Job Discussion Forums

rcn · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Japan

Does anyone have advice about starting up a language school? I've lived here a while and know I can provide much better service than most "schools", but I have ZERO business experience! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

saloc · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 102

I started my own school last year. So far it has been great, but I have found one of the most important things is to have a Japanese person involved to take phone calls, deal with parents' questions etc. PM me with any specific questions and I'll help if I can.

rcn · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Japan

My wife(Japanese) can take care of that. I was more concerned about all the legal stuff(paperwork required for establishing a company/business, insurance, etc). How high are the start-up costs? I want to start by teaching all the classes by myself and eventually hire some teachers as business picks up. Any more advice?

saloc · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 102

If you are on a spouse visa and plan on doing all the teaching yourself, then you can pretty much operate as a private teacher. By that I mean, you can give your school a name, advertise under that name etc but as far as I am aware you don't need to actually register as a company. Once you start taking on employees things might be different, but to get started you can just open for business. Start up costs are kept to a minimum that way - you will need enough money to keep yourself until the business starts turning a profit, but if you are lucky that might only be a few months. Of course, renting property costs a lot and I found the best thing to do was just rent a bigger house and convert one room into a classroom and one into an office . Yes, there was key money to pay but it worked out cheaper than having to rent an apartment and a separate school. And I get to live in a slightly nicer place and don't have to travel anywhere to work. Have to clean a lot though.
We have also taken out insurance in case of accidents etc to students. That runs to a about 20,000 a year.
If you are confident in your teaching, are here for the long term and can find a good location (with parking) I would say go for it. I think you would need at least a million yen to get going (advertising, property, living expenses while you are still finding enough students etc) and 2 million if you want to be safe. If you are talking about downtown Yokohama, then it is probably going to be a lot more than that. It is hard work, but, in my opinion, well worth it.

joncharles · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 132 Location: Beijing

If you are interested in owning a franchise school I know one you can try. I had made an inquiry a few months ago out of interest. Maybe you can look into it. Smith English School Franchises.. I think they will help you with all the set ups, but it's your investment. Here's the contact address: http://www.sse-franchise.com/

rcn · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Japan

OK. Thanks for the info!

-RCN

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

rcn · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Japan

Thanks Paul. Japan is full of scumbag gaijin only looking for a quick buck. I'll be really careful before doing anything big financial wise.

-RCN

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

Start your own neighborhood school rcn! To date you do not need a special licence (maybe that will change in the future) and you can run a school out of your own home if it is big enough.

You will have to register your business as a company and the Jetro guide to owning a business in Japan can be obtained from Kinokuniya. There are different categories of company and if I recall there is one that is perfect for small businesses such as English schools. If you are married to a Japanese lady then it is a perfect situation - she can be the liaison person between you and your school and the tax office, mothers etc.

I understand that as yet there are no local government laws regarding needing a licence for running a school out of your own home. Good luck. Don`t buy a school - you will pay too much. Run your own and get your own local customers.

rcn · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Japan

I'll definitely have a look at that book.

Thanks!

RCN

joncharles · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 132 Location: Beijing

PAULH.... no problem with that... I am not familiar with Smith either. I happened to send the school a resume for work and ( I guess because of my age) he sent me an e-mail suggesting I take over one of two schools as manager or owner. I asked for information and he sent me the bit about the $15K.. nothing about other expenditures. I did not pursue it any further. So with only that information at hand I suggested that franchise.. in the future I will advise others to stay clear.

frosty · Joined: 25 Apr 2004 Posts: 3 Location: Japan