Job Discussion Forums

[Jetset]

How easy is it to Open a school in Poland?

What hoops need to be jumped through before a Legal operation can be setup?

Oh and how profitable can it actually be?

Dzienkuju !

[Kymro]

[Jetset]

well I would rather not consult a lawyer just yet, since I'm sure many people on this forum know a lot of what to do.

I am an EU citizen so thats not a problem either.

50 grand PLN on advertising alone?!? or to set up the school? If its for the former that seems very expensive!

[Uncle Bob]

Jetset... where are you... do you want to open in a particular area or are you flexible on location...?

[Kymro]

[Yorkshire Ian]

An average Warsaw school has a Marketing budget of around 10,000 PLN per month.

Callan Schools are a good way to start as the other costs are lower (books,materials and teachers) and some schools start this way and diversify as time goes on.

[redsoxfan]

Starting a proper "school" in a large city would be an absurd business venture. The very thought makes me shiver when I think about how much money you would stand to lose, not to mention the extraordinary amount of stress you would put yourself through.

A basic tenet of marketing is finding a niche. You would be entering a market that has no room for you. You would be offering nothing new, yet competing with schools that have name recognition and big marketing budgets.

Two ways to open up some kind of business in the TEFL field (OK, let's call it a "school") are:

-Open up a small school in a town without any school. Rent a building with a few rooms, and advertise a bit. Your overhead would be a small fraction of that of schools in Krakow, Warsaw, etc. Teach some of the classes yourself--this will be a big draw because folks in small towns are isolated from the outside world. Also, it's often difficult for, let's say, high school students to get to a nearby city after school for lessons. I used to work in a small town only 18 kilometers from Poznan, but with the irregular public transportation, it would take someone about 5 hours to attend one lesson in Poznan. So the school I worked for has a monopoly on that town. There's about 10,000 people living there, and they have about 200 students. Not bad when you do the math.

-Open up a business which allows you to teach English. Don't call yourself a "school." Set up a website and learn how to position yourself on Google. Teach in-company classes. Learn Business English well. Better yet, buy 10 books and learn Legal English. Contact law firms and charge them oodles of money. How many English teachers are truly qualified to teach Legal English? Not many.

There are still niches left to be filled in the TEFL market here, but opening a school and aggressively competing with other schools is sheer brutality.

[Kymro]

Good points above.

[Jetset]

redsoxfan - good advice

[Ivyclub]

Jetset,
I�m not sure if you are looking into making quick money in ESL. The days are numbered for the medium-small school owners in Poland. And so are those of the big names in the pond. In a year or two the Polish government will become the silent partner in the creation of a new school concept, sort of a state recognized English Language school platform venture with EU money that is going to blow the franchises, even the big fish out of the water. So instead of adding your name to the long and oversaturated list of ESL businesses in Poland, why don�t you research further instead of freelancing your way in? Redsox�s ideas are just the crumbs left over of a smaller pie than the one yet to be served. You�d be better off with an email contact, a good proposal and getting your money from private funding such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the OSI or Soros Foundation, all grant making private entities, than just doing what many have tried and failed: to offer a serious alternative.
But you don�t have to knock on the doors of such high places. In the next couple of years the EU commission will inject more money into the Socrates, Comenius, PITON and other funding programs alike. Every year there is money up for grabs. If you want to be a player with vision, apply for a grant and you may very well get the money you need to launch your new school idea and establish yourself as an independent player with the world-renowned circle of stars logo on your door, letterhead or fliers in preference to developing a new franchise from scratch.
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/calls/grants_en.html

[zippy2k]

I'm not so sure the "big names" are going to be out of the picture in Poland so soon or the small schools either. There is still a big need for English teachers in Poland - it just isn't the same as say 10 years ago, before FDI really kicked in here. That's another factor - judging by the amount of new cars and flats people are buying here there seems a lot more disposable income - that wasn't here 10 years ago either. It's just over 16 months ago I was working at Profi-Lingua and couldn't find enough chairs to fit students in the classroom... Loathe their methods as I do they still pull in the punters and I think are likely to continue to do so...Plus they manage to hire natives in large numbers and people want that.

Ivyclub is right - there are pools of money and more pools now thanks to the EU. In 2005 I along with 3 others applied to the ESF (European Structural Fund) but it was a lengthy process and you really need a Pole to help. To my surprise we were successful but I backed out in the end with too many doubts - one of the team would have been a "sleeping partner" so it didn't make business sense. The advice about going to a smaller town, avoiding the big cities seems about right. I think you will be able to find excellent English teachers who are Poles without too much difficulty.