공부 방 Study Room

So, yeah, tomorrow is my last day at Stanley Language Institute (or SLI as it was so loftily touted), as I noted in my previous post.  Naturally my wife and I have been discussing where to go from here.  Luckily I have viable options.

Because I live in Korea and am married to a Korean national, my immigration status is different from other teachers, the majority of whom are here on what are known as E-2 visas.  My visa is an F-2 and the next time I go to renew it I will be eligible for a green card.  Not that that matters, though, because an F-visa (family visa) entitles me to basically all of the same rights as Koreans, and I can live and work here without restriction.

That means I can start my own business, and I would already have done so several years ago had my brother-in-law not started up his own poorly managed and now obviously ill-fated private English school.  When he started it, he had perhaps ten years of experience as a teacher, so he knew the system well.  That gave him confidence, so he went fairly large, investing about $80,000 of his not-very-well-off-at-all parents’ money to get it off the ground.  That money was needed mostly for interior decoration, a few computers, chairs, desks, bookshelves, an industrial printer  etc., as well as to lease a large van to carry students, and hire basic staff such as myself, a couple of other teachers, a secretary and a driver.

You can by now begin to imagine that this was a fairly involved operation that required management skills that our Kevin (the brother-in-law) didn’t necessarily possess.  With so many private schools in the area–and they really are a dime a dozen all over Korea, especially when it comes to English–what a manager needs most of all is to be a talker, and a proper car salesmen would be  ideal.  He or she needs to be able to bluff and bluster and make parents believe that this school is special, unlike the others, possessed of a profound and mystical system of enlightenment that will magically elevate their overworked and stressed out kids’ standardized test scores,  so that they will eventually be able to apply for and attend a high-class university, and thereby secure a worthwhile future, and a meaningful life.

But Kevin is no talker.  He is introverted, awkward and socially inept, often saying things inappropriate to the situation, or the topic of conversation.  His ideas are also often overly simplistic,  poorly thought-out, or just plain wrong.  He doesn’t fool many parents, and so while I’ve seen quite a lot of parents come to the school to inquire about lessons, much fewer of them than you would expect actually enrolled their kids.

Months before the school opened, I  learned from my girl that the whole thing was likely not going to turn out well because  her brother had a poor track record.  He had already tried his hand at managing English departments at a couple of different schools, with discouraging results.  This added to my reluctance, but I felt pressured because it was a family thing, and if I didn’t work there he would have to hire a stranger, fly that person into the country, get them set up with immigration and secure living quarters, all at the school’s expense.  That would have meant resentment because I had no good reason not to work there and help him out.

When the school opening thing was being tossed around at the in-law’s place a few years back, my wife–who knows her brother all too well–was dead set against it, prophetically declaring that it would fail due to her brother’s incompetence in management.  Never known to pull punches, she was rebuked for this strongly by her parents, who were desperately looking to set their son on some sort of career path (he is 40 now, by the way), and felt that the whole family should be supportive.  And so they backed him 100%.  A little more than two years later, my brother-in-law has gotten married (about 6 months ago), has a newborn baby (since about 6 weeks ago), and is facing a failed business, and about $100, 000 debt.  Not a great way to start a family.

What am I going to do for work now?

Well, it’s not as bad as it seems.  As I say, I wanted to work for myself here years ago, because it’s relatively easy to do, and you can make a lot more money.  I will start a study room (Gongbubang) business, which is just a classroom and a small office/reception area.  There are a couple of different ways I’m thinking about doing this:

First, I could get out of the city and go to the countryside where there are no private schools and rent an apartment or some office space, and convert it into a classroom and reception area.  It would mean a short daily commute (30-45 minutes) but it would be worth it.  There is a particular place I know of that would be perfect for this because one of my best friends here grew up there and he knows the area.  There are a bazillion students looking to take private English instruction but they have to commute into town to get it.  I can provide it on their doorstep.  Cost of start-up would be in the area of  five to seven thousand dollars.  The advantage of this plan is that demand for my time will definitely always exceed supply, and I will eventually have to implement standards, and therefore ultimately end up dealing only with bright and motivated kids.  A plus, trust me.

The second option is in-city.  My wife’s friend knows a guy who owns a new building with office space that is already set up as a study room, and so would require no changes whatsoever.  It is also in a great residential area with no other private schools in the immediate area.   To get it up and running I will have to deposit about $5000 to start, and then pay an additional $400 monthly.  I get the 5 grand back after the 1 or 2 year contract period expires, if I don’t sign again.  The advantage here is that there is relatively little commute, and the facilities are already in place.

Both options are very stress free.  And very difficult to mess up given the demand for private instruction from native speakers.  Added to that is the bonus that my Korean is now good enough that I can consult with parents and meet kids directly.  I may have to hire a secretary when things get busy in order to manage the classes, take calls, and field questions from parents and kids, but the cost of that is very manageable.  Those kinds of jobs pay very little here–maybe $1000 a month.  I’m not joking.  That’s the going rate.

With a study room going at full capacity, minus expenses, you would expect to clear about $8000-10000 a month, teaching five 50 minute classes a day, with a maximum class size of 8 students.  Of course you could teach more classes, if the demand is there, and if you don’t mind putting yourself in an early grave.

Anyway.  I will be checking out both areas and making a decision on which avenue to pursue on Friday (December 19, 2009).  Next week I will make the necessary arrangements and get this thing started by the end of the month, with a little luck.  There are a couple of legal hoops to jump through with the Department of Education, but that’s just paperwork–my wife’s specialty.

Wish me luck.

It’s a rabbit.