Starting A Language School

[brit1984]

I have decided to quit my job in a London hedge fund and start a new life, with my Thai wife and baby, in Thailand.

I have applied for some investment jobs in Bangkok but I am not sure I will find anything where the salary matches what I would expect for continuing to work full-time in an office.

I am thinking about opening a language school in my wife's home province in Isaan and was looking for opinions on my basic plan below and looking for answers to my questions (also below)...

My basic plan:

Rent a few rooms (either in one of the local High Schools or in a shopping centre).

During the day I would teach (or pay another farrang to teach) adults.

In the evenings, there would be classes for children.

I would also sell food so the children could come straight there after school (like an after school club) and I have some other ideas of cross-selling (e.g. books, educational trips to farrang land, etc) once I have an established customer list.

My wife parents are both teachers so they could provide us with useful contacts with the local schools / education officials.

I do not have any experience of teaching but will do a TEFL course when I arrive in Thailand and maybe 6 months teaching in another school to get experience.

I am hoping to market the school, to an extent, on the basis of my Oxford education.

My questions:

How much would it cost to rent a few rooms to do this?

How much could I charge Isaan people to send their children to learn English?

Would any adults attend my daytime classes or would it be better to use the rooms as a creche (with an English language twist) during the day?

What are the legal / regulatory obstacles I will need to overcome to set up the business (I am happy to do everything in my wife's name)?

Will it be easy to employ other farrangs?

Would my Oxford education have any value as a marketing tool in Isaan?

PS: please do not tell me that I am taking a huge risk and that no business works in Thailand and that me and my family will soon starve to death (etc etc - I have seen many such posts) - we have a business in London (a Thai spa) which will continue to provide us with 50K THB per month as a safety net and I could go back to work in financial services in Singapore or Hong Kong if necessary

[WilliaminBKK]

I cannot help you with the business aspects of your school.

But I would like to add, I wouldn't limit myself to onsite only, Skype could be a wonderful tool. Your skill set would be most welcome in Korea and the Philippines. There is a general understanding Filipinos speak english, while their standard is very low and US influenced. If you say Zaid to the average english speaking filipino they are lost. I also suggest promoting your school to Koreans as a destination with a local hotel, they currently flock to the Philippines and again the level of english is so poor. They pay on average US 400 PCM for schooling only.

The Thai Education Visa would be a major advantage to attract other ASEAN neighbours, I assume the set up would be extreme satisfying the local authourities.

I have also thought that retailers would gladly pay for staff training, even a one hour a week onsite lesson. Try asking a clerk in a store where is the change room? they will send you to the cash point.

As for hiring farangs, again I am biased I know Canadians speak proper english and are more than willing to move to Thailand, I believe they outnumber US teachers in Korea.

[FritsSikkink]

Why don't you start your business in a part of the country where the people have more to spend.

I don't seen many Isaan people going on educational trips to farang land

[TravelerEastWest]

You can rent a few rooms for 3,000 baht a month plus/minus depending on location and condition (AC etc).

Depending on how you structure your school you may need to have a director on staff with the correct license/education - typically this is done with a ghost employee who is paid to be your director and sign documents as needed....

Oxford can be a plus if the locals have heard of it....

Charging for children's class would have two possibilities - village kid- very little it is a struggle for them to pay for a small private school fee of 2,000 a month.

For the children of business people more but I am not certain how much.

Not too many adults will attend in the daytime.

If you are in Korat you will of course do better than in a village.