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phantombedwetter

I've been offered the opportunity, through a mutual business contact, to open a school in Kiev.
It would be my second major school, after Krakow, not counting franchise agreements and subsiduaries.

I would appreciate it greatly if anyone has any knowledge of the market in Kiev and could give me a few pointers,
In particular:
a) The competition
b) The student profile
c) The direction the city is heading with inward investment and (For want of a better word) 'prospects'.

Thanks

phantombedwetter · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject:

Due to the massive volume of replies from this post, I'll bump it up again.
Rolling Eyes

Any help would be appreciated.

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

a few of us here were noticing the underwhelming response to your question.

I suspect part of the answer to your question is the lack of an answer to your question. This market (IMO) is chaotic. Lots of small-time operators (with their associated ego, politics, personality and financial problems) along with a handful of big names (LSE, BC and IH) all doing pretty much the same thing, at the same time, at the same price, and so on and so on. Opening up one more language school elicits a big yawn. So, if your partner has the capital to fund a respectable start-up, you better have a business plan that can deliver something different. Just saying, "I'll hire, more/better/smarter/taller teachers," OR, "I'm gonna spend a fortune on a fancy, hi-tech whiteboard," isn't going to be anything that anyone hasn't already tried before.

Good Luck to you. Ukraine, generally, is trying to build some momentum to head towards their future and changing their mindset regarding education, critical reasoning and plannning is a big part of the struggle.

phantombedwetter · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject:

ecocks,
Thanks for the post,

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

No one seems to be very interested in the material used or taking proficiency tests (except for college admissions). Market Leader is pretty much the Business English staple with the rest of the usual suspects rounding out the lower levels for general training. I wouldn't say the market is exactly saturated but finding an English teacher isn't a problem in this market, that's for sure.

Drop a line when you get here, competition is good and good competition is better.