love easy songs and rhymes. Learning English is not possible without them. It will also be possible to prepare performances in a foreign language with the guys for various holidays.

List of expenses

An obligatory component that includes any business plan for a foreign language school is finance.

Onat the initial stage, the following items of expenditure will need to be included in the budget:

• rental fee;
• equipment purchase;
• staff wages;
• cleaning services;
• purchasing office supplies;
• utility fee;
• other expenses.

On average, you will have to invest somewhere around 600,000 rubles.

Profitability

Even the most correct business plan cannot guarantee high profits. An English language school will, on average, generate an income of 30,000 to 60,000 rubles. Large firms can count on more impressive profits. This type of business has a rather low profitability. It is somewhere around 8%. At the same time, the starting costs for opening a very small school of foreign languages are 100 thousand rubles. Businessmen who can afford it are investing millions in opening educational institutions. It all depends mainly on the financial capabilities of the owner and the chosen strategy.

Additional services

You need to understand that at first, the profit from educational activities can be small. This must be taken into account when drawing up a business plan. An English language school may also provide exam preparation and subject-specific teaching services. For example, you can open English courses for travelers or sailors. Between classes, the center can translate and prepare reports in English.

Conclusion

How to start your own language teaching business? How to write the best business plan? An English language school, subject to a number of conditions, can bring quite a good benefit to its owner. The demand for such services is very high today. But the competition is also quite high. However, this kind of business is still profitable.

To begin with, you need to think about such an important point as the form of doing business. The simplest is considered individual entrepreneurship. However, with this form, you will not be able to fully engage in teaching activities and issue certificates to those who have completed training. If finances allow, it is better to immediately create a company. Of course, doing business with this form of business will be more difficult, but you will get much more opportunities. At first, you may well rent a small room and conduct classes on your own. The purpose of this stage is to set the groups. After all, if there are no students, then you should not count on profit. This approach will help you start a business with minimal losses. To attract customers, you can try to establish cooperation with other educational institutions. Such connections will allow you to exchange experiences. A successful business needs constant development. Try to regularly introduce various methods into the educational process. Also improve the qualifications of the teaching staff. Consider the cost of participating in training seminars and trainings. All this will help you create a fairly profitable business from scratch in the shortest possible time. With the right approachEnglish language school shows high profitability.

As practice shows, starting your own business is a simple matter. The most important thing is to be able to constantly develop it, keep it afloat and, of course, receive income that will increase every month.