* Calculations use average data for Russia

Distance courses and schools do not compete with traditional ones, but occupy a separate niche in the market of teaching services. The opportunity to study without leaving home is ideal for business people, women on parental leave, residents of small towns where there are few opportunities for additional education. Indeed, to conduct classes, it is enough to have a computer with high-speed Internet and the free Skype program, a microphone, speakers, a webcam (in most cases, there is enough camera on the teacher’s computer, many get by just with headphones with a microphone) and a certain amount of free time

The widespread belief that the cost of organizing online courses is much less than opening a traditional school is not true. In fact, if you are considering this as an option for developing your own promising business, you will need certain investments to start it.

It doesn't matter if you teach on your own or hire teachers, you will have to start by creating and promoting your own website. The better the site and its content, the higher will be the confidence of potential customers in you.

Be sure to indicate all the necessary contacts, describe in detail your qualifications, work experience, programs for which you teach, prices for your services, methods and details for payment, lay out all the necessary legal documents: licenses, if you are registered as a non-profit organization (however, more often register an individual entrepreneur ), texts of contracts, etc.

Provide a section with online tests, according to the results of which visitors to your site will be able to find out their level of foreign language proficiency.

In addition to the costs of creating a site (from 15-20 thousand rubles, depending on the structure and tasks), you will have to regularly invest in its promotion. You can do this yourself or contact the appropriate agency.

The cost of its services will depend on the audience you are targeting, the number and nature of queries in the search engines that you want to advance on, the competition in this area (and it is quite large) and other factors.

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If the site is completely “young”, promotion by the usual methods at first will be ineffective for objective reasons. However, you should not waste time - the first customers can be found by posting ads on thematic forums and websites.

Purchase a quality headset (headphones or speakers, microphone and webcam) and select the appropriate data plan from your ISP. Constantly interrupted connection, interference and extraneous noise will spoil the whole impression of the lesson, despite the professionalism and talent of the teacher.

Real-time learning usually involves a one-on-one session with a teacher. Firstly, it is much more convenient and profitable for the client. Secondly, in order to conduct group lessons, each student must have a stable and fast connection, which is not always possible. And thirdly, it is more difficult for a teacher to involve all conference participants equally in discussions, especially if their level of language proficiency is different.

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However, if you teach on your own, even in private lessons, try to select students with the same level of language proficiency. This will save you a lot of time preparing for classes, as you will use one program, making changes to it, taking into account the goals and interests of each student.

Post additional learning materials on your website. Access to this section can be made closed from casual visitors to the site. For convenience and clarity of the learning process, you can use auxiliary programs and applications - electronic boards (for example, Dabbleboard), Google Docs office applications, Second Life virtual worlds, etc.

The most profitable investment is in knowledge. Why not open a business related to the provision of foreign language teaching services? Is this area in demand? For the phrase “school of the English language”, the Yandex search engine records more than 100 thousand user requests every month, and for the phrase “English language”, more than 13 million requests per month.

If the question arises about the relevance of learning foreign languages, then just go to any job search site and evaluate the available vacancies with more or less worthy positions and wages. What unites them? Knowledge of English and, in some cases, other foreign languages ​​is required.

And if the knowledge gained at school and institute is not enough, people are looking for an opportunity to get additional linguistic education. Many parents "prepare sleds in the summer" - hire tutors, take their children to language courses. And, since there is a demand, entrepreneurs looking for their niche, a logical question arises: how to open a school of foreign languages? A business plan, where to start, what format to choose, how to legalize, and other important nuances are discussed in the article.

Relevance and target audience

The relevance of learning foreign languages ​​is growing not only due to the requirements of employer companies keeping pace with the times, but also due to such factors as:

• active interest of citizens in tourist trips abroad;
• migration to foreign countries;
• admission to foreign educational institutions;
• foreign business trips;
• early development of children, including the study of the language already from kindergarten age;
• filling gaps in school education in preparation for exams;
• the desire of modern people to develop intellectually and develop their children.

From here, depending on the chosen format, a portrait of the target consumer is formed. There will be parents of children of preschool and school age, students, graduates, businessmen, tourists, etc.

Format selection

Open a language school with a franchise

Franchising will help reduce organizational difficulties in business. Using the example of a review of the franchises of two schools, we will analyze the main articles of the business plan, the amount of investments and the requirements for premises.

The network of schools of foreign languages ​​ALIBRA SCHOOL

The network is represented by 17 branches in 4 regions of Russia, on the market for more than 15 years. To open a business under this brand, the following steps are required: apply for a franchise, conclude a license agreement, equip the premises and train staff, and obtain a license. The company provides comprehensive support at every stage.

The financial terms of partnership with ALIBRA SCHOOL are shown in the table.

Premises requirements:

• Area - at least 100 sq. meters, the room should be located near residential buildings, large shopping and office centers.
• The presence of a bathroom, ceilings with a height of 2.6 m.
• Parking available next to the premises.
• Internet, the possibility of zoning on the audience.
• The lease agreement must be concluded for at least 3 years, the premises must have the status of non-residential.

In addition to the lump-sum contribution, the initial investment item includes: repair and decoration of the premises, equipment, furniture, office equipment, training materials, staff training, marketing activities. The payback period of investments when working with the ALIBRA SCHOOL franchise is 14-22 months, the current profitability of existing branches is 30%.

Franchise of the language center "Lingvitania"

The Lingvitania Center offers partners two business formats: English for children from 3 to 12 years old, broken down by age categories, and English for teenagers and adults. The main feature of Lingvitania is an authorized center for preparing for exams at the University of Cambridge.

Franchisees receive a ready-made business model and a CRM system for working with clients. The founders of the brand participate in the opening of the centers. Teachers working in partner centers are trained and tested at the central office. Uniform methodological materials, a fully functional page on the site, advertising layouts are provided.

Conditions for partners:

• Until May 31, 2017, the lump-sum contribution is 399,000 rubles.
• Royalties are paid quarterly - 18,000 rubles.
• Initial investment - from 850,000 rubles.
• Not a basement or a semi-basement with a good repair with an area of ​​50 sq. m, which should have at least two rooms of 15-23 sq. m.

More details about the requirements and conditions of franchises can be found on the websites of companies. The success of a business in this area is guaranteed with a careful approach to hiring teachers, drawing up a business plan, choosing a format, premises, studying current offers and demand in your region, organizing a high-quality advertising campaign and first-class service.

The number of language schools in Moscow is growing exponentially, there is no shortage in this market, but demand remains fairly stable. Knowing only English is no surprise. School owners are ready to offer clients Arabic business and conversational Hindi.

To launch budget language courses worth 5,000 rubles for 16 academic hours, according to H&F calculations, you will need a start-up capital of 300,000 rubles. With proper promotion, the business will begin to bring a stable income of 100,000 rubles in six months and in the same amount it will pay off the investment.

room

For a small language school, a room of 150 sq.m. will suffice. (approximately five working audiences). It should have a classroom layout and good sound insulation, otherwise it will be impossible to conduct classes if they decide to conduct an audition or watch a movie in the target language behind the next wall.

It is better not to be located in an office building. If this is still unavoidable, you should take care of a separate entrance. Issuing passes for people who spontaneously decided to visit the school, and meeting guards for foreigners who do not carry passports with them takes a lot of time. Classes and cinema clubs can drag on until late at night - students and teachers should have access to the school at any time.

Two more desirable conditions: proximity to the metro and location in the first line of houses. However, the main contingent at the initial stage is those who live or work nearby. Therefore, the location in the center of the area may be more important than the proximity to the metro. Although it is still better to open a school in a conspicuous place, in order to notify people in the area about it, a sign will help - the cheapest form of advertising.

On average, renting a room with all the listed characteristics will cost 90,000-150,000 rubles per month. Directors of language schools recommend paying for rent only by bank transfer. In case of problems with the owner of the premises, you will always be able to defend your innocence in court.

School owners are advised to rent a room adapted for classes, that is, in accordance with sanitary and fire standards. And there are a lot of subtleties in these cases: the number of toilets, the locker room, the number of meters per student, different registers, lighting levels, certificates for furniture, etc.

Repair

Cosmetic repairs, if required at all, can be done on your own. The equipment of one office, according to H&F estimates, will take 40,000 rubles. This includes the cost of furniture, listening equipment, a magnetic whiteboard and the markers themselves, which, by the way, are used up very quickly. Installation of air conditioners, without which group classes in small classrooms are unthinkable, will cost another 17,000 rubles per class. The maintenance of one cabinet per month costs 3,000 rubles.

The documents

There is no single organizational and legal form of activity suitable for all language schools. Her choice directly depends on the goals of the school and the audience with which she works. For small educational institutions with a small flow of students, the IP form is suitable. For larger companies working with corporate clients, it is more convenient to register as a NOU (NOCHU) - a non-state educational private institution.

NOCHU requires obtaining a license, and this is a rather lengthy process (from the moment of renting the premises to obtaining a license, the period will be about six months), because:

1.5 - 2 months - registration of NGOs in the Ministry of Justice

1-1.5 months - obtaining sanitary and fire certificates

2 - 2.5 months - getting a license

However, there is an opportunity to cheat here, for example, start working as an individual entrepreneur while the process drags on. In the absence of a license, the school has the right to conduct consulting activities, and this implies the absence of a clear schedule, lack of lesson plans, and so on.

Other expenses

Staff

The minimum rate for a Russian-speaking teacher is 700 rubles per academic hour. In most schools, it is customary to pay right after the lesson. Thus, for a 90-minute lesson, the teacher needs to pay 1,400 rubles. The rate of native speakers varies from 1,500 rubles to 2,000 rubles per academic hour. The British are the most expensive, the demand for them among students is especially high - for an hour and a half lesson with a group, they ask for 5,000 rubles.

Detailed instructions will help you plan how to open a foreign language school, find out what you need to purchase and what you will have to spend on, how much money your own teaching business in this area can bring, and what you will have to take care of when starting your own language training center.

Organizational issues of creating such a business

Foreign language teaching can be offered for different purposes and for different categories of clients. You can create a business in this area in the format of advanced training courses, classes with a tutor, a foreign language school, an educational center for kids, schoolchildren, students or adults. The organizational and legal form of the organization depends on the choice of specialization and the planned scale of activity.

1. Registration as an individual entrepreneur;
2. Creation of a non-state educational institution or an autonomous non-profit organization.

Permits and tax burden

Individual teaching activities are not subject to licensing, but no state documents on the completion of training will be issued to clients, nor will final certification be carried out. This option is more suitable for teaching adults in courses, for them it is often not so important to have papers confirming their linguistic qualifications, the main thing is real knowledge of the language.

There will be no problems with hiring other teachers, the new legislation in the field of education allows the employment of individual entrepreneurs for the work of other teachers (no more than 15 employees in total when working on a patent). There is only one clarification: if an entrepreneur works alone and attracts freelancers, then he will not need a license, and when hiring other teachers on a permanent basis, he will need to obtain permission to conduct this activity. As a taxation system for educational activities, you can choose "" (6% of income or 15% of the difference between income and expenses) or a patent (for self-employed individual entrepreneurs).

If training is expected with the issuance of documents confirming the qualifications of graduates, then you will need to register a legal entity (NOU or ANO) and obtain a license from the local department of the Ministry of Education. With this type of organization, the client, upon completion of training, can receive a certificate or certificate of additional education. But for licensing, it will be necessary to prepare a voluminous package of documents, mainly proving the suitability of the premises for conducting classes and the level of material and technical equipment of the institution, the professional qualifications of teachers and the composition of curricula. A package of documents and an application for a license are considered in Rayono within 2 months, the license is valid for 5 years, and then it must be renewed.

Necessary base for teaching foreign languages

What does it take to open a language school? In addition to direct knowledge of the language, a penchant for teaching or at least organizational activities, a novice businessman will need other resources to create his own educational center.

Individuals will stand apart in the list of foreign languages ​​required for any courses. The staff may include native speakers, or Russian-speaking teachers and linguists with the necessary qualifications in English, German, French or Chinese. Properly selected teaching staff is the key to the success of an educational institution. They will go to a good teacher on the recommendation and, therefore, a businessman will be able to reduce the cost of attracting customers through word of mouth.

Even if you decide to conduct classes on your own and teach all clients, you will need the services of support staff for the company's accounting services, IT support, security, cleaning, etc. These non-core services can be outsourced and contracted with specialized companies that provide relevant specialists.

The main items of expenditure when launching a foreign language school

There are other business needs that require start-up investments at startup. You need to spend on the following items of expenditure:

• Premises (classroom, auditorium, conference room, office with an area of ​​20–50 sq. m. at the rate of approximately 2 sq. m. per person) for the required number of students, taking into account the number of groups, their occupancy and schedule. Licensing requires that such premises receive approval from the sanitary and epidemiological station, the fire department and other supervisory authorities (it is better to rent them in a building that already meets all the necessary standards).
• Furniture and equipment for classrooms (desks or tables, chairs, blackboards or projectors, computers for teachers and tablets for students, speakers and headphones, language phones).
• Auxiliary teaching materials (textbooks, additional literature, workbooks, audio recordings and videos, posters and other visual aids), as well as stationery and supplies.

The most important intangible investment is the training program and methodological materials that will help build the language teaching process with maximum effect, in relation to the selected audience and categories of clients.

Financial aspects of language teaching activities

A business plan with recommendations on how to open a foreign language school includes a list of necessary expenses and possible income from this type of activity. It is worth starting a financial analysis by determining the size of the starting capital.

How much money will be needed to prepare for the opening of an educational linguistic center:

• or a legal entity - 1000-5000 rubles, as well as expenses for - another 1000-2000 rubles at a time.
• The cost of renting and repairing the premises depends on the condition and area of ​​​​the premises itself and its readiness to receive students, and most importantly, on the region, location and appetites of the landlord. You can meet the amount of 5-10 thousand rubles for a small class or pay the first month of rent in the amount of 50-100 thousand rubles for a whole complex of premises, and also spend several tens of thousands of rubles on putting it in order.
• The purchase of furniture and equipment - a computerized class for 5-10 students will cost about 100-150 thousand rubles, but you can get by with a minimum of costs, basic furniture and simple equipment in the amount of 5-10 thousand rubles per office.
• The purchase of teaching materials and manuals - a set of educational literature can cost from 500 rubles to several thousand rubles for each student.
• Consumables - for 1-5 thousand rubles, you will have to stock up on stationery, paper, consumables for office equipment and other little things to work with students.

In total, starting costs can range from 20–40 thousand rubles (for one classroom and for a total of 10–50 students) to 300–500 thousand rubles (when opening a full-fledged educational institution with many groups and several separate classes).

Costs of running a training center

The costs do not end there, because current activities will be accompanied by other fixed and variable costs:

• payment of rent and utility bills - from 5-10 thousand rubles to 100-150 thousand rubles per month;
• salary and deductions for employees (for a self-employed individual entrepreneur - only deductions to funds) can reach 10-70 thousand rubles per teacher, taking into account his teaching load, group occupancy, average salary in the region and other factors;
• taxes and accounting services - from 3-5 thousand rubles per month to 10-20 thousand rubles per month;
• purchase of new benefits, stationery, consumables - 1-5 thousand rubles and up to 10-15 thousand rubles;
• payment for the services of support staff - from 2-3 thousand rubles. up to 10-20 thousand rubles per month;
• advertising and site maintenance - from 1-2 thousand rubles to 5-10 thousand rubles per month.

In total, it can take from 20–30 thousand rubles to 250–400 thousand rubles or more per month to maintain the work of a foreign language school, depending on the scale of work and the number of teachers.

Income of the educational center: where does the money come from

Accordingly, the business should bring in more money than is required monthly for its maintenance. The cost of foreign language teaching services is influenced by the average prices in a particular city, the qualifications of teachers and the level of education. Average rates are as follows:

• group classes (5-10 people or more) - from 1000 to 5000 rubles per month or more;
• individual lessons (1-2 people) - from 2000 to 10000 rubles per month.

According to the schedule, there can be one or 2-3 classes per week lasting 1-2 academic hours. The load per teacher is 10–18 ac. hours per week, on average he can work with 2-3 groups and the same number of individual students. Proceeding from this, it is necessary to calculate the potential number of groups, and therefore plan income.

Working independently with 20-30 students (in groups and individually), an entrepreneur can receive about 30-100 thousand rubles a month. Measures such as hiring employees, tighter schedules, and more classrooms would increase income by the same amount per new teacher. With 5 teachers and subject to their full load, you can receive about half a million rubles of income per month. But then the school needs to work simultaneously with 100-150 students.

The payback period for such a linguistic center ranges from 3 to 12 months, but it all depends on the amount of initial investment, as well as on the monthly ratio of income and expenses.

Whether it is profitable to open a foreign language school depends only on whether a novice businessman can recruit the necessary number of students in order not only to break even, but also to make a profit from teaching English, Chinese or other languages. But the main thing is whether he will be able to maintain the quality of education at a consistently high level so that the flow of clients does not dry up all year round. To do this, you can provide special offers for summer camps, for those who want to prepare for exams or for those who want to “bring up” their knowledge before a tourist trip.

Teaching foreign languages ​​is a promising, profitable and noble business. After all, in this way you can help a large number of people who want to improve their level of knowledge of a foreign language, without which it is difficult to be successful in the modern world. It is possible to make money on the provision of progressive knowledge that will contribute to intercultural communication if you draw up a business plan correctly.

Relevance

The opportunity to learn a foreign language today is interesting for almost everyone. Such knowledge will be needed even if you do not have plans to emigrate abroad - to get a promotion at work, read books in the original and watch films without dubbing.

The pace of development of society has led to the fact that knowing only 1 foreign language is no longer enough, and not everyone can learn them on their own. At the same time, 46% of Russians plan to study foreign languages. Despite different motives, they create a constant demand for the service.

At the same time, to start a business, you do not need much investment. If you develop a plan correctly, the business will quickly pay off.

Market analysis

It cannot be said that by opening a foreign language 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 really master English, German, French, etc. many have to go to special courses.

If competition in business is not terrible, when drawing up a plan, be sure to study not only how the work of competitors is built, but also what customers lack. Usually we are talking about the following shortcomings:

• insufficient level of qualification of teachers;
• lack of special training programs, for example, English for business or preparation for IELTS, TOEFL;
• lack of exotic languages.

It is also necessary to familiarize yourself with the list of languages ​​offered, the level of training of teachers, prices for their services and marketing policy. This will help you understand what exactly customers in your area lack and draw up a business plan highlighting your features, which will distinguish the language school from competitors and attract the population. It can be exotic languages ​​to learn, competitive rates, native speakers as teachers, unique lesson plans, etc.

The results of a sociological study showed the following results of 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 the ideal client in the plan, you first need to segment the audience. This can be done in a variety of ways:

• according to the purpose of the application:
  - for professional growth;

- for traveling;

- to improve the level of their education;

- for admission to a school or university;

- as part of advanced training;

• according to the requirements for foreign language lessons:

– training in small groups (4-6 people each);

- wishing to receive individual lessons;

• by age:

— students and schoolchildren;

- working people;

- pensioners.

Working people represent the largest group by age, followed by students and only a small part of potential business customers are 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 in order to satisfy as much demand as possible.

Legal side of the issue

Before starting a business, it is necessary not only to draw up a plan, but also to officially register the activity. For a foreign language school, ANO (autonomous non-profit organization) or NOU (non-state educational institution) is suitable. You can also register as an individual entrepreneur, but then you will not be able to issue diplomas of additional education to graduates.
On the other hand, then a license is not needed to provide services, which greatly simplifies the implementation of a business plan. But only clients who need to study the language for personal purposes will contact you.

If this option is not enough, you will need to obtain a state license. This can be done at your local education department. The presence of a license will allow issuing school graduates a certificate of language proficiency, a certificate of additional education. This document will be a great addition to your resume. The good news is that now the license does not need to be confirmed every 5 years, having received it once, you can provide services indefinitely.

After the business plan is drawn up, the time comes for registration - without this, it is illegal to start a business. Language schools are encouraged to register as a non-state educational institution. For this you will need:

• full name of the organization;
• legal address;
• Contact phone numbers;
• passport data of employees;
• information about the founders;
• the chosen system of taxation;
• charter of the organization (developed in accordance with the requirements of Law No. 3266-1 "On Education";
• print sketch.

When preparing the plan, pay special attention to the charter of the organization. It must include the following data:

• Name of the organization;
• the address;
• information about the founders of the business;
• types of training programs envisaged in the plan;
• languages ​​of instruction;
• school admission rules and expulsion criteria;
• the duration of the lessons;
• ownership of the property where the language school is located (documents for ownership or lease agreement);
• rules for hiring workers;
• procedure for the liquidation of the enterprise.

Full compliance of the document with this plan will allow you to register with the Ministry of Justice without any problems. Do not forget to obtain permission from the SES to operate the premises.

When registering, indicate code 85.41.9 “Additional education for children and adults, other, not included in other groups, including teaching foreign languages” of OKVED activities. You can also add Interpretation and Translation Activities.

The process of officially registering a business can be simplified by contacting a licensing agency. Services will cost about 100 thousand rubles, taking into account the payment of state. duties (7500 rubles).

Choosing the right school space

When choosing an office, it is important that it has a convenient location. It may be close to schools and universities, large shopping centers and busy streets. A big plus for business will be convenient transport links with other areas of the city, as well as the availability of parking. Check out the office:

• on well-organized lighting;
• for the availability of bathrooms;
• for compliance with sanitary standards.

At the initial stage of the business, the optimal area of ​​the center will be 100 m2. This will be enough to accommodate 2 separate classrooms and a reception area. You can provide a small office for private lessons.
One of the classes will be designed for English lessons - as the most common language, the second will be used for other foreign languages.

It is not necessary to open an office in the city center from the start of a business. No less result will give a location in one of the sleeping areas, but in a place where there is a lot of traffic. This will save on rent, which will cost an average of 15 thousand rubles.

Registration

The room does not require special repairs if the building is in good condition, however, school decoration will definitely be included in the plan. You can hire a designer to design the style of the room. Since clients pay for classes, they expect to receive them in a comfortable environment. Let the rooms be spacious and bright. Each classroom should have a blackboard. You can hang world maps in foreign languages, 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 the class to watch educational films and videos. The total cost of this item of the plan will be about 80 thousand rubles.