Knowledge of foreign languages is one of the mandatory skills for a modern person. Without speaking English or German, an engineer or doctor will not be able to study the works of foreign colleagues, a businessman will not be able to conclude a contract with foreign partners, or a traveler will not be able to find his way to attractions. Even Russian companies often require their employees to understand foreign speech.
Therefore, an entrepreneur who is well versed in this area should think about how to open a language school. Of course, at the same time, he will have to face an incredible number of competitors, among which will be not only similar institutions, but also university courses, virtual services and thousands of tutors. However, experience shows that schools that offer interesting educational programs combined with a responsible attitude to business will not be left without clients.
Business Features
There is no denying the fact that secondary schools and universities are not able to provide students with a good level of knowledge, since the programs implemented here are for the most part outdated and fragmented. Therefore, people who need to communicate with foreigners in life and at work are forced to improve their skills with the help of tutors or paid courses. This explains why business with foreign languages is becoming more and more relevant. There are other reasons for this:
- Citizens actively visit other countries for tourism purposes;
- Some families are considering the prospect of changing their place of residence;
- Young people are interested in the possibility of studying at foreign universities;
- Entrepreneurs establish contacts with foreign manufacturers;
- Parents strive to give their children a good education;
- International corporations are opening representative offices in Russia.
English holds a leading position in the list of requests: 75% of citizens would like to learn it. Another approximately 10% is in German, 7% in French, and the rest in Spanish, Italian, Chinese and other languages. At the same time, a variety of people need knowledge - from preschoolers to entrepreneurs and retirees.
Accordingly, to conduct educational activities, the institution will need training programs specially adapted for such clients. Most likely, they will have to involve specialists to develop them. You can also take as a basis ready-made products presented on the websites of universities and language schools of international level.
At the same time, you don’t need to tackle everything at once. A common mistake newbies make is introducing a large number of courses from day one. As a result, schools have problems filling groups, and potential clients take advance payment and leave without waiting for the start of training. It is better to open one or two areas, master them perfectly, and only after that think about new programs.
Market analysis
It cannot be said that by opening a foreign language teaching school, you will become a business pioneer. Today, such organizations are everywhere, and if we are talking about cities with a population of over a million, there may be more than a dozen different language schools.
At the same time, school teaching of foreign languages is recognized by experts as outdated, inconsistent and fragmented, and therefore, in order to truly master English, German, French, etc. many have to take special courses.
If competition in business is not scary, when drawing up a plan, be sure to study not only how the work of competitors is structured, but also what clients lack. Usually we are talking about the following disadvantages:
- insufficient level of qualifications of teachers;
- lack of special training programs, for example, English for business or preparation for IELTS, TOEFL;
- lack of exotic languages.
You also need to familiarize yourself with the list of languages offered, the level of training of teachers, prices for their services and marketing policies. This will help you understand what exactly clients in your region lack and create a business plan highlighting your features that will distinguish the language school from competitors and attract the population.
These could include exotic languages to learn, competitive prices, native speakers as teachers, unique lesson plans, etc.
The results of the sociological study showed the following results about what languages people would like to learn:
- English – 25%;
- German and French – 5%;
- Spanish – 4%;
- Chinese – 3%;
- Italian – 3%;
- Japanese – 1%.
In general, in recent years there has been an increase in interest in learning Asian languages; this should definitely be taken into account when drawing up a business plan.
The target audience
To determine the portrait of an ideal client in a plan, you first need to segment the audience. This can be done according to various criteria:
- according to the purpose of the application: - for professional growth;
- for traveling;
- to improve the level of your education;
- for admission to school or university;
— as part of advanced training;
- according to the requirements for foreign language lessons:
— training in small groups (4-6 people);
— those wishing to receive individual lessons;
- according to the age:
— students and schoolchildren;
- working people;
- pensioners.
The largest age group is represented by working people, followed by students and only a small part of potential business clients - pensioners. However, it is recommended to design a training plan in such a way that it is interesting and useful for different categories of clients, and also to offer at least several options for training programs to satisfy as much demand as possible.
Types of language schools
How to open a language school, where to start? First of all, the entrepreneur must decide on the format of the enterprise. You can organize the educational process in different ways, including:
- Full school. This institution is open every day, with children studying in the morning and adults in the evening after work. Training is conducted in small groups of 6–10 people according to a weekly schedule;
- Summer courses. This language school for children and teenagers conducts classes on an intensive schedule so that students gain as much knowledge as possible in two or three summer months. Full immersion technology is often used;
- Tutor Bureau. The organization has a base of teachers who are ready to provide training at clients’ homes. When a person requests a service, he is provided with a suitable specialist;
- Online training. If you use distance technologies, a language school for adults will be able to reach a huge audience. Of course, the lack of personal contact will complicate the task, but here everything depends on the skill of the teachers.
Teachers
It's better to cover more areas. As a teacher, I work in three areas: with adults, teenagers and in preparation for language exams (OGE, Unified State Exam, IELTS, TOEFL). I found good teachers for children's courses and other areas.
There are many strong specialists in the labor market. Whether the person is a good fit for your school is another matter. Our teachers go through two stages of interviews. At the first stage, the candidate will have an interview in English and a test. Its purpose is to confirm the level of knowledge of the Advanced language. Afterwards, teachers are trained in the author’s teaching methodology. If you have mastered it without problems, get to work.
Language school programs
As noted above, three quarters of citizens would like to learn English. But this does not mean that a language school should ignore the needs of the rest of the audience. As a rule, a high-level institution teaches:
- Common world languages are English, German, French;
- Scandinavian languages - Norwegian, Finnish;
- Other popular languages of Europe are Spanish, Italian;
- Oriental languages - Chinese, Japanese, Korean.
Taking into account the abundance of “courses for everyone” offers on the market, it is necessary to think through training programs at a language school that will distinguish the institution from the general mass of competitors and will satisfy the needs of specific target groups. Depending on the interests of potential clients, these could be:
- Courses for beginners. Designed for people who generally know nothing about the language. Accordingly, they even have to be taught the alphabet and pronunciation of sounds;
- General courses. Includes the study of grammar and spoken language. Students are grouped into groups according to six levels of training accepted in Europe;
- Intensive courses. Fundamentally no different from the general ones, but include double or triple the number of teaching hours per week;
- Courses for children. Depending on the age of the students, they are based on alternating training and game practice. Children usually study for only 2–3 hours per week;
- Hobby courses. They create a language base for some hobbies, including cooking, dancing, handicrafts, photography, design or floristry;
- Individual sessions. The student can choose the schedule, the intensity of the load and the method of conducting classes - at home, at work or via the Internet;
- Preparation for exams. Most often we mean the popular IELTS and TOEFL, although some schools even prepare clients for universities and master's degrees;
- Academic courses. Designed for students entering foreign universities. They are taught to write essays and scientific papers, conduct presentations and debates;
- Professional courses. They include the study of vocabulary and terminology in various specialties - for example, medicine, economics, law;
- Business courses. Help entrepreneurs master corporate ethics, negotiation rules, and the nuances of business correspondence;
- Corporate courses. Provide international companies and domestic export enterprises with the opportunity to improve the level of employees;
- Courses for managers. As a rule, these are individual classes that teach top managers political and business correspondence, negotiations and presentations.
It should be expected that the level of language proficiency even within the target group may vary significantly. Students who can read foreign newspapers will not be interested in studying with those who have difficulty counting to ten. Therefore, it is better to divide clients according to their level of preparation. The following gradations are accepted in Europe:
- Beginner. The level allows you to register at a hotel, order food in a restaurant, find out the way to train stations, and buy tickets. Vocabulary - up to 600 words;
- Elementary. A person can read news and articles without a dictionary, maintain a conversation at a basic level, and knows the basics of grammar. Vocabulary - up to 1300 words;
- Pre-intermediate. Includes the ability to construct complex sentences, navigate confidently, and communicate with foreigners. Vocabulary - up to 1800 words;
- Intermediate. At this level, a student can study at a university, work in a foreign company, and negotiate. Vocabulary - up to 2500 words;
- Upper-intermediate. Implies the ability to use idioms and proverbs and communicate on equal terms with native speakers. Vocabulary - up to 4000 words;
- Advanced. Allows you to understand subtle humor and the hidden meaning in words, and translate technical and fiction literature. Vocabulary - up to 6000 words.
Average prices in language schools are difficult to determine unambiguously: it all depends on the qualifications of the teachers, the level of complexity and the solvency of clients. As a rule, in large cities, programs take 4–6 months, and the cost of one hour of classes ranges from 300–800 rubles:
Language school programs
| Name | Price per hour, rub. | Course, hours | Per month, rub. |
| Courses for children | 400 | 144 | 3200 |
| Courses for beginners | 300 | 144 | 7200 |
| Courses Elementary, Intermediate | 400 | 168 | 9600 |
| Advanced courses | 500 | 210 | 12000 |
| Academic courses | 600 | 210 | 14400 |
| Professional courses | 600 | 210 | 14400 |
| Business courses | 600 | 210 | 14400 |
| Corporate courses Elementary | 600 | 168 | 14400 |
| Advanced Corporate Courses | 800 | 210 | 19200 |
| Courses for managers | 1000 | 210 | 16000 |
| Preparation for exams | 800 | 168 | 12800 |
| Individual sessions | 800 | 168 | 12800 |
Finance
It’s hard to say how much money it will take to open. Too many variables. The average figure for a new school is 300 thousand rubles - that’s how much investment we needed. Depending on the city, the amount can exceed half a million rubles. And this is normal, it all depends on the budget and ambitions of the school.
What is included in the budget for opening
- Payment of rent for the premises for two months. Usually they ask you to pay for several months at once, so you should be prepared for this. Malls and some business centers may request an “entrance ticket” - a fixed payment that will be deposited in the landlord’s account. If the contract is terminated, the money will be returned.
- Furniture. The furnishings should be comfortable, attractive and not eat into the budget. A good option is IKEA.
- Creation of a website, if needed. For a language school, a free one-page page on Tilda or a profile on a social network is suitable.
- Advertising. More on this later.
At first, the school will go into minus or even zero. How long this will last depends on you and your activity. There are enough factors and variables. For example, if you fill groups to 12 people, profits will not necessarily increase - many students are put off by large groups. We'll have to find a balance. And so with all aspects of work.
Put yourself in the client's shoes. The new language school is a mystery to him. You can't tell right away whether it's good or not. Experienced students know that somewhere the educational process is well organized, but the premises are in poor condition. Other schools invest in a beautiful picture and save on teachers. Success lies in the balance of form and content.
What can you save on?
You can’t skimp on teachers, the rest is negotiable. I'll tell you how we saved.
- The repairs were done with our own hands. At night we sat and painted the signature zigzag, and also performed other cosmetic work.
- We made an estimate. We knew exactly what we needed, down to the number of pencils and rags. This way we avoided unnecessary purchases and nervous shopping at the last moment.
- We were looking for the best offers. We walked around the stores, compared prices and chose suitable options.
How to register a language school?
When choosing a legal form, an entrepreneur must think about whether students will take tests and receive documents confirming their completion of training. The need to obtain a license depends on this. This is not required if:
- Educational services are provided by an individual entrepreneur who does not involve hired workers in the process and does not issue diplomas to students for completing courses;
- Training is conducted in the format of one-time seminars or lectures that do not involve final exams with the issuance of certificates;
- Education of students is carried out without the implementation of any formalized educational programs.
Licensed non-profit educational institutions and legal entities have the right to conduct training officially and confirm it with diplomas. However, only non-state educational institutions can indicate educational activities as their main ones. Therefore, the business plan of a foreign language school should include the organization of an LLC, which will indicate some other main activity according to OKVED and educational activity as an additional one. The following codes correspond to it:
OKVED language school
| 85.41 | Additional education for children and adults |
| 85.41.9 | Additional education for children and adults, other |
As a business, a language school is licensed by local authorities, whose contacts are listed on the Rosobrnadzor website. The permit itself costs only 7,500 rubles, but to quickly overcome bureaucratic obstacles, it is better to involve intermediaries, whose services are estimated at 60–80 thousand rubles. For this procedure you need:
- Application for a license;
- Notarized copies of the company's constituent documents;
- Receipt for payment of state duty;
- Documents on the personnel structure and qualifications of teachers;
- Documents confirming the availability of teaching premises at the school;
- Documents confirming that the company has textbooks and technical equipment;
- List of educational programs indicating duration;
- List of disciplines included in the program;
- Study schedule for the year.
When creating an LLC, it is important not to forget to submit an application for a transition from OSNO to a more favorable simplified tax system. Also, to open a school, an entrepreneur will have to collect:
- Documents on LLC registration and registration with the Federal Tax Service;
- Documents on the right to use premises;
- Conclusion of Rospotrebnadzor on compliance with sanitary standards;
- Conclusion of the Ministry of Emergency Situations on compliance with fire standards;
- Employment contracts and sanitary records of teachers.
School registration
To open a school you will need:
- Registration as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. If a school is organized by several people, then it is easier to organize a company. If the founder plans to work alone or with the involvement of hired workers, then you can limit yourself to individual entrepreneurs. When choosing a taxation system, you can use the “simplified” approach.
- Obtaining a license. To apply for it, you need to contact your local education department, they will tell you where and how to get it. Usually, to do this you have to go to Obrnazdor and present your business project there.
Further in the course of work you may need:
- Accreditation. At the first stage, you can do without it. This document will allow the issuance of state-issued school completion certificates. It can be issued after 5 years of successful work.
- Recertification. Every three years, the teaching staff must undergo re-certification to verify suitability for the position.
How to find a place for a language school?
Of course, a foreign language school is not a store or cafe that is designed for citizens passing by. Such an establishment is visited purposefully, and therefore there is no need to look for premises in places with high traffic. However, the entrepreneur must take care of potential clients:
- It is advisable to arrange the establishment closer to transport stops or metro stations. The maximum distance from them is no more than 6 minutes on foot;
- Clients prefer schools near home or work. It is better to look for premises near business centers, universities, large residential areas;
- The establishment should be located on the first line. This will attract people with a sign and a bright facade;
- Convenient access roads and parking are necessary for visitors who have cars. In the city center, parking can be a problem;
- Business centers, which can only be accessed with a pass, should be considered only if it is possible to arrange a separate entrance to the school.
Steps to starting a business
Important conditions for stable work are the selection of specialists and well-organized advertising.
A teacher with experience in teaching a foreign language should know that no matter how strong he is in his field, it will not be possible to teach all students via Skype. First of all, this requires time and patience, and secondly, with a large influx of clients, you simply may not have time to conduct a full lesson for everyone. To avoid losing potential clients, the best way out is to hire a team of professionals who are ready to cooperate on contractual terms.
How to prepare the premises of a language school
According to reviews from experienced entrepreneurs, the audience of an average establishment is 120–180 people.
To provide them with the opportunity to study at a convenient time, you need to rent a room of up to 150 m². This area will house three 30 m² classrooms, a reception area, an administration office and a recreation room, a warehouse and bathrooms. When issuing permits, regulatory authorities will check the comfort and safety of visitors to the school. Therefore, during repairs, it is necessary to use SanPiN 2.4.2.2821-10 standards, which regulate the internal arrangement of educational institutions. How to open a language school for children:
- The institution may be located in separate, attached or built-in premises in multi-storey buildings, if they are equipped with their own entrance;
- A language school for preschoolers and children under 11 years of age can be located no higher than the third floor;
- The minimum permissible ceiling height in classrooms is 3 m. In new and renovated buildings, this figure is taken to be 3.6 m;
- The classroom area is calculated according to the norm of 3.5 m² per student. For a group of eight people you need to allocate a room of 30 m²;
- All educational furniture must meet ergonomic requirements and have certificates of conformity and hygiene;
- Separate bathrooms should be installed on each floor. At the same time, one sanitary device is allocated for every 20 people;
- In classrooms, lighting must be provided on the left side. If the depth of the room exceeds 6 m, you also need to arrange lighting on the right;
- Fluorescent lamps installed in rows parallel to the windows should be used as lighting fixtures. The board is illuminated separately;
- At the level of the students’ and teacher’s tables, the illumination level should be at least 300 lux, at the plane of the board - 500 lux;
- If the classroom windows face south, the walls should be painted in cool colors. In rooms facing north, warm colors are used;
- Floors in classrooms must be level and smooth, without cracks. You can cover them with boards, linoleum or parquet;
- The walls in the rooms must be painted with safe oil or water-based compositions that allow wet cleaning;
- The heating system must provide a constant room temperature in the range of 18–22°C with a humidity of 50–60%;
- Classrooms should be ventilated using windows. Also, the business plan of a language school may include the installation of forced ventilation;
- The institution must provide students with unhindered access to a source of drinking water - a fountain or cooler.
Searching for clients: advertising courses
A language school business plan must include all possible promotion methods. They can be divided into online and offline.
Offline promotion methods will include the distribution of printed materials - school booklets, distribution of leaflets. You can also advertise on a local radio station or television (you should avoid these methods if you have a small start-up capital).
A good promotion plan also includes developing special offers for corporate training. They usually get a discount of 10% to 25% of the base price. You can offer them by making appointments with company owners, sending them offers, or calling companies using a pre-prepared database.
The online promotion plan includes:
- creation of a beautiful and functional website with a description of all services and their costs, a description of the advantages of the school;
- filling the site with SEO-optimized content;
- setting up contextual advertising in Google and Yandex;
- purchasing advertisements on social networks;
- creating and filling groups on social networks (it is necessary to keep them active).
Pay special attention to branding costs in your business plan. You need to come up with a meaningful and memorable name, and think through the corporate style of the organization in accordance with this. The name, logo and slogan should be attractive to customers.
To develop a client base at the start of a business, arrange regularly according to plan various discounts and promotions, competitions on social networks. In addition to descriptions of services and prices, publish interesting materials on the site. Create a test to test your English level, post videos from lessons, record and publish video feedback from students.
It is important that the business promotion plan is comprehensive. Only this approach will achieve results.
Equipment for language school
Teaching foreign languages today is no longer carried out with the help of a blackboard, chalk, notebooks and a textbook published three decades ago. Modern technologies include the use of various gadgets, visual aids and multimedia content. Even the blackboard has long been replaced by an interactive screen on which you can draw with your finger and show pictures. This equipment is quite expensive, but with its help the result is achieved much faster. However, it is too early to give up the usual desks and chairs. What you need to open a language school:
Equipping a language school for 3 classes
| Position | price, rub. | Quantity, pcs. | Amount, rub. |
| Engineering systems | |||
| Fire alarm | 66000 | 1 | 66000 |
| Security alarm | 25000 | 1 | 25000 |
| Fire extinguisher | 2000 | 5 | 10000 |
| Air conditioner | 19000 | 3 | 57000 |
| Classes | |||
| Teacher's desk | 5100 | 3 | 15300 |
| Teacher's chair | 2000 | 3 | 6000 |
| Study table | 3200 | 24 | 76800 |
| Training chair | 1500 | 24 | 36000 |
| Interactive board | 79500 | 3 | 238500 |
| Laptop | 24000 | 3 | 72000 |
| Projector | 26200 | 3 | 78600 |
| Projector screen | 5100 | 3 | 15300 |
| Audio system | 22000 | 3 | 66000 |
| Training kit | 800 | 144 | 115200 |
| Textbook rack | 4600 | 3 | 13800 |
| Clothes hanger | 3000 | 6 | 18000 |
| Fluorescent lamp | 2000 | 30 | 60000 |
| Administration office | |||
| Table | 16000 | 2 | 32000 |
| Armchair | 2000 | 2 | 4000 |
| Computer | 25000 | 2 | 50000 |
| Telephone set | 2000 | 1 | 2000 |
| Printer | 10500 | 1 | 10500 |
| Router | 2500 | 1 | 2500 |
| Filing Cabinets | 4300 | 1 | 4300 |
| Reception | |||
| Reception desk | 16000 | 1 | 16000 |
| Desk chair | 2000 | 1 | 2000 |
| Telephone set | 2000 | 1 | 2000 |
| Computer | 25000 | 1 | 25000 |
| MFP | 10500 | 1 | 10500 |
| Router | 2500 | 1 | 2500 |
| Safe | 3500 | 1 | 3500 |
| Online cash register | 13000 | 1 | 13000 |
| POS terminal | 11000 | 1 | 11000 |
| Sofa for clients | 12500 | 1 | 12500 |
| Coffee table | 4200 | 1 | 4200 |
| Cooler | 4000 | 1 | 4000 |
| Utility rooms | |||
| Inventory rack | 4000 | 2 | 8000 |
| microwave | 3200 | 1 | 3200 |
| Kettle | 1600 | 1 | 1600 |
| Table | 3000 | 1 | 3000 |
| Sofa for teachers | 15000 | 1 | 15000 |
| Cleaning equipment | 6000 | 1 | 6000 |
| Bathroom | 13500 | 3 | 40500 |
| Total: | 1258300 | ||
Purchase of necessary equipment
You will definitely need:
- desks and chairs;
- teaching desk and department;
- board, chalk, pointer;
- visual aids (for example, a map in a foreign language, a table of tenses, a list of basic irregular verbs, etc.);
- educational kits: textbooks, notebooks, work aids;
- magazines;
- optional - projector, interactive whiteboard, TV, computers or laptops, etc.
The specific composition of manuals and kits will depend on the current training programs. Each of them will require its own set of “tools”. You can develop training programs yourself, take them from free sources, or order them from professional teachers.
Language school staff
The main asset of an educational institution is its teachers. When thinking about how to choose a language school, citizens prefer active and energetic teachers who can captivate and interest the audience. If you make a mistake with the team, no class equipped with the latest technology will retain customers. To avoid such troubles, you should follow some rules:
- It is advisable to select candidates who have a higher education and speak at least two languages. This will allow teachers to be replaced in unforeseen situations;
- It is recommended to evaluate not only the applicant’s knowledge, but also his ability to control the attention of the audience. You can ask him to give a trial lesson;
- Native speakers have always attracted customers. If you cannot find a foreigner, you can hire a person who has lived abroad for a long time;
- It is quite possible for senior students who are looking for how to earn money as a full-time student in the evening to teach classes for children;
- Each newcomer needs to undergo practice, during which he will observe an experienced teacher and master the intricacies of teaching work.
English is considered the most popular language today, and therefore there should be more specialists teaching it. To manage other languages, it is enough to hire one person each with the appropriate specialization:
Language school staff
| Position | Rate, rub. | Qty | Amount, rub. |
| English teacher | 24000 | 2 | 48000 |
| German teacher | 24000 | 1 | 24000 |
| Spanish teacher | 24000 | 1 | 24000 |
| Chinese teacher | 24000 | 1 | 24000 |
| Japanese teacher | 24000 | 1 | 24000 |
| Administrator | 20000 | 2 | 40000 |
| Cleaning woman | 15000 | 1 | 15000 |
| Insurance premiums | – | – | 59700 |
| Accounting services | 10000 | – | 10000 |
| Total: | 9 | 268700 | |
Where to begin
Foreign languages are a very competitive niche. Already at the stage of launching a language school, it is important to develop your USP - a unique selling proposition in order to stand out among competitors. You can focus on:
- the experience of your teachers (especially if among them there are native speakers or people with cool certificates),
- variety of languages (beyond “standard” English),
- working with clients of different ages - from preschoolers to pensioners,
- pricing policy (for example, you can immediately offer an annual subscription with a free trial period),
- a variety of tasks that you can solve - in addition to passing the Unified State Exam, this could be preparing for an interview in English, passing certain tests for emigration, preparing for emigration itself with an emphasis on spoken language, working on phonetics or grammar.
How to advertise a language school?
Unfortunately, too many businessmen and foreign language teachers think about where to make money quickly in Moscow: in such a competitive environment it is incredibly difficult for a beginner to break through. Therefore, an entrepreneur who wants to at least slightly exceed the break-even level will have to constantly advertise the school. What can you do to promote:
- First of all, it is necessary to provide a schedule that is convenient for clients. Children will come to classes after school, adults - after the end of the working day;
- Don't ignore the opportunity to install a sign. Experience shows that a bright illuminated billboard increases the flow of customers by 30%;
- You can distribute leaflets in public places, but it is important to think through their text. Advertising with standard appeals attracts, at best, one person in a thousand;
- A promising tool is Instagram. Here you can run a column about teaching languages, give advice, publish stories about the school;
- In the VKontakte and Facebook networks, it is effective to use invitations to the school community on behalf of friends and acquaintances;
- An institution definitely needs a website listing training programs, prices, contacts, and the ability to sign up for courses;
- Bloggers should be involved in school promotion carefully. If you do not guess the audience, reviews and articles will not bring the desired result;
- It is recommended to mark the establishment on maps of Yandex and Google services, as well as in the 2GIS and 4GEO systems. There is no need to order paid advertising here;
- To promote business courses in foreign languages, you need a presentation that will motivate not only the employees themselves, but also their managers;
- Finally, don't neglect recommendations from satisfied students. You can give them flyers with a discount for friends or relatives.
Financial plan: profitability and payback
The most money will have to be spent on:
- registration of a license;
- purchase of furniture and equipment;
- teachers' salaries;
- advertising campaign.
On average, it costs 600,000 rubles to launch a small language school.
The price of 1 lesson is 500 - 1500 rubles. If we are talking about individual lessons, the cost increases to 1000 - 2000 rubles. If there are three teachers present, you can earn about 15,000 rubles per day. For training to be effective, you need to conduct 3-4 lessons per week.
This means that the monthly profit will be about 300,000 rubles.
Later, you can start providing additional services - for example, translating and writing custom reports, and starting preparing students for international exams (if there is a license for this). If marketing is successful, in 3-6 months you can reach a profit of 500,000 rubles.
| Index | Meaning |
| Initial investment amount | 600 thousand rubles. |
| Monthly expenses | 250 thousand rubles. |
| Monthly income | 350-500 thousand rubles. |
| Net profit per month | 150-250 thousand rubles. |
| Payback period | 4-8 months. |
Language school business plan
Some experts claim that as a business, a foreign language school requires very little investment. Of course, if you rent a couple of classrooms at a school and buy only textbooks, you can get by with 100–150 thousand rubles. However, for a full-fledged establishment you will have to spend ten times more:
Investing in a language school
| Article | Amount, rub. |
| LLC registration | 4000 |
| Opening an account | 2200 |
| Authorized capital | 10000 |
| Educational license | 60000 |
| State fee for license | 7500 |
| Repair of premises | 300000 |
| Equipment | 1258300 |
| Signboard | 30000 |
| Printable advertisement | 35000 |
| Internet advertising | 45000 |
| Household expenses | 18000 |
| Total: | 1770000 |
To organize the work of a foreign language school, the business plan must also take into account regular monthly costs. The main expense items here are rent and salaries for teachers:
Language school expenses
| Article | Amount, rub. |
| Rent 150 m² | 150000 |
| Salary | 268700 |
| Public utilities | 10000 |
| Banking services | 8000 |
| Update of teaching aids | 18000 |
| Internet and communications | 4000 |
| Household expenses | 9000 |
| Sanitation of premises | 18000 |
| 25000 | |
| Total: | 510700 |
Costs and profits
The amount of initial costs for opening a private language school, including working capital, will be 210,000 rubles. Monthly net profit after reaching payback at 70% workload – 100,000 rubles.
Start-up costs: approximate calculation for Yekaterinburg
| Expense item | Amount, ₽ |
| Individual entrepreneur registration | 3’000 |
| Equipment | 70’000 |
| Working capital | 100’000 |
| Website creation | 30’000 |
| other expenses | 7’000 |
| Total | 210’000 |
Monthly costs
| Expense item | Amount, ₽ |
| Rent of premises with an area of 30 m² | 18’000 |
| Salary to employees | 60’000 |
| Utility bills and taxes | 7’000 |
| 22’000 | |
| Supplies and Prints | 5’000 |
| Total | 112’000 |
Profitability of a language school
How much profit can an entrepreneur expect? Revenue depends primarily on the cost of training at a language school, which in order to attract customers should be slightly lower than the average rates on the market. For example, in the capital, one hour of classes is estimated as follows:
- For Russian-speaking teachers - from 1000 to 3000 rubles;
- For foreign teachers - from 1500 to 3500 rubles;
- For courses at universities - up to 800 to 2000 rubles.
With three classes available, it is possible to conduct 24 academic hours of classes per day. Each group will consist of a maximum of eight people, but in the first months you should not expect more than 50% occupancy. This means that in 22 days the school will start working:
Language school revenue
| Well | Per hour, rub. | Group, persons | Hours per day | Per month, rub. |
| Children's | 400 | 4 | 4 | 140800 |
| For beginners | 300 | 4 | 6 | 158400 |
| Intermediate courses | 400 | 4 | 6 | 211200 |
| Corporate courses | 600 | 4 | 4 | 211200 |
| Preparation for exams | 800 | 2 | 4 | 140800 |
| Total: | 24 | 862400 | ||
As a business, a language school has a good margin of safety: to achieve self-sufficiency, it is enough to train only 55 people per month. If the load is 50%, then the entrepreneur will return the initial investment in six months:
Profitability of a language school
| Index | Meaning |
| Revenue, rub. | 862400 |
| Expenses, rub. | 510700 |
| Profit, rub. | 351700 |
| Tax simplified tax system 15%, rub. | 52700 |
| Net profit, rub. | 299000 |
| Profitability, % | 58,5 |
| Investments, rub. | 1770000 |
| Payback period, months | 5,9 |
Cost of education
Depending on the level of competition, city and type of services provided, the cost of one hour of foreign language training varies from 300 rubles. up to 2500 rub. Individual lessons have the highest cost, but language centers do not often turn to language centers for them. To draw up a plan, assume that the average cost of a group lesson is 500 rubles. Each group has a minimum of 4 people, lessons are held 2 times a week.
The cost of corporate services – lessons or master classes for company employees – is determined based on certain criteria. They don't happen that often, but they bring good income.
Language school franchises
As you can see, creating a foreign language school is a complex process that requires significant effort from the entrepreneur. Drawing up training programs, interacting with bureaucratic bodies and fighting for clients sometimes stretches over months and years. In order not to waste time, a beginner should buy a language school franchise. In its composition he will receive:
- The right to use the franchisor's brand;
- Assistance in the selection and preparation of premises;
- Training and internship of teachers;
- Assistance in obtaining a license;
- Ready-made business plan for a language school;
- CRM software;
- Sets of teaching materials;
- Advertising layouts and marketing support;
- Personal section on the corporate website;
- Legal and accounting consultations.
Today in Russia it is not difficult to find a franchisor offering guidance on how to open a language school, a business plan and full support for the establishment during operation. Here are some suggestions:
International Language School
Includes training in major European languages. There are programs for classes with children over two years of age and authorized courses for preparing for exams in Cambridge. Terms of cooperation:
- Investments - from 3,500,000 rubles;
- First installment - 350,000 rubles;
- Royalty - 40,000 rubles;
- The payback period is from 12 months.
Linguitania
Helps to register and license a language school, open a business and organize English language training for all categories of clients - from children to pensioners. Terms of cooperation:
- Investments - from 800,000 rubles;
- First installment - 249,000 rubles;
- Royalty - 6,000 rubles;
- Payback period: from 6 months.
YES
The franchise includes proprietary methods developed on the basis of European teaching technologies. An individual program is drawn up for each student, taking into account his level of preparation. Terms of cooperation:
- Investments - from 1,500,000 rubles;
- First installment - 397,000 rubles;
- Royalty - from 12,000 rubles;
- Payback period: from 6 months.
Decor
The premises do not require special repairs if the building is in good condition, but the plan will definitely include school decoration. You can hire a designer to develop the style of the room. Because clients pay for classes, they expect to receive them in a comfortable environment. Let the rooms be spacious and bright. Each classroom must have a blackboard. You can hang world maps in foreign languages and educational posters on the walls. In the foyer you can place educational certificates and diplomas of employees and the language school.
It will be useful to buy a projector or DVD player. This will allow you to watch educational films and videos with the class. The total cost of this item of the plan will be about 80 thousand rubles.
How to open an English language school
Since English is the most popular language, you can open a school in a mono-language format. Conduct market research, calculate costs and income, choose an advertising strategy.
It is recommended to segment your target audience and choose a narrower niche: for example, English for children, English for passing certain language tests, for interviews, business English or conversational English for traveling abroad.
There are 5 main groups of your target audience:
- children;
- travelers;
- employees of companies where proficiency in English is a prerequisite for career growth;
- people who are going to emigrate;
- those who learn a language for self-development, etc.
It is important that your school has an advantage over its competitors. Everyone knows that to speak fluently you need to practice a lot. If you have native speakers working in your school, this will be your “trick”. A serious advantage will be for clients to receive a training certificate.
If your focus is “English for business,” it makes sense to look for corporate clients: offer companies a teacher’s visit to the office, discounts for employees and their families, for example, etc.
Often the question of opening an English language school is raised by former school teachers and tutors. The financial issue is of great importance to them.
The payback period for investments will directly depend on the occupancy of the groups. To make learning at your school attractive, organize a language club, watch feature films in English together, and open a recreation room where students can continue to communicate. Meetings with foreign students who study Russian, thematic events, staging plays in English, for example, have a good effect on the school’s reputation.
You also need to remember about the seasonality of this business: in the summer, as a rule, there are fewer students. At this time, you can hold promotions and announce special offers in certain months.
Next steps Read also how to open a leisure center.
Launching an online school: step-by-step plan, content, structure and examples of online school launches
Content
1. Matrix of awareness. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
2. Questions for preparing content.
3. Launch. –Unsubscribed content –Pre-funnel content –Direct webinar invitations
4. Warm-up series before the webinar (video + posts). 1 video 2 videos 3 videos Text reminders
5. Webinar.6. We'll push it.
7. Let's summarize.
Video version of this article
Today we’ll look at a little theory.
To launch, we will need warm-up posts, videos, webinar slides, sales pages, in general, content of various formats.
Now we will look in detail at how to do this, and most importantly, plan it. Read about what types of launches and launch series there are in this article.
Earlier, I already told you how to create our flagship (idea). So, we can take all the content that we need for launch directly from the flagship itself.
We don't need to invent and create it from scratch. Now I will tell you how to create texts and videos based on the flagship decomposition.
Decomposition is when we take the flagship into pieces and prepare some content.
Let's say we have 7 modules in the flagship, and each module has 5 submodules. It turns out that in total, we have 35 questions that we can cover in posts or in the newsletter. You may ask: What is the point if we release all the content before the launch?
Don’t worry, the content will be scattered, and almost no one will collect all the information into a single puzzle.
Plus, all training courses have feedback, and without feedback it is very difficult to apply this knowledge. Matrix of awareness.
Before we start preparing our content, I want to tell you about the mindfulness matrix.
Let's see what it looks like, after that I will explain to you why it is needed. Level 1
Distinctive features:
Problem.
The person is not aware of his problem.
Ability.
Doesn't believe in his ability to solve the problem.
Solution.
Doesn't connect your solution to your problem.
Expert.
He doesn't think you can help.
Product.
Not aware that your product has a solution to his problem.
Many people who will fall into your subscription base will be at the first level of awareness.
But this does not mean that they need to be put to death.
Your task
– move people from level to level thanks to your warm-up content.
Level 2.
Giving a person content as a result of which he will understand that: The problem
.
It turns out there is a problem. Ability
.
He has minimal chances of solving this problem. Solution
.
He will think and analyze whether your solution will work or not. Expert
.
He will already look at you as a person who can be trusted, who can help. Product
. And he will already see that your product contains something that will allow him to achieve his goals.
All this is achieved exclusively through posts and videos that you will give to a person. The result of studying your material will be a transition to level 2.
Level 3.
Look at the transformation taking place in the client’s head: Thanks to content, videos, posts, the person
begins to consider his problem important.
Let me give you an example from the “weight loss” niche.
.
An overweight person lives and does not particularly think about the fact that excess weight may be the reason for his poor health and constant pain.
And then you start throwing at him the statistics that 89% of cardiovascular diseases occur as a result of excess weight.
A click occurs in a person’s head, the scales fall from his eyes and he suddenly realizes his problem.
But for now, people don’t consider this information important.
You again provide some content in which you say that after 35-40 years it is difficult to lose weight and the mortality rate in overweight people increases sharply. After studying your materials, this problem becomes important for a person and he moves to level 3 .
Naturally, I am now saying all this as an example, and your content must be 100% truthful.
Let's see how a person's thinking changes:
Problem
.The person begins to consider his problem important.
Ability.
He is already figuring out how to solve this problem, looking at various solutions and already believes that your solution could become a working option.
Solution.
He is already comparing you to others.
Expert.
Believes you can help, but still compares you to others
Product.
Knows that your product contains some kind of solution.
Level 4.
Next, thanks to webinars, videos or articles, we transfer the person to the 4th level.
Problem
.
A strong desire to solve a problem. Ability
.
Believes that solving a problem is a matter of time and effort. Solution
. I'm sure your solution will help.
Expert
. He wants to come to you.
Product.
He wants your product.
In any classroom, the fewest people will be on level 4. But, nevertheless, they will be!
There will be people who don’t need all this warming up; they are ready to buy here and now.
There will also be few people from level 3.
But most potential clients are at levels 1 and 2.
And your task is to move people to a higher level through content.
Questions for preparing content.
I recommend seriously thinking about questions that will help you prepare content that meets all 4 levels. 1.
What content should be given so that a person understands that he can achieve the result and that this scheme works?
Types of content:
