Job Discussion Forums

[sisyphus]

From people on the ground there what are the possibilities of starting your own business there, ie a language school or a skype online school? What are the difficulties, hassles, is it possible, I know there are a few english chains out there, just wanted to hear peoples opinion...

[Chris_Crossley]

For one thing, you need local business and government contacts. Without them, it would not be legal for any foreigner to start up a small private independent business of any kind, never mind one that is concerned with the teaching of English as a foreign language.

In the case of a school, foreigners require the permission of the local education bureau, whether at city or provincial level (perhaps even both if one is located in the capital of a province), which means buying a special licence to operate the school and having to buy yet another one in order to hire expatriates to become teachers.

Foreigners are usually unable to operate schools independently of having at least one local business partner, though the partner need not necessarily be "local" in the sense of living in the same city or province because locals can own schools up and down the country, just as we could back home if we had the financial capital to invest in anything spread widely in terms of pure geography.

If you personally do not know any such people in China, then it would be useful to ask your own contacts if they know anyone personally on a local level who might be interested in investing in a (or another!) school.

Another factor is time because it can take a lot of time (perhaps even more than a year in some cases for preparation, marketing and planning as a rough guesstimate) from initial talks to setting up the school itself and getting it running.

Then there is the matter of what the Chinese call guanxi, namely social relationships, as it is considered virtually de rigueur to forge good social relationships with those you want to invest their time, energy and money in your venture. Bad relationships can lead to bad business, and that can spell disaster.

I have never been involved in the setting-up of any school; it is rather that my information is based purely upon what I have heard (including on the BBC) about foreigners wishing to set up business in China. Yes, businesses obviously do get going, but there cannot be any illusions that the path to opening and running a business successfully in China is necessarily short and free of bumps.