Job Discussion Forums

[englishgibson]

On the forums I have read a few times about how some would begin their own operations and go into business here in China, however I have not read from the same ones how they have done after their opening days.

I have helped open three language centers in China. In two cases, they had connections, in the third one however they did not. And, I posed as the manager, which was a great mistake (in China). Officials got to me and business did not come easy.

Now, are there any brave souls out there that have been running their language centers in this lovely 5,000 years old country??? If yes, could you share your experiences on this site without trying to recruit anyone in. Or, if anyone knows of any foreign owned language centers or schools, will you be kind enough to share what you know on here???

I just would like to know how our business advantures go and see if we get opportunities in this country. I believe that experiences of others might encourage foreign teachers into the business and help them see a light in their bright future.

Cheers and beers to all hard working foreigners in China

[DistantRelative]

EG, no offense meant, but are you frigg'in whacked? Really, if most of us had that kind of money to invest do you really think we'd spend it on a school?

Zhuhao,

Shawn

[PattyFlipper]

[Voldermort]

englishgibson, I looked into the idea of opening a training center a couple of years back and let me say, it was a headache. You need a license for this and a permit for that not to mention some guanxi for the other...

In the past, foreigners have partnered up with a local who is able to get all the required documents since us laowai don't have a hope in hell. But, about 3 years ago the government stamped down foreigners co-owning schools. This is why I gave up at the time.

As it happens, I am going to try again this year.

[vikuk]

One of the main reasons for local popularity of investing in English training schools is that its regarded as an almost no skill industry. This means that that in the Chinese market where the customer has a very primitive appreciation of what constitutes good and effective language schooling - good teaching (coupled up with interested, enthusiastic students) - is a factor where the employers often skrimp and save. The result is usually the typical joke of a Chinese English language school with its array of unqualified, Short term foreign teachers, and host of local ones who often have a job stringing a fluent sentence together.
If those students (or their parents who may be fronting the bills) ever started in an interested and enthusiastic mood - then this is often smothered out in their disappointment over results, which may lead to anger regarding a perceived waste of fee money. This attitude is very often fueled by the unrealistic expectations - encouraged through false and misleading advertising -of these customers (I want guaranteed quick results - why haven't my kids learnt to speak English in 3 months). This irritation factor means that most of a school owners energy is spent on gimmicks to attract new students to replace those who're always leaving. These ploys result in a lot of undercutting of competition - and in areas where the market is over-saturated with this type of business - some go under and many barely survive.

Since the above factors means that the main investment criteria switches focus from good teaching to plush, well equipped school interiors (even if the staff aren't qualified to operate the school) and loads of money on advertising - well to enter this game you need big bucks (this money makes that one time payment for a license look peanuts). And because all you need is money - and at the moment that growing band of rich Chinese are just desperate to find new sources of investment - well if you want to start an English school - just join the rate race.

By the way another big focus point with these schools - to maximise any potential profit - is of course economy in the form of paying low wage rates to workers. So if you enter this game as a teacher - don't expect many of those big bucks to fall on your head

[englishgibson]

interesting replies above

[Brian Caulfield]

The amount of money required is enormous. In Taiyuan I helped a Taiwanese person start a school and just the piece of paper allowing you do do it cost 200,000 rmb. Then you must go to the local schools and pay the headmasters money. Owning a school is a license to be rich in Asia. Why would they give a foreigner this license?
By the way when I worked for this rich Taiwanese person she kept on saying the same thing everyday. "Why do the Chinese keep giving me garbage?" She was referring to the people they gave her for adminsitrative duties.

[tw]

Baidawei Foreign Language School in Changchun is owned and operated by an American and his Chinese wife.

[OGFT]

you mean duck, don't you...

[vikuk]

There is a cheaper way around the price problem - you can rent a license from an existing school (one that is authorised to employ FT's). This is a loophole commonly used by certain training centers. If you find a license owner that has run on bad times you may be lucky enough to pay a price of around 20,000RMB/year.
You then rent an empty office and fill it with chairs - then add to it your excellent teaching curricular and method and hey presto you surely have a school to beat all that mediocre local competition.

However you're problems are only just starting - because to make money you have to fill those chairs. And those potential customers - well they're a fickle lot. Many of them may think the language school is an easy path to English acquisition - and pay in the hope of learning English on the spot. When you - as the honest expert - tell these folk that it may also involve darn hard home-study to gain meaningful results - well some of them think they've been half cheated. These type of people flock to the plusher, more sophisticated centers - that use "scientific method" that's advertised as guaranteed. After all isn't learning English all about high-tech and software rather than good honest brain-work!!!!!

And as for teaching them kids - well you might be in for a shock there as well. Their parents are often most interested in exam results over fluency. After all whats the good of Little Wang being fluent in English if he aint top of the class, with a vocab of 50,000 words, by the age of 10.

Yeah you've got that cheaper version of the school running - but man you need to work full throttle just to find a steady stream of customers - and to please 'em .................!!!!!

[PattyFlipper]

[englishgibson]

Patty, i love that "end-product" point of view.

[samhouston]

Why not just teach groups of students after hours? Where I am, there is a good balance of 1) people with money and 2) distance from all the English training centers available to people living toward town (and only two Whiteys for miles).

Just in my area, there are several middle/high schools within walking distance of my apartment. I am setting up my living room to accommodate eight or ten students at a time. I've only recently begun toying with the idea, so I haven't worked out details about what exactly I'm going to be teaching, etc.

But if I can teach 15 students for either 100rmb per lesson or 1000rmb a month (five days a week) that's 15,000rmb I make on top of my normal teaching salary for an extra hour or so per day. If one could manage to get double that amount of students, for two classes a day, that's 30,000rmb a month.

It makes perfect sense on paper, but I have no idea what to really expect. It wouldn't make millions, but I could save $50,000 a year if I could pull it off, and it doesn't seem all that difficult.

I'd like to know what pitfalls or successes others have had who have tried this.

[vikuk]

For starters its illegal - but some people with aspirations to start a school but no money to fund this project go this way.
One problem will be visa wise - you'd have to work off an F (that is unless you were prepaired to do 15 hours or so with an official employer who sponsored your Z - with this 2 modes of employment model - be prepaired for periods of utter exhaustion).
Another problem is advertising your teaching. Being an illegal operation hardly gives you the opportunity to post your services all over town - and that you often find in this kind of project your biggest problem is to find reliable customers who will use you on a regular long-term basis. Canvasing for interest, getting telephone numbers of potential customers, convinsing folk to come for a demo and finally getting customers to actually pay-up is quite a business - and you haven't even started the task of teaching!!!
The fact that there is no piece of paper with a fine title - the "graduation" game - can also pose its problems. Most EFL courses here offer some sort of joke diploma (all with some sort of accreditation from a sponser organisation) - but many potential customers folk will take this stuff very seriously. You'll find English learning Chinese style isn't just directed at acquiring fluency - but also very much focused on gaining slips of paper through passing exams.
This last points links nicely to the fact that maybe the most difficult thing about such a project is working directly with your customers - having to try and meet some of their expectations - which in our estimation may seem rather strange with regard to language learning.

But then again if you can get round all these points - you will have earnt your money.

[englishgibson]

samhouston, some how done it...i know a british female in huizhou guandong, who did that....she became so successful that she started her own language center..well, she found some chinese to help her out...it's been a while, and i don't know how she's doing..but i can tell you that the she was really bright about it...she could speak chinese really i mean really well too..not only speak but also read and write