Korean Job Discussion Forums

[33Jimbo33]

My friend and I are selling a small 2-classroom school that we have been running in Nowon-gu. This is a great small business opportunity for two interested teachers, with nice hours, pay, and students.

Hours & Income
The hours and pay are good, you are your own boss, and you have the chance to run a small business with one other person. We work 4-5 hours a day (not split shifts), and we bring in a good monthly income, not including money from Summer/Winter camps, which are the true source of income for most English academies, as many academy owners would tell you.

The Classes:
Our regular classes are with Kindergartners and Elementary school students. Neither I nor my partner had ever taught this age before, but we inherited well-know American phonics and young learners teaching systems from the previous owners (a married couple). The kids are great and the teaching is much more rewarding than any I�ve done at hagwons. Our system is from McGraw-Hill publishers, and it�s a famous (and expensive � but we�re throwing in all our materials) learning program that focuses on �direct learning� to teach kids through a series of teacher-centered activity books with simple tasks that help kids naturally learn sounds, words, sentences, and stories. I can�t emphasize enough how enjoyable this has been to teach, considering both of our previous employers were cram-school hagwons in Daechi-dong. Our custom classes are for anybody in the area who wants to learn English and is willing to fit our schedule (and prices � we have high prices because, again, we value our time off).

Location & Growth Possibility
We have an amazing location, right outside a busy subway station exit in a bustling residential neighborhood (Hwarangdae station, line 6, ex. 3). We have a prominent second-floor position overlooking an intersection right outside the exit, which itself lies amidst many apartment complexes and is within walking distance of various elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as two universities. The location is truly excellent; we have gotten a couple large offers from realtors with clients who simply want to buy us out of the location (but we want to sell the business as well, not just the location). There is also now a fancy new youth center that was just constructed across the street, and lots of kindergarten, elementary, middle, high school, and college students walk by the school every day. And, we are currently the only school we know of in the area that offers English classes to college-age students and adults.

Our Reason for Selling
It has been a springboard business for us and the two previous teaching couples who owned it, leading to bigger & better school opportunities for each subsequent owner (we are planning to open a larger hagwon now that we have experience running this wonderful little school). The first owner, 3 years ago, opened it as he realized his home-school business should be professionalized, and sold it after 1.5 years to open a small chain of similar school types. The next owners (right before us) - an American man and his Korean wife - ran the school for another year, and sold it to contemplate another (larger) school of their own elsewhere in Seoul. We bought the school from them and have since discovered that it is a great small-business opportunity for young businessmen like ourselves, or a couple, like the previous owners.

We have both found this to be in invaluable experience in teaching, small business management, people skills, and, well, making money. We would now like to sell, and welcome all (seriously) interested comers. Please send us an email to let us know a little about yourself/selves and we can open up a dialogue.

What we will do for you:
We want to find a couple of people who will look after our current students and continue the excellence in teaching that we have ourselves continued. We will help you make the full transition into the school and make sure you continue to thrive. We will help you segue into a relationship with the current teachers, and will provide a fully typed-up and extremely detailed owners manual that will include every bit of information you would ever want or need to know about how to run this school. We will also throw in everything that�s in the school: supplies, books, computer, etc.

Asking price: 70,000,000 Won
Contact: [email protected]
James Rector: 010-2912-0397
Joon Ho Park (English/한국어): 010-6856-6616

[crossmr]

You make 23,000,000 gross a month off a small 2 room school?

[fdwilliams]

This school was started 3 years ago, run for 1.5 years by the owner, then sold to a couple who got rid of it after 1 year and if my math is correct you wish to get rid of it after about 6 months. That sounds like trouble more than opportunity. Why sell something that makes good money.

The price sounds astronomical to me, given what it would estimate it might cost to open a two-room school, so it must reflect the income.

I can't see where the previous poster gets the 23 million a month gross. I'm guessing the selling price may reflect something around 70 million profit per year (with about 60 million of that salary and benefits to the two owner-teachers), but with a very, very short history and the likelihood of some loss of clientele due to the sale, that figure may end up being close to the normal salary and benefits for the two teachers who buy it.

If on the other hand it is making a full salary and benefits for the two owners and a profit of 20-30 million a year (a total of 80-90 million) perhaps the price might be reasonable, given the risk.

Perhaps the owners would like to provide a bit more data to encourage possible buyers -- like the net income over the past year (six months, if they have no prior data) including or excluding payments to the two owners and the market value of the assets.

[jonbowman88]

What is stopping all of your students from leaving this hagwon and joining you at your new larger hagwon? I mean, if the students like you, they are going to follow.

[crossmr]