Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elliemk]

Can you give me some tips as to how I can do this? I would really appreciate it!

[CentralCali]

"Boss, I really understand that you want to increase student enrollment here. Well, here's what you need to do:

-Get off my back! It's not my job. I'm the teacher, not the advertising manager.

-That leads me to point number two: use some of that money you're taking out of my salary and pretending to give to the government. Use it to hire an actual professional advertising firm.

-(If the boss is an old lady) Stay out of the teaching end of things. You're just an old lady whose husband has retired and realizes he can't stand having you around the house. That's why he gave you some money and told you to go start a business. Sadly for all concerned, you decided to go the "easy money" route and dived into the deep end of English Hagweon Money Lake, not knowing how to swim, so to speak.

-(If the boss is an old man) Stay out of the teaching end of things. Maybe when you were young back during the Korean War, it was okay to walk all over your employees. Well, I'm not Korean and I have both a spine and a brain. Go do your business management thing--correctly, this time, please--and let me get on with teaching the students. Also realize that your investment would stand a better chance of a return if you would stop meddling with it.

-Take a look at the calendar every once in a while. You'll notice that there are some holiday periods in there. Yes, I know you don't give me, the gullible foreign teacher any more time off than the minimum you must. That doesn't mean that the rest of the country's not taking trips somewhere. The parents sometimes even take their children along on those trips.

-Try to keep me happy instead of captive. You might notice that I will be more pleasant for the students to deal with and maybe they'll even tell their friends that your hagweon really does have native teachers who aren't miserable."

Seriously. Don't even offer to help with enrollment issues. It's a guarantee for a Very Bad Ending.

[elliemk]

Your reply is utterly useless.

[Whistleblower]

[CentralCali]

My reply was not useless. It was merely a humorous description of the usual things I have seen and heard about hagweon owners doing wrong. I guess I should've appended "If you are a teacher" before the bolded part.

[yushin]

ha ha ha ...try to start teaching d***head!!!

[shaunew]

Don't molest the kids. Parents don't seem to like it to much.

[johnpeterson2008]

The OP (hagwon owner) sent me a p.m.

johnpeterson2008,

I am a hakwon owner in Daejon. Please join my team. I own four red houses and my "girls" will take good care of you. They will help you with your privates. My wife is good lady. She is good to foreign teachers and they are always happy with her.

elliemk

[The Hammer]

[CentralCali]

[elliemk]

I never sent that message. It is sad to me that people have made a mockery of my post. I sincerely want to help the owner get more students.

I have a great hakwon job teaching. My apartment is also VERY nice and has a view of trees. I'm treated like a queen there. Anything I ask for is done. The owner provides coffee and juice at the school. We're always bringing each other (staff of four) food to share. The hours are good, too - 2-8 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 2:30-8:50 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I've found these forums to be a great help to me. Unfortunately, that definitely was not the case with this post of mine.

[cbclark4]

Tell us a bit more about your Hogwan.

Is it an English Hogwan or multi-subject?

How many E2 Teachers?

How many Domestic teachers?

How many Students?

What is the Tuition rate?

Are there any 'discount' programs?

How many buses?

Size of Facility, How many class rooms, capacity, seats area etc.?

Present student recruitment strategy?

Demographics of the market?

Definition of the product or service being offered?

Here's a couple of useful websites:

http://www.bplans.com/targetonline/?affiliate=sba

http://www.bplans.com/spv/3523/index.cfm?affiliate=sba

http://www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans/index.cfm

Having a business in place may not require a business plan
at this point, however when ever you are asking a question
about growth, it is imperative to review the business plan and
especially the marketing plan. Then to revise and implement
the strategy to suceed.

Target online (the first linK) is an online book, good reading.

[The Hammer]

Here are a few other questions you should consider:

1. How many local competitors are there?

2. How does your institute currently differentiate it's offering relative to the competition? What is your institutes unique selling proposition (USP)?

3. What are your institute's strengths and weaknesses relative to the competion? Please highlight differences in your institutes product, pricing, promotion, and place strategies relative to the competition.

What are the most attractive opportunities?
What are the biggest threats?

4. How have you segmented the market? Which market segments do you currently serve? Why? What is the total available market?

The answers to these questions will begin to help you formulate a strategy to get more students.

[cbclark4]

OP

As you can see your question leads to more questions.

The first few responses you got were quite cynical, because most people
believe that many of the Hogwans are started by their owners on a whim.
They see a need and they attempt to fill it or they simply have a profit
motive and act on it.

A good business any good business begins with a set of goals and objectives, leading to the business plan.

If your Hogwan owner is a serious business person thay will share with you their goals and objectives, they will have a business plan, and together you can define your target market understand the competition and develop a strategy to increase your share. Oh yes and you may want to fully define your product (service).

[tomato]

I can understand the OP's concern.
I am working at a new 학원, and the director is a little worried.
I wish I could do more to help him find customers.
I have been here for 5 months and he has never called me into the office for a parents-have-been-complaining session.
I would like to stay here, but I can't if the 학원 doesn't survive.

OP, don't take CentralCali's response personally.
It seems that he's obnoxious to everybody.
On another thread, he made a snooty remark to someone just because the person said that Japanese and Korean have similar grammar.