Starting out on your own

[Thinkingofachange]

Fascinating story--thanks for the update!

[natalie8]

Thanks for the update, Andy. Sounds really good.

[Mister T]

Congrats mate, it has taken a while. Your determination is a good example for others in this country.

[Robin Hood]

Well done, Andy.

I hope you business is a raging success!!!

[Firfox]

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement.

Here is another a very quick update. The school opened officially last weekend and all three courses are full and operational. We have initially signed students up for one month but told them all if they want to keep attending the school they will have to sign up for six months after the first month. The reason why we allowed the students to sign up for one month is to let them get a feel for the school and to to see whether the course and teaching style meets their needs. With three courses full (ten students per course) paying 15,000 baht per month (16 teaching hours) the school in generating 45,000 Thai baht per month. This involves myself teaching 12 hours per week. I write all my own resources and will eventually publish my own English School of Learning course book. We have decided to give this school 12 months and will look at openning another small school early next year.

Andy

[jonny danger]

Oh, and teach the kids ENGLISH, not this variety taught by the colonials.

Yeah, make sure they get that gaggle of geese accent down to a tee.

---Update---

We have decided to give this school 12 months and will look at openning another small school early next year.

I wish I were a future thinker. The only event I plan is what to spend my paycheck on once a month on the 3rd.

[8ball]

Gulp

[Firfox]

Just another quick update. The English School of Learning is really going well and we seemed to have attracted quite alot of 'positive' interest from both school age students and adults. Our weekend courses are full and most students have signed up for three months. I have had many enquiries from adults who want one to one private tuition. Students who are not available at the weekend are also asking us to run additional courses through the week (after school). The demand is high in Udon for English lessons and I have been approached by a tutor school in close proximity asking us to hire a room at their school for they have more than thirty students who would like to study with a native English speaking teacher. We only have the capacity for ten students at our school and I do not have the time to run three extra courses. We would keep all the proceeds and only pay for the hire of the room. The jury is out on this one for we have arranged to meet again to discuss the finer detail.

Work at the government school is also going very well and I am thoroughly enjoying the chasllenge. I was asked last month to coach a small group of four students prior to them been entered into a local English impromptu speaking competition. We did really well and came away with two first places and two runner up positions. The two winners have since attended the regional contest and we came away with one first place so now I have to go to Bangkok with the student for the final heat. I am also attracting a steady stream of students from the government school who are wanting to study at the English School of Learning.

Therefore, things are going very well over here and although I am having to work very hard for I not only teach but produce all my own resources. I am also trying some of my own exciting ideas out and getting some positive results More important I am loving every minute of it and feel I'm achieving what I set out to achieve.

Kindest regards

Andy

[Thinkingofachange]

Are you willing to discuss any revenue figures? I'd be quite interested.

[Firfox]

---Update---

Hi Thinkingofachange

Hope youare well.

I will attempt to answer your questions in relation to the revenue costs of our school. The school generates a monthly gross income of 45,000 baht. This is made up by running three courses with ten students on each course. The students all pay 1,500 baht per month for 16 hours tuition (4 hours per week – 2 x 2 hour lessons).

Our outgoings are 5,000 baht rent, approximately around 300 to 400 baht electricity and 250 baht for water per month. I do not need to take a wage from the school for I get paid 30,000 baht from my job at the government school. We also put 2,000baht a side every month to cover photocopying expenses and other small items.

In relation to my initial investment of around 300,000 baht if you look at my earlier posts you will see how I use to come on holiday to Thailand two times a year, for a month each time, and would get very little change from 3K per trip. Therefore, by the time I have been here 12 months (4 months time) I would have spent this amount on coming to visit family in Thailand. I never expected to get a quick return on our initial capital expenditure and see it more as set up costs for our relocation to Thailand

You also need to take into consideration that the school is only currently running 3 courses and we have the potential to run another two which would give us a gross income of 75,000 baht per month. Yes our overheads would increase but only slightly. I would also have to leave the government school, therefore losing my salary from that source, but this would give me a lot more free time in order to pursue other avenues for the school. We are not in it for the money for we also have income coning into Thailand every month from two rental properties in the UK that are mortgage free and the school was more of a semi retirement interest/hobby.

I hopeyou find these figures helpful/useful.

Kindest regards

Andy

[Thinkingofachange]

Thanks for the figures--I really do appreciate it. It's interesting to hear that students are paying around $3/hr. for English tuition with a native speaker; I wonder how that would compare to Bangkok, since the rent differential is probably not proportional to the income differential. There might be serious cash in opening a second school in Bangkok, if the market isn't saturated (I doubt it is).

At 0% growth, your annualized net profit is 448200 baht, which is 149.4% ROI. As you mention, that return will easily expand as you scale up your business, and it sounds like the demand is there. You've found a damn good niche for some impressive return.

Still, it is labor intensive, and I don't think you could sustain a high ROI if you weren't actually teaching the classes. That being said, it seems a better return than most small businesses I can think of.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you think the business would perform in Bangkok.

[Firfox]

Hi there Thinkingofachange

Yes the rate of 94 baht per hour is highly competitive here and I would say(due research undertaken) one of the lowest rates charged in Udon, especiallyfor courses delivered by a NES teacher in a small class size environment. Youare correct when you say we have a very good return (profit margin) however,this is predominantly down to neither of us taking a wage from the school. Mywife co teachers with me for she is fluent in both Thai and English.

Would the business perform in Bangkok? Well in answering your question I wouldlike to raise the following points. First of all I think it is important toidentify what makes our business work in Udon? Or in business 'speak' what isour Unique Selling Point (USP)? We offer English conversational skill coursesthat concentrate on speaking and listening skills. We have small class sizes(no more than 10 students on any course). The school is air conditioned, with ahigh spec interior design and uses up to date technology study aids. Allclasses are delivered by a NES teacher assisted by a Thai national who speaks excellentEnglish. The rate per hour is 93.75 baht!

Would this work in Bangkok I would probably say yes. However, I believe that thoroughresearch would have to be undertaken prior to any financial investment beingmade. Just because a business works inone location does not guarantee that it will also work in another locality.
Yes our 'model' does give us a high financial returnhowever, this would not be the case if we both had to take a wage from theproceeds and our outgoings were not so small. Prior to investing in ourbusiness I undertook one year’s research and I had been visiting Udon for theprevious eight years. There are also other factors that are currently ‘in play’in Udon that makes this a potential lucrative investment.
One must not also underestimate the time it will take toget a business up and running and then the amount of time it will take before adecent profit margin is visible. Once ourschool was built it took another six months to obtain the official license fromthe MOE and for me to obtain my WP.

Hope this answers your question.

Thank you once again for your interest. Where are you situated? If you are notto far feel free to contact me and arrange a visit and we can talk things overin more detail.

Kindest regards

Andy

[3leggedkitty]

congrats firfox, a very happy beginning! would be interesting to see your course materials once published, and maybe even a book on starting foreigners starting a biznet in thailand would probably see more interest than you'd imagine.

[Thinkingofachange]

Thank you once again for your interest. Where are you situated? If you are notto far feel free to contact me and arrange a visit and we can talk things overin more detail.

Hey Andy, sadly I'm in NYC so too far for a visit, but I am really interested in how your school is progressing. It really does sound like you have a scalable business model, and I'm glad to hear that things are going so well. Do keep us posted!

---Update---

a book on starting foreigners starting a biznet in thailand

I'd buy this.

[Firfox]

Thank you 3leggedkitty and thinkingofachange for your kind and supportive comments.

I am currently very busy at the moment but once I finish work at the government school I will definetly pull all my resources together in a manual format and incorporate all the worksheets in order to make it a workable resource. In relation to writing a book 'on foreigners starting a business in Thailand' I would have to be cautious in relation to the law changing in regard to what one can or cannot do. However, I could write it as my own personal experience and include a disclaimer. Thinking back it was not the Laws that were difficult to navigate around but mainly the cultural differences within the 'Thai business mindset.' The government also has its own'government speak' and you have to be able to use this in any paperwork one is requested to produce. The Thais also have totally different format in any documents they want you to produce. I am thinking out loud here chaps I think if I was to write anything it probably would be most beneficial if I wrote about our personal experiences A to Z.

What do you think?

Andy