Job Discussion Forums

[hdeth]

So recently my Chinese girlfriend has been, somewhat randomly, getting offers from people to teach young kids English. At her work they found out that she speaks pretty good English and has an American boyfriend and she's received a few offers to teach their kids on the weekend. The pay is a lot better than what she currently makes and it's become very tempting to try starting a business with her. We've been dating about a year now and will probably be getting married next summer if all goes well.

I work too many hours at my current job to want to do much tutoring, but I'm tempted to switch back to a uni gig and do privates with her on the side. My current job is pretty decent but it's getting to the point where I'm losing a lot of money to taxes and I'm working pretty long hours that don't match up well with my girlfriend's work schedule...don't see each other as much as we'd like. By shifting more of the income to her we would avoid a lot of taxes and it would be much easier for her to get a visa to western countries. By having some self-employment income I could contribute to social security (I only have 5 years contributed...hitting 10 years is a pretty big benefit for the cost).

I have enough money where I could buy an apartment with a shop attached in a tier 3 (I guess) city that we like. There are a few unis there and the goal would be to get a job either teaching 3 days per week or all classes in the afternoon and then teach some privates in the evenings and/or weekends. She would tutor some kids as well (the demand seems to be for Saturday classes for young kids for her).

Am I stupidly day-dreaming here? I remember reading a few posters who have a tutoring business with their wife and a similar situation and were quite successful.

Is there demand for Chinese people to teach English in smaller cities? Is there enough money to make 200 kuai or more an hour for privates? I'm in Beijing now so a bit out of touch. My girlfriend is being offered around 5,000kuai a month to basically babysit some 5yos for 6 hours on Saturday. She has no teaching license or anything like that. Just a BS in something similar to accounting. Is she going to run into trouble for not having a teaching license?

Thanks for any help you can give.

EDIT:
The city we're looking at has a population of about 3mil with about 1mil in the city proper. Not a poor city...on the east coast in Shandong, but not a rich city either. Kind of out of the way.

[Non Sequitur]

Over the years the idea of FTs moving to entrepreneurial activities has had a few posts.
I've bumped one thread over on 'Off topic'
Qingdao would be a standout Shandong coastal city in my view and well worth a look.
Active expat association too.
If the business could be viewed as a consultancy with your GF doing the heavy day to day lifting and you coming in as final native speaker 'polisher' it might work. This may avoid teacher registration.
Having a salary from an FT gig would take pressure off the business. If you could get a housing allowance instead of living on campus, you could live in a flat that lent itself to having a teaching space.
Yours would be a unique offering in the marketplace and attract premium prices especially if IELTS and similar test preps could be a focus.
I encourage you.

[hdeth]

I teach at an "international" high school and most of what I do is prepping students to go overseas...just finished prepping them for their visa interviews...seems like that must be a market for that. Based on the nose-bleed tuition at my school people are definitely willing to fork out some money to get their kid overseas. I've heard that's even more-so in some smaller cities because it's harder to get into a top uni.

Looking at properties in the city further I've realized that for many of the houses I thought had shops, it was just a photo of the real estate agency's shopfront. Can't these guys afford to make a logo?

Yes, the idea would be I work ~14 hours at a uni gig, either 3 days per week or in the afternoons, then do some classes in the evening and/or weekends. I would focus on students who are planning to go overseas and she could do some stuff with younger kids. She speaks better English than the vast majority of Chinese teachers I've met, even better than some who have studied overseas.

I've lived in Qingdao before and although I like it, houses are ridiculously over-priced. Not anywhere near as bad as Beijing or Shanghai but still ridiculous compared to what people make.

As long as we had a combined income of 15-20k or so, which seems achievable, we'd be fine.

The idea of being a 'polisher' is interesting too. Even just being around and able to correct any grammar mistakes would probably convince people that my GF's lessons are worth it.

We don't really want to work during the vacations which seem to be the busiest times. Maybe do some refresher courses before school starts. But we like our vacations and one of the main reasons I moved to China was for them. I ran my own business back in the States and it made going on vacation very difficult.

[Non Sequitur]

Given that the language schools I've worked in are out of school hours ie weekends and Spring Break + summer, your vacations will need to be at other times.
I think it is perception and if presented the right way your GF passing on students to you as the guru would make sense to Chinese.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, high school students often haven't had oral English for 2 years and their freshman year at uni will be a bit of a shock.
I taught about 10 intended freshers for 6 weeks one summer and looking back I should have concentrated on oral but as they seemed more comfortable with written that's what we did.
The biggest item of capital the 2 of you have is intellectual. Use that and don't
get involved in anything that involves investment in bricks and mortar.
Real estate prices are pretty insane in any coastal location. Get used to renting.

[Deats]

If you want to do it legally, then there may be problems. It depends.

Firstly, your gf couldn't legally employ you as you would be contracted to the uni, so I'm guessing the uni has to give you permission.

Secondly, jealous schools may report you if you start taking a lot of business. This could lead to problems for your gf and you. My guess is you will have to grease quite a few palms, especially as she has no license to teach.

Thirdly, it will take a little time to build up your base of privates - a year maybe.

My wife and I made plenty of money doing privates on the side of a uni job. But we kept VERY low key. We only taught teacher's kids and their friends. We never advertised anything. Not only can Chinese people get jealous, but other foreigners too.

You alone could earn 15k-20k just doing the uni + a few privates. Your gf could earn 5-10k and all from the comfort of a uni house. The second you have a house with shop that you turn into a business, you can't really lie your way out of what is going on. If you do privates in the comfort of your own home, you can just say you are looking after the kids as a favour to friends etc.

[Non Sequitur]

Im not sure my uni would like young kids coming through the a security gate and other FTs might not like the foot traffic.
A flat with a decent sized living room handy to college and part subsidised by the uni accom allowance is the way to go IMHO.
Make your requirements known to a realtor/letting agency and see what comes up.
Deats is on target here.