Today we want to talk about all the essentials that you need to take care of before starting classes after the holidays. Summer will be gone soon, and now is the best time to think about the future, to plan next moves. As you sow, so shall you reap. Do not hesitate and read this article. We hope it will help you organize better and create a good routine.
We work with more then 160 schools in Europe, and very frequently we observe common flaws in work organizations. It is the main reason we created and constantly improve our main product – LangLion Platform. We believe that education is a very challenging business, that sometimes requires hard choices and long term planning. First of all, keep calm. If you still haven’t planned the whole semester, don’t worry, there is still time.
1. Check your staff.
Is everybody there? Maybe someone will not be coming back after vacation? Check with all your workers. Many
schools are hiring now, so you never know if your teacher will not be tempted by another offer. If that is the case, try to negotiate. It is always good to retain professionalists with experience. If you need new workers, now it is the last call to do it.
Useful tip: Don’t mind CV’s without propper motivational letter (if you require one). A standard template sent to every company is a sign that the potential employee lacks involvement. Try to focus on the applications with individualy composed motivational letters.
2. Legal obligations.
Are job contracts up to date? It is never a good idea to neglect legal changes. If you hire a person using an out of date contract, you can get in trouble. Such contract does not have legal power! Check with propper institutions or with your lawyer, if there was a change in the labor law. The same goes with student’s contract. Make sure that everything is according to the rules.
3. Work organization.
Every school’s nightmare. Don’t worry, there is a plenty of tools that will help you with managing registrations, schedules, and tasks. Just make sure this tool will be available for all the employees. Nothing will help you more then good communication and transparency. A CRM system or an interactive online platform are worth a try.
4. Marketing.
Today it’s a must, as without marketing campaign your school will suffer losses. Do not focus only on the direct advertisement. Mailing is always a good idea, but a language school can offer so much more! Think about organizing an open day. Show your potential clients that teaching is your passion, that you are well organized and creative. Events, movie marathons, pick your favorite.
5. Check the trends.
Is Spanish still popular? Or maybe this season Chinese will be the most trendy. Remember that some people learn languages because it is popular among their friends, so make a research and check which language is currently cool.
Useful tip: Check out Twitter and search for tags like #language #languageschool #English etc. You will find twists with requests for help in finding a good language schools. If you find someone from your location, you can invite them to your school.
6. Online registration tools.
Allow your clients to register via your webpage. Let them leave their contact details and choose the suitable course. It would be more professional if you contact by telephone your client. Combining online registration with a placement test can save you a lot of time and work. Imagine that you would not have to invite each candidate to your office. LangLion offers such solution. Check it out.
7. Budget.
Divide it into parts and dedicate a suitable amount of funds for each department. Analyze your previous budget. Was it sufficient? Maybe it’s time to invest more in marketing? Try to see the bigger picture. Don’t focus only on the present.
8. Educational plan.
Prepare the courses to content before starting the classes. We know some cases when a school plans only a few first weeks and then rushes to finish the program on time. We all know that rush is unhealthy for the business, and can affect our quality.
9. A little bit of espionage.
Feel free to look at your rivals on the market. Remember, do not compete only with the price. Many customers prefer to invest more just to be sure they will get a quality product. Try to offer something more than your competition. An extra few online classes could be a great idea. During these online classes, your teacher could review the material, prepare students for exams or just do some talking.
10. Learning space. Run an inspection.
Are all the classrooms fresh? The walls are dirty, or something is broken? Now it is a good time to fix it. Remember that fine feathers make fine birds. Even if your teaching quality is superb, some of the clients could not choose your school just because it’s dirty.