Job Discussion Forums

[gwynnie86]

Hi guys!
So, as you may know I am currently working with Interac. I love one of my schools. However, a JTE in another school makes my days frustrating and long...
I spoke to someone the other day who makes a living here by running private lessons for kindergarden kids. Apparently it's possible to set up a small private business and get by that way... it's obviously tricky but I was wondering if anyone had experience of this, and would be able to pass on any advice?

[TokyoLiz]

Try http://www.findateacher.net/ if you want to tutor on the side.

For information on your tax responsibility when earning income outside of your main salary, see http://gaijintax.com/

Ask around at the community centers - 公民館 kouminkan - about renting space or even taking over an existing kids' eikaiwa class.

In terms of people making their primary income from children's eikiawa, you'd be up against some stiff competition. A lot of Japanese people are running their own schools. I've also met foreigners running businesses from their homes or from the communal spaces in their apartment buildings.

Bear in mind that most foreign people who do have their own chidlren's schools are on spousal visas or have permanent residence. That's how they could run their own businesses.

Good luck!

[TokyoLiz]

edited because of duplication, sorry

[Glenski]

How long has that person you know been working in Japan?
What is their visa status?
Are they actually running a recognized business, or is it something else?
And, just how long did it take to become self-sufficient?

You have to ask yourself a lot of these and more questions.

Getting a handful of private lessons for beer money is relatively easy. Keeping them may not be. Living off them is pretty tough, and you still have to have a proper visa. Unless you have a sole proprietorship or something similar, you can't get a visa for private lessons.

What will you charge? Per head, per hour, per month, per group?
How will you handle absences?
How will you advertise? Not every location in Japan is covered by findateacher.com. And, unless you update sites like that, your name falls to the bottom of the active list.

What do you have to offer students? Oral communication practice? Writing practice? Listening? TOEIC prep? Kiddie lessons or lessons for adults, too? Will you describe a textbook they need to buy or will it all be off the cuff stuff?

Where will you teach? Big proposition there, as if you teach in a cafe, you have to deal with proper location, and distractions. You also have to decide whether students pay for your drinks there, and how much to ask for transportation. If it's in your home, you'll probably have to set aside a place and keep it looking just right. If you have no such space, you'll still have to keep your apartment tidy, and just having people over will soon grow to be an infringement on your private territory and time.

[flyer]

Yes, living off private lessons sounds really good at first, but when you really get down to day to day, month to month living etc it is no where near as easy as it looks
Of course, if you already have;
good contacts, a lot of experience, a good private place and possibly good Japanese lang abilitiy ..... they would help a lot

I personally think privates are great for when you have a part time job 4 days a week and you need a little extra cash etc. Only doing privates is tuff

[dove]

I definitely agree with Flyer. It's tough to survive only on privates. Cancellations abound. Students get busy, lose interest, take vacations. I consider my privates to be just extra money. I teach only adults, however. Maybe teaching kids--especially in a group lesson--might be a bit more secure, especially if you make the parents pay up front for a certain number of lessons. I don't have any policy for when a private cancels and I don't make them pay up front. If I were solely relying on privates, I most certainly would have some sort of policy.