Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LuckyNomad]

Hey guys. I'm going to start a GongBuBang with my wife this year and I was wondering what other people have done. I have some friends who have been successful at it and want to ask what other people have done.
If it isn't too personal.

1. How much do you usually charge students per hour?
Is 20,000 per hour the norm?

2. What kind of schedule do you follow? I have friends who have some students come 2 times a week and other students who come 3 times a week. We were thinking of a 4 day a week schedule though. M, T, Th, F.
Do parents seem to have a preference?

3. How do you do your curriculum? Do you just use a book series or do you do other things as well, such as music class or hands on things?

4. What are the maximum sizes of your classes? I was thinking 4 possibly 5 at most.

[Daniel1981]

Hi LuckyNomad,

Not meaning to derail your thread so if you think it's not relevant, perhaps I can PM you instead.

Originally I thought a GongBuBang was just a place where students can come, rent a room by the hour (be provided with a 'permanent' locker) and study quietly.

But down below it sounds like you have a curriculum, so you are teaching students? And class sizes, are you grouping students together with people they did not 'arrive' with?

I wonder then, how does it differ from a Hakwon?

I am a lifer in Korea, heading towards my F-series Visa and so I am genuinely interested..

BTW - are you in Seoul or perhaps in Busan closer to me?

[soomin]

[BigBuds]

A gongbukbung is a smaller version of a hagwon not a study room.

[LuckyNomad]

A gongbubang is like a mini hagwon. Usually set up in an apartment complex. It is usually geared toward the kids in the immediate vicinity.


This new National English Assesment Test is a boon to the Private Industry especially with EPIK declining. It has just made the public school english curriculum even more useless. Basically if your kid isn't fluent in english by 12th grade there doesn't seem to be any way they'll pass this test.

[denverdeath]

we had one before that we decided to close.

sure, u can b profitable if u do things the right way.

tell the parents a flat monthly rate. 15-20 per hr would be 60-80 monthly - if ur located in a wealthier area, u'd probably consider 25 hourly to b obtainable, but don't assume that everyone will pay top dollar. get the money up front, always. if there's a fifth wk in the month, make sure it's an off one. if students miss, it's their problem. personally, would recommend 4 students, but u could probably push it to 6 if u have the space, and ur wife has the business sense, time, contacts, and desire to make things grow. always, realise that the mothers can send their kids to gukjae, or wherever, for not much more than a hundred monthly, and the kids go for around three hours a wk to those places.

regarding curriculum, it's ur choice; it's ur place. i'd recommend a text series. choose a good one, or three, with workbook for elementary, middle, and high school, or whatever ends up to b ur main clientele. yes, i would recommend a bit of gameplay. things like an xbox360, boardgames and interactive online games would definitely go over well, if they're used sparingly.

b aware that if u want to do things "properly", u have to register with the tax office and the ministry of education. the former will expect u to file ur taxes yearly. the latter will expect u to provide a clean crc, and, perhaps, a physical - not sure about their current requirements as we closed about two years ago.

best of luck & skill.

[LuckyNomad]

Thanks for the info

[Dodge7]

[denverdeath]

[fosterman]

it's like any other business in the world. the profits will be decided on all fa tors.
the failure rate is higher than the success rate.
the hakwon industry is a cutthroat industry and very competitive, you will be going up against the giants.

do your best, try to keep the mothers happy.
wont be easy. just carve out a little circle of kids in your area and try your best to hang onto them and spread a good word in the community.
in case of prices, just call your local hakwons to see how much they charge and for how many hours, then go a little cheaper.
because trying to charge the same price as them doesn't seem wise.
because the services they will be providing will be out of your reach.

good luck

[LuckyNomad]

Well I've been able to hang on to students for years at a time doing private lessons and almost all of those parents have been willing to pay 50 bucks and hour. Some long term students stop taking lessons for a few months but then they always seem to come back eventually. Oddly they all go to Hagwons in addition to taking lessons from me.
My wife worked for one of the big three Hagwons in this city and let's just say, they suck. Recently the owner of one of the other three kept calling her trying to recruit her. I'm not afraid of them or their corrupt owners. Who my wife's friend got into a legal battle with to get her severance pay last year. Hagwons don't just cheat their foreign workers.

[LuckyNomad]

[fosterman]

[Juregen]

[meangradin]