Job Discussion Forums

[travelNick]

I forgot the most important!

BANKS & MONEY - You need a bank account, obviously, and you also need a way to accept payments (not just cash). When setting up I found Banco de Bogota and Helm especially helpful. The other banks were a nightmare, and some just said 'no' :-/ You don't need a commercial bank account to get started, but obviously that's what you want to have eventually. All companies I've dealt with have no problem depositing money into a personal bank account. Some students will want to pay by credit card, so you need to talk to someone to set that up. At first I only accepted American dollars by credit card, which was a hindrance. You can pay your teachers by direct transfer, which CAN cost you. Or you can set up a "payment's account" with a bank. That is, you set up accounts for your teachers at your bank and pay them without a transfer fee. There are some additional benefits which your bank provides in that case (lower interest loans etc.).

CONTACT - Colombians love face-to-face contact. That being said, you should have a website, email, and PBX and dedicated cell number for your school.

Good luck!

[spanglish]

Excellent posts travelnick. I'm actually quite surprised that you followed through and started up a school - lots of people talk about it, but nobody seems to do it.

Good luck, it sounds like you know you're way around now. I'm surprised that you've had difficulty finding good local teachers. One suggestion - talk to the BC and IH and ask if you can have contacts for their CELTA course grads and/or talk to grads on the last day of class. We had a day for potential employers to come in and talk to us during my CELTA. You might also network at La Nacional - they seem to have quality English grads.