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Language School Business Plan Sample

JUN.04, 2019

Do you want to start language school business?

Are you thinking about starting a language school? Well, the United States has the largest immigrant population as compared to all other countries due to job and study opportunities. And knowledge to speak and write English fluently is required in several study programs and job fields.

So, if you are intended to hire a team which can teach desired languages accordingly, then, you will be required to make a detailed business plan for language school . To let you know about the essentials of a language school business plan , we are providing one here, for the startup, ‘Naomi Language School’.

Executive Summary

2.1 the business.

Naomi Language School will be a licensed and registered language school based in Boston, with the aim of teaching English, French, Spanish, German and other languages. The school will provide various courses meant to teach language skills from basic to intensive level.

2.2 Management

To manage the school, Naomi will be there in her school by herself, besides, she will hire administrator, coordinators, and tutors. In this business plan english language school pdf, you will later find out the details of how the business will be actually started and run.

2.3 Customers

Knowing your customers can help you a lot in taking major decisions while making language school business plan template . There are a large number of universities and colleges in Boston which offer scholarships to international students. And there are many people from outside the US, who came here just to make a living. So, our customers will be very diverse, relating to different countries, speaking different languages.

2.4 Target of the Company

Our target is to help foreigners understand our language and norms, to settle in our country. Our other targets are to become the most renown language tutoring center while earning a profit margin of $15k per month by the end of the first year.

Company Summary

3.1 company owner.

Naomi Connery is a knowledgeable lady with a bachelor’s degree in English Language & Literature from the University of Oxford. Besides English, she is adept in speaking and writing German, French and Spanish Language.

3.2 Why the Business is being started

Naomi can use the relevant skills she has by starting a language school business . To fulfill the desire of running her own business, while availing what she has achieved so far, the best option she figured out was to start a language school.

3.3 How the Business will be started

Although Naomi is multilingual, still she can’t run the school on her own. She will rent a building which was previously a high school. After getting essential licensing, the building will be renovated. Naomi will purchase the essential inventory, and will hire tutors to teach the English language to non-English people, and other languages as well to be learned by anyone.

Naomi didn’t take the risk of preparing english school business plan by herself. Her business plan for language school which is given here as a sample is written by professional language school business plan writer. The costs for the startup are as follows:

Mentioning the services, you want to provide in your language school business plan template , can help you a lot in figuring out the best ways of advertisements and earning profits.

The language learning programs which will be offered in Naomi Language School are:

• Basic English Learning Program: For children and teens, and for the foreigners, we will provide basic English learning program enabling them to speak and write English.
• Intensive English Learning Program: For undergrads, grads, and professional incomers we will be offering intensive English learning programs to excel their English speaking and writing skills.
• Other Language Learning Programs: We’ll offer programs to learn languages like German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese from basic to a comprehensive level.
• Career Language Training: For professionals who have either come for a managing or other important job in the US, or the natives who will be going in some other country for job works, we’ll be having special and short language programs.

Marketing Analysis of Language School Business

Our target customers will belong to diverse countries and cultures; it will be challenging to bring them together in the same environment to learn the same language unless you have done a detailed marketing analysis in your language school business model.

In this sample business plan language school  pdf, we are analyzing our target groups in order to make our services compatible with their needs.

5.1 Market and Industry Trends

The United States is recorded for having the highest number of international students worldwide. In order to fill the gap between foreigners and natives, there are currently 13,240 language training centers operating in the US, generating a revenue of $2 billion annually according to IBISWorld. Although there are enough language training centers, yet there is an increasing demand for more, with an expected growth rate of 2.5 percent. So if you manage to administer your students and their requirements efficiently, you won’t be at loss.

5.2 Marketing Segmentation

Our experts have identified the following type of target audience which can become our future consumers:

The detailed marketing segmentation of our target audience is as follows:

5.2.1 Foreigners: Our biggest target group will be the students and professionals who come to Boston to continue their studies and jobs respectively. They usually find difficult to be fluent with the new language. Moreover, certain jobs and study programs require them to get a workshop on the English language before entering the relevant institute.

5.2.2 US Citizens: This group comprises of those students and professionals who are native of US but require some additional language skill regarding English or some other language. For such people, professionals and students we’ll be teaching a few languages other than English in our center.

5.2.3 Professional & Career Oriented: We’ll be having special and short timed language training programs for the professionals who either have to excel in English language or some other languages which we will be offering.

5.3 Business Target

Our main targets to be achieved over the next three years are:

• To earn a profit margin of $15k per month by the end of the first year
• To start online language training besides our current work by the end of the third year

5.4 Product Pricing

Our services are highly efficient, therefore we haven’t priced our services low, they are in fact priced a little bit higher than our competitors.

As mentioned earlier that there are a lot of language schools running in the United States, so before thinking about how to start a language school business you must think about something additional and more lucrative. In this language school business model pdf you can read about the competitive aspects and advertisement define a strategic plan Naomi Language School will adopt.

6.1 Competitive Analysis

Our biggest competitive advantage lies in our workforce. Our tutors are highly experienced and professional and they know the tactics of teaching an entirely new language to those who are alien to it. Secondly, we’ll be greatly benefitted by our location. Boston is the city with two major universities Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; so students from all over the world desire to come here to study further. We are exactly located in the metropolitan area, where those students can easily approach us to remove their hesitation of speaking a new language. Lastly, we will not only be teaching the language, but we will also be teaching the skill, we’ll arrange group talks and interactions so that foreign students can adjust with the new people.

6.2 Sales Strategy

To advertise our services:

• We will carry out a large-scale social media campaign.
• We will arrange free seminars to exhibit our teaching methods.
• We’ll contact notable institutes to let us introduce our services to their foreign students.

6.3 Sales Monthly

6.4 Sales Yearly

6.5 Sales Forecast

Personnel plan

Staff required by Naomi Language School is given here in this business plan for language school sample  with a little job description.

7.1 Company Staff

Naomi will manage and supervise the overall operations, other staff will be:

• 1 Administrator for managing all operations
• 1 Accountant for maintaining financial records
• 2 Sales Executives responsible for marketing the school
• 10 Tutors for tutoring different languages
• 2 General Assistants for undertaking various day-to-day
• 2 Cleaners for cleaning the facility
• 1 Freelance Web Developer for managing school’s web pages and social media accounts
• 1 Front Desk Officer for receiving calls
• 1 Security Guard

7.2 Average Salary of Employees

Financial plan.

Doing detailed financial analysis in your language school business plan is essential as it will list all the startup costs, salaries of your employees, and other expenses along with a plan to cover these expenses. A language training center doesn’t require a lot of investment unless you want to spend too much on getting the perfect location. The investment and expenses Naomi did in order to meet the criteria of an excellent language center are given here in this english language school business plan pdf . This language school business model is written by a professional business plan writer , revised by a financial expert. So, you can take help from here, in case you are starting the same business.

8.1 Important Assumptions

8.2 brake-even analysis.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

8.3.1 profit monthly.

8.3.2 Profit Yearly

8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly

8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

 8.6 business ratios.

All tables in PDF

Download Language School Business Plan Sample in pdf

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Home » Sample Business Plans » Education » School

How to Write a Language School Business Plan [Sample Template]

Do you want to start a language school and need to write a plan? If YES, here is a sample language school business plan template & FREE feasibility report. English is the official language in the United States and there are migrants and students who intend working or studying in the United States who would need to first enroll and pass through a language school before they can be fully integrated into the society, hence the viability and profitability of language schools in the United States of America.

If you want to start a language school, it would be a wrong business judgment if you decide to site the school close to an industrial area or close to a market. Aspiring entrepreneurs therefore are urged to ensure that they carry out thorough market research and feasibility study of the industry they intend to go into before investing their hard earned money and time in it.

A Sample Language School Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

Generally, players in the Language Schools industry offer language instruction ranging from conversational skills for personal enrichment to intensive training courses for career or educational opportunities. Schools teach foreign languages, sign language and English as a second language. Please note that the Language Schools industry does not include language instruction software.

Over the years, per capita disposable income and international travel by US residents have grown, thus providing remarkable growth for the Language Schools industry. Going forward, the industry will build on its success in the online, corporate and international markets to fuel growth.

So also, steady immigration levels will aid long-term demand for English-language courses in the domestic market. Demand for language training will also grow as the US population becomes more diverse and businesses attempt to target the new demographic markets. Nevertheless, competition from language instruction software continues to pose a threat to the industry.

The Language Schools industry is indeed a large and thriving industry. Statistics has it that the Language Schools industry in the united states of America is worth billion, with an estimated growth rate of 1.3 percent within 2012 and 2017.

There are about 13,324 registered and licensed Language Schools scattered all around the United States of America and they are responsible for employing about 36,078 people. Alexander Language Schools, Berlitz, Language Leaders Franchising and Rosetta Stone Inc. are the market leaders in this industry, they have lion market shares in the industry.

A report released by IBISWorld shows that as with most industries in the education sector, wages, which include salaries and benefits, account for the largest cost to industry operators. This industry requires instructors, researchers and program developers, as well as employees who perform administrative and management duties.

The report also shows that in 2017, wages are estimated to account for 35.3 percent of revenue. Language schools usually deliver training on a face-to-face basis in small groups, which is highly labor-intensive. On the other hand, establishments can expand facilities and purchase equipment according to need, thereby reducing the level of capital needed to successfully operate in this industry.

Small local operators may even hold language classes in community centers, schools or residential homes. Even though there are loads of players in the Language Schools industry, the industry is still pretty much open for aspiring school proprietors and proprietress to still come in and compete.

As a matter of fact, if you conduct your research and feasibility studies very well before starting your own language school, coupled with impressive profile of your faculty members, you are likely going to struggle less to make headway in the industry.

2. Executive Summary

Kings International® Language School is an international private language school that will be located in a well – populated residential estate in Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach – Florida, United States of America. We are a standard and government accredited language school that will be predominantly funded through tuition fees and levies from students and of course from other private sources.

Kings International® Language School is a client-focused and result driven private language school that provides broad-based learning approaches and experience at an affordable fee that won’t in any way put a hole in the pocket of our clients (students and parents alike).

We will offer standard and professional language teaching services in a highly secured and conducive learning environment. We will ensure that we work hard to meet and surpass all our students’ expectations and educational goals whenever they enroll in our school.

At Kings International® Language School, our students’ overall best interest would always come first, and everything we do is guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire professional educationists cum teachers in various languages who are well experienced and passionate in imparting knowledge to students at various learning ladder.

Kings International® Language School will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually and as an educational organization, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible. We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our students’ needs precisely and completely.

We have plans to offer learning platforms to people both online and offline. Our overall business goal is to position our language school to become the leading language school brand in the educational industry in the whole of Delray Beach – Florida, and also to be amongst the top 20 language schools in the United States of America within the first 10 years’ of operations.

This might look too tall a dream but we are optimistic that this will surely come to pass because we have done our research and feasibility studies and we are enthusiastic and confident that Delray Beach – Florida is the right place to launch our language school.

Kings International® Language School is founded by Dr. Jenkins Adolphus and his immediate family members. He is an educationist par excellence and has won many awards in the education sector in the United States. Dr. Jenkins Adolphus has both the academic qualification and experience to run a private language school that can favorably compete with other leading language schools not only in Delray Beach – Florida, but also throughout the United States.

3. Our Products and Services

Kings International® Language School is going to offer varieties of learning and instruction services within the scope of the language schools industry in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our language school is to soundly educate people in various languages and of course to make profits and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and business goal.

Our service offerings are listed below;

• Foreign languages (French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin and Arabic et al)
• English as a second language
• Career language training
• Sign language
• Retailing of language books and training materials (DVDs, and CDs et al)

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to build a highly competitive language school that will become the number one choice for students in the whole of Delray Beach – Florida. Our vision reflects our values: integrity, service, excellence and teamwork.
• Our mission is to provide professional and conducive learning environment to students at different levels of learning as it relates to the language of their choice.
• Our overall business goal is to position Kings International® Language School to become the leading language school brand in the language school industry in the whole of Delray Beach – Florida, and also to be amongst the top 20 language schools in the United States of America within the first 10 years of operation.

Our Business Structure

It is a known fact that the success of any business is to a large extent dependent on the business structure of the organization and the people who occupy the available roles in the organization. Kings International® Language School will build a solid business structure that can support the growth of our language school.

We will ensure that we hire competent hands (teaching and non – teaching staff members) to help us build the language school of our dream. The fact that we want to become one of the leading language schools in the industry in the whole of the United States of America makes it highly necessary for our organization to deliberately build a well – structured business from the onset.

We will work hard to ensure that we only attract people with the right mindset to help us achieve our business goals and objectives. Below is the business structure that we will build at Kings International® Language School;

• Head of School (School Proprietress)

School Administrator

Tutors for Various Languages

• Accountant/Bursar
• Client Service Executive/Front Desk Officer

Security Officers

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Head of School/School Coordinator:

• Grows management’s effectiveness by employing, selecting, positioning, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
• Produces, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for fixing school fees and signing business deals
• Accountable for providing direction for the business
• Creates, interconnects, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• In charge of signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the language school
• Design job descriptions with KPI to drive performance management for tutors (teachers)
• Regularly hold meetings with key stakeholders (students and member of the school board) to review the effectiveness of the schools’ Policies, Procedures and Processes
• Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily activities of the language school.
• Teach subjects as assigned by the school administrator
• Establishes foundations in various languages as assigned
• Accesses the progress of students under their care
• Ensures that students abide by the rules and regulations of the school
• Contributes his/her quota towards growing the language school
• Receives complaints from students and channel it to the appropriate quarters
• Handles any other duty as assigned by the school administrator

Marketing Executive

• Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new students, and business opportunities et al
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
• Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility studies for clients
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding sales
• Documents all customer contact and information
• Represents the company in strategic meetings
• Helps to increase sales and growth for the school

School Bursar (Accountant)

• In control of preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
• In authority of developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensuring compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for Kings International® Language School
• Serves as internal auditor for Kings International® Language School

Client Service Executive

• Welcomes / receive students by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
• Ensures that all contacts with parents and students (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the students with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
• Through interaction with students on the phone, uses every opportunity to build student’s interest in the schools’ products and services
• Manages administrative duties assigned by the HR and Admin Manager in an effective and timely manner
• Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the schools’ products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to students when they make enquiries
• Receives parcels/documents for Kings International® Language School
• Distributes mails in the organization
• Handles any other duties as assigned by the School Administrator
• Responsible for cleaning the school facility at all times
• Ensures that toiletries and supplies don’t run out of stock
• Cleans both the interior and exterior of the schools’ facility
• Ensures that the school facility is secured at all time
• Controls traffic and organize parking
• Gives security tips to staff members from time to time
• Patrols around the building on a 24 hours’ basis
• Submits security reports weekly
• Any other duty as assigned by the school administrator.

6. SWOT Analysis

Because of our quest for excellence, Kings International® Language School engaged the services of a core professional in the area of business consulting and structuring with bias in the education sector to assist us in building a well – structured language school that can favorably compete in the highly competitive language schools industry in the United States.

Part of what the team of business consultant did was to work with the management of our organization in conducting a SWOT analysis for Kings International® Language School. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Kings International® Language School;

As a language school, our core strength lies in the power of our workforce. We have a team with excellent qualifications and experience in languages. We are well positioned in a community with the right demography and we know we will attract loads of students from the first day we open our doors and welcome students for enrollment.

As a new language school in Delray Beach – Florida, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance via reputation in the already saturated language schools industry; that is perhaps our major weakness.

• Opportunities:

The opportunities in the language schools industry is massive considering the number of student cum migrants who would want to learn new languages. In the United States, intensive language and cultural training will remain a popular service. As a standard and international language school, Kings International® Language School is ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.

The fact that language instruction software is becoming popular, this has resulted to increase in external threats for this industry.

Some other threats that we are likely going to face as a language school operating in the United States of America are unfavorable government policies that might affect private language schools, the arrival of a competitor within our location of operation and global economic downturn which usually affects spending/purchasing power.

There is hardly anything we can do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

The trend in the language school line of business is that the keys to attracting students are educational performance and the pass rate of their students in national exams. Any language school that has good records will always thrive.

The demand for the services offered by language schools are driven by the fact that migrants, businesses people, tourists and students would need to learn the language of their host country if they truly want to integrate fully in the country or community.

Economic downturn hasn’t really affected this industry, especially in countries that believe in the efficacy of education. The areas you would need to spend heavily on is in ensuring that your school is up to standard, on advertisements, and insurance policy cover.

Lastly, it is trendier to find language schools leveraging on technology to reach out to students beyond the location where their school is located. With the aid of technology, a language school in the United States of America can enroll and tutor students in any part of the world via online study programs.

8. Our Target Market

As a standard and international language school, Kings International® Language School is going to offer varieties of language instruction services within the scope of the language schools industry in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our language school is to soundly educate people in various languages and of course to make profits from the language schools industry.

Our target market as a private language school cuts across people (students, migrants, tourist, diplomats and business people) of different classes and cultural background whether African, Caucasian, Latinos, Indians, and Asians. We are coming into the language school industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the students at different learning stages.

Our Competitive Advantage

Indeed, the language school industry is highly competitive and the entry barriers are high. As a matter of fact, it is pretty difficult for new entrants to establish themselves in the language school industry. So also, the reputation of the language school is of utmost importance.

We are quite aware that to be highly competitive in the industry means that you should be able to deliver consistent quality service, your students should be able to experience remarkable improvement and you should be able to meet the expectations of both students and parents alike.

Kings International® Language School might be a new entrant into the language schools industry in the United States of America, but the management staff and owners of the school are considered gurus. They are licensed and highly qualified educationists/teachers at various levels of language learning in the United States. These are part of what will count as a competitive advantage for us.

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Kings International® Language School is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the language schools industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract students on a regular basis. Kings International® Language School will generate income by offering the following language tutorial services;

10. Sales Forecast

One thing is certain, there would always be students who would need the services of language schools to be able to achieve their educational goals and as such the services of language schools will always be needed.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in Delray Beach – Florida and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income/profits from the first six months of operation and grow the language school and our student base.

We have been able to critically examine language schools in the United States of America and we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projections are based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to similar startups in Delray Beach – Florida.

• First Fiscal Year: $250,000
• Second Fiscal Year: $450,000
• Third Fiscal Year: $750,000

N.B: This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown within the period stated above. Also, there won’t be any major competitor (language school) offering same additional services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

We are mindful of the fact that there are stiff competitions amongst language schools in the United States of America; hence we have been able to hire some of the best marketing experts to handle our sales and marketing concerns.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited base on their vast experience in the industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of the language school. We will also ensure that our students’ excellent result from national exams and other exams speaks for us in the market place; we want to build a standard school that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from satisfied clients.

Kings International® Language School is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;

• Introduce our language school by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to schools, corporate organizations and key stake holders in Delray Beach – Florida
• Print out fliers and business cards and strategically drop them in schools, libraries and even student organizations
• Use friends and family to spread word about our language school
• Introduce Kings International® Language School to learning specialists, school administrators, teachers, guidance counselors especially as they are with students everyday
• Post information about Kings International® Language School on bulletin boards in places like schools, libraries, and local coffee shops.
• Place a small or classified advertisement in newspapers, or local publications about Kings International® Language School.
• Use tutorial referral networks such as agencies that will help match students with Kings International® Language School.
• Join relevant association or body that will enable us network and meet others in same industry.
• Advertise online by using an advertising platform such as Google AdWords, that will allow us place text advertisements alongside on websites with related contents, and along results from search engines.
• Advertise our language school in relevant educational magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and radio station.
• Attend relevant educational expos, seminars, and business fairs et al.
• Engage direct marketing approach.
• Encourage word of mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied students.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We are aware of the potency of a good publicity strategy hence we have been able to work with our brand and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market.

We are set to become the number one choice for students in the whole of Delray Beach – Florida which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our language school. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Kings International® Language School;

• Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant community based events/programs
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
• Install our billboards in strategic locations all around Delray Beach – Florida
• Engage in roadshows from time to time in targeted neighborhoods in and around Delray Beach – Florida
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas in and around Delray Beach – Florida
• Passing general information via our school’s social media handles like twitter, Facebook, Google hangouts etc.
• Ensure that all our teaching and non – teaching staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are well branded with our schools’ logo et al.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Language schools in the United States of America and of course in all parts of the world charge students per tem/per session and students have the option of either paying their tuitions before resumption or during the school session. Language schools generally charge students based on loads of factors, locations, services offerings and extra – curricular activities et al.

At Kings International® Language School, we will keep our fees below the average market rate for all of our students by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance.  In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to all our students at regular intervals.

We are aware that there are some students that would need special assistance, we will offer flat rate for such services that will be tailored to take care of such students’ needs.

• Payment Options

The payment policy adopted by Kings International® Language School is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulations of the United States of America.

Here are the payment options that Kings International® Language School will make available to her clients;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment with cash
• Payment via Point of Sale Machine (POS)
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our services without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials to clients who may want to deposit cash or make online transfer for the purchase of our services.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

In setting up a language school business, the amount or cost will depend on the approach and scale you want to undertake. If you intend to go big by acquiring a large facility, then you would need a higher amount of capital as you would need to ensure that your employees are taken care of, and that your language school’s environment is conducive enough for students to learn.

The materials and equipment that will be used are nearly the same cost everywhere, and any difference in prices would be minimal and can be overlooked. As for the detailed cost analysis for starting a language school business; it might differ in other countries due to the value of their money.

However, this is what it would cost us to start Kings International® Language School in the United of America;

• Business incorporating fees in the United States of America will cost – $750 .
• The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $3,500
• Acquiring a large facility that will accommodate the number of block of classes, staff offices and parking lots et al (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $350,000 .
• Equipping the classes and office (computers, printers, projectors, markers, pens and pencils, furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $50,000
• Launching an official Website will cost – $500
• The budget for the payment of salaries for the first three months of operations: $120,000
• Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions will cost – $15,000

Going by the market survey and feasibility studies conducted, we came to the conclusion that we will need an average of $750,000 to start a medium scale but standard language school in the United States of America.

Generating Startup Capital for Kings International® Language School

Kings International® Language School is a family business that will be owned and managed by Dr. Jenkins Adolphus and his immediate family members. They are the sole financiers of the language school which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the school to three major sources.

These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;

• Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
• Generate part of the startup capital from friends and other extended family members
• Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank

N.B: We have been able to generate about $250,000 ( Personal savings $200,000 and soft loan from family members $50,000 ) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $500,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

It is a known fact that the future of any business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and of course their business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business, then it won’t be too long before the business closes shop.

One of our major goals of starting Kings International® Language School is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running. We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers (students and parents alike) over is to ensure that we offer nothing less than the best.

Kings International® Language School will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner of our business strategy.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of three years or more as determined by the board of the organization. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List/Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Securing a standard facility large enough to accommodate our design: Completed
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating part of the startup capital from the founders: Completed
• Writing of Business Plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
• Design of The Language Schools’ Logo: Completed
• Graphic Designs and Printing of Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the School: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the language school in Delray Beach – Florida: In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with vendors and key players in the education industry: In Progress

More on School

How to Start Your Own Educational Learning Center

• Small Business
• Setting Up a New Business
• Starting Your Own Company
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SWOT Analysis for Indoor Playgrounds

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• How to Open a Driving School Business
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According to Global Industry Analysts, the private learning and tutoring market is experiencing rapid growth; it's on pace to become a $227.2 billion industry by 2022. Starting your own educational learning center allows you to get involved with a business trend that is headed in the right direction. Starting an educational learning center also gives you the chance to make a difference in the lives of children every day. Before opening an educational learning center, several steps must be completed.

Write a Detailed Business Plan

Include information about whether you plan on buying into a franchise or starting your own independent business. Evaluate the competition and create some financial projections for your business as well.

Get Startup Funding

For this process, pursue funding from investors or by getting a loan from a commercial lender. When working with a lender, the money must be paid back at some point. If you bring on investors, your future profits must be shared. Both investors and lenders require a copy of your business plan before they will think about giving you the money you need.

Find a Location

Find a place that is convenient for parents to drop off their children. For example, locate your center relatively close to a school or a residential area. Get a building that has rooms for several classes, a computer area and possibly a play area.

Hire Teachers or Tutors

Hire individuals who have been certified by the National Tutoring Association. This helps lend your institution some credibility with parents.

Buy the Equipment

This includes books, computers, desks, chairs, chalkboards, educational toys and videos. If you get involved with a franchise, a list of necessary materials is provided. If not, buy the materials that you need according to your business plan.

Promote Your Business

Offer an introductory price or promotion so that more customers sign up initially. Consult with local schools to see if they will allow you to pass out fliers or be mentioned in the school bulletin. Advertising in the newspaper, on the radio and on television in your area helps get the word out about your business also.

Utilize Digital Marketing Techniques

Although local advertising is a great way to get the word out about your new learning center, digital marketing allows you to reach new customers much more quickly. Social media specifically gives satisfied clients a place to post testimonials, while also allowing the company to post about current discounts or the addition of new tutoring courses.

• Purchase property and general liability insurance for your business. Setting up a corporation or a limited liability company helps you avoid being held personally responsible for any business occurrences.
• National Tutoring Association: Homepage
• Huntington Franchise: Homepage
• Career Trend: How to Start a Learning Center
• Profitable Venture: Starting a Learning Center Business – A Complete Guide

Luke Arthur has been writing professionally since 2004 on a number of different subjects. In addition to writing informative articles, he published a book, "Modern Day Parables," in 2008. Arthur holds a Bachelor of Science in business from Missouri State University.

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How To Write a Business Plan for Foreign Language School in 9 Steps: Checklist

By henry sheykin, resources on foreign language school.

• Financial Model
• Business Plan
• Value Proposition
• One-Page Business Plan
• SWOT Analysis
• Business Model
• Marketing Plan

Are you considering starting a foreign language school? With the increasing demand for language proficiency and specialized courses, it's no surprise that the foreign language school industry is booming. According to recent statistics, the global language learning market is expected to reach a value of $54.63 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2020 to 2027. So, if you have a passion for teaching languages and want to tap into this thriving market, you need a well-crafted business plan. In this article, we'll walk you through the 9 essential steps to write a business plan for your foreign language school, providing you with a checklist to guide you along the way.

Conduct Market Research

Before starting a foreign language school, it is crucial to conduct thorough market research to understand the demand, competition, and potential for success in your target market. This research will enable you to make informed decisions and develop a successful business plan. Here are some important steps to consider:

• Identify your target market: Determine the demographics and characteristics of the individuals who are most likely to be interested in learning a foreign language. Consider factors such as age, occupation, education level, and language preferences.
• Understand the demand: Research the demand for foreign language education in your chosen location. Are there already established language schools? If so, what are their strengths and weaknesses? Are there any gaps or untapped opportunities in the market that you can take advantage of?
• Analyze the competition: Identify and analyze your competitors in the foreign language education industry. Look into their offerings, pricing, teaching methods, and reputation. This will help you differentiate your school and develop unique selling points.
• Assess market trends: Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in foreign language education. This includes advancements in teaching methodologies, emerging technologies, and changes in language learning preferences. Understanding these trends will allow you to adapt and stay ahead of the competition.
• Utilize online resources: Take advantage of online platforms, such as social media groups and forums, to gather insights and connect with individuals interested in learning a foreign language. This will help you gain valuable feedback and tailor your offerings to meet their needs.
• Conduct surveys and interviews: Reach out to potential customers to gather firsthand information about their language learning preferences, pain points, and expectations. This will provide you with valuable insights to shape your curriculum and services.
• Visit local language schools: Get a sense of the local market by visiting existing language schools in your area. Observe their classrooms, speak to teachers or administrators, and gather insights on their operations, strengths, and weaknesses.

By conducting comprehensive market research, you will have a solid foundation for your business plan, allowing you to make strategic decisions and position your foreign language school for success.

Define Target Market And Identify Competitors

Defining the target market is a crucial step in developing a successful business plan for a foreign language school. Understanding the specific demographics and characteristics of your potential students is essential for tailoring your offerings and marketing efforts effectively.

To define your target market:

• Identify the demographics of your ideal students, such as age, occupation, and educational background.
• Research their language learning needs and preferences, including their desired proficiency levels and specific industries they wish to work in.
• Consider the geographic location of your target market to determine whether you will focus on local students or offer virtual classes to a global audience.

Identifying competitors:

Researching and understanding your competitors is crucial for positioning your language school effectively and gaining a competitive edge. By analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, you can identify unique selling points and differentiate your offerings to attract students.

Here are some tips for identifying competitors:

• Conduct online research to identify other language schools in your area or those offering virtual classes.
• Visit their websites and social media profiles to understand their course offerings, teaching methods, and pricing structure.
• Read reviews and testimonials to gauge the satisfaction levels of their students.
• Attend language learning workshops or events in your area to network with professionals in the field and gather insights about potential competitors.
• Consider reaching out to language instructors or former students to gather firsthand information about other schools' strengths and weaknesses.

By defining your target market and identifying your competitors, you can better tailor your offerings and marketing strategies to attract and retain students effectively. This understanding will guide your decision-making process throughout the business plan development and implementation phases.

Create A Mission Statement And Define Business Objectives

In order to establish a clear direction for your foreign language school, it is essential to create a mission statement and define your business objectives. This will serve as a guiding principle for your operations and help you stay focused on your goals.

A mission statement is a concise statement that captures the purpose and values of your language school. It should clearly articulate what your school aims to achieve and how it plans to impact the lives of its students. A well-crafted mission statement not only communicates your school's purpose to potential customers but also acts as an internal motivator for your team.

When creating your mission statement, consider the core values that you want your language school to uphold, the unique qualities that set it apart from competitors, and the impact you wish to make in the language learning industry. Keep it concise, memorable, and aligned with your overall business objectives.

• Include specific language learning goals or outcomes you want to achieve.
• Avoid using jargon or complex language to ensure clarity and understanding.
• Consider involving your team in the process to gain diverse perspectives and ideas.

Business objectives are the specific goals and targets you want to accomplish within a defined timeframe. These objectives should align with your mission statement and provide a roadmap for your language school's growth and success.

When defining your business objectives, it is important to make them measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This will help you track your progress, assess your achievements, and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Consider setting objectives related to student enrollment numbers, revenue growth, customer satisfaction rates, expansion into new markets, or partnerships with reputable institutions. By clearly defining your objectives, you can effectively allocate resources, make strategic decisions, and drive your language school towards success.

• Regularly review and update your objectives to adapt to changing market conditions and emerging opportunities.
• Align your objectives with your overall business strategy and long-term vision.
• Communicate your objectives to your team to foster a shared sense of purpose and motivation.

Determine The Legal Structure Of The Business

Determining the legal structure of your foreign language school is a critical step in the business planning process. It establishes the framework for how your school will operate, and it has important implications for liability, taxation, and ownership.

1. Research Different Legal Structures: Begin by researching the various legal structures available for your business, such as sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or corporation. Each structure has different requirements and implications, so it's essential to understand the pros and cons of each option.

2. Consult an Attorney or Other Legal Professional: To ensure you make a well-informed decision about the legal structure, consult with an attorney or other legal professional who specializes in business law. They can provide valuable guidance and help you navigate any legal complexities.

3. Consider Liability Protection: One important consideration when choosing a legal structure is liability protection. Some structures, like an LLC or corporation, provide limited liability protection, which can shield your personal assets in the event of legal actions or debts incurred by the business.

4. Evaluate Tax Implications: Different legal structures have different tax implications. For example, a sole proprietorship may allow you to report your business income and expenses on your personal tax return, while a corporation may require separate tax filings. It's crucial to understand how each structure impacts your tax obligations.

5. Decide on Ownership and Management: The legal structure you choose will also determine how ownership and management of your language school are structured. For example, in a sole proprietorship, you have complete control and bear all responsibility. In a partnership or corporation, ownership and decision-making may be shared among multiple individuals.

Tips for determining the legal structure:

• Consider seeking advice from other language school owners who have experience with different legal structures.
• Think about your long-term goals for the business and how different legal structures align with those objectives.
• Take into account the administrative and paperwork requirements associated with each legal structure.

Estimate The Startup Costs And Develop A Budget

Once you have conducted market research and defined your target market, it is essential to estimate the startup costs and develop a budget for your foreign language school. This step is crucial in ensuring a solid financial foundation for your business.

Start by identifying all the necessary expenses to establish and operate your language school. Consider costs such as leasing or purchasing a physical space, renovating the premises, acquiring furniture and equipment, and obtaining licenses and permits. Don't forget to account for costs related to technology infrastructure, such as computers, software, and internet connectivity.

Here are some important considerations when estimating startup costs:

Researching Market Rates:

Obtaining quotes:, legal and administrative costs:, marketing and advertising:, contingency fund:.

Once you have estimated your startup costs, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive budget that covers all your expenses and revenue projections. A well-defined budget will help you monitor your financial performance, make informed decisions, and track progress toward your business objectives.

Remember, accurately estimating your startup costs and developing a budget is essential for the long-term success and sustainability of your foreign language school.

Identify Potential Sources Of Funding

Identifying potential sources of funding is a crucial step in the process of starting a foreign language school. Securing adequate funding is essential for covering startup costs, establishing the necessary infrastructure, and implementing effective marketing strategies. Here are some important considerations when identifying potential sources of funding:

• 1. Self-Funding: Consider using personal savings or investments as a primary source of funding. This can give you greater control over the financial aspects of your business and demonstrate your commitment to its success.
• 2. Small Business Loans: Explore the possibility of securing a small business loan from financial institutions or government-sponsored programs. Research the requirements and terms of different loans to find the best fit for your needs.
• 3. Grants and Scholarships: Research available grants and scholarships that are specifically tailored to support entrepreneurial ventures in the education sector. These can provide valuable funding resources, particularly if your school aims to promote language learning in underserved communities or for specific target groups.
• 4. Crowdfunding: Consider utilizing crowdfunding platforms to raise funds for your language school. Craft a compelling campaign that highlights the unique aspects and benefits of your school to attract potential donors or investors.
• 5. Partnerships and Sponsorships: Explore the possibility of establishing partnerships with organizations or businesses that align with your language school's mission and objectives. This can provide access to funding as well as additional resources and support.
• 6. Angel Investors or Venture Capitalists: If your language school has the potential for rapid growth and scalability, explore the option of seeking investment from angel investors or venture capitalists. However, be prepared to present a comprehensive business plan and demonstrate the potential return on investment.
• Research and identify specific grants or scholarships focused on language education to increase your chances of securing funding.
• Develop a clear and comprehensive business plan that outlines your school's potential for growth and profitability to attract potential investors or lenders.
• Consider seeking advice from business mentors or industry experts who have experience in securing funding for educational ventures.
• Networking is key: Attend industry events, join relevant organizations, and connect with professionals who can potentially introduce you to funding opportunities.

Remember, securing funding for your foreign language school is a critical aspect of turning your business idea into a reality. Take the time to explore different options, conduct thorough research, and develop a strategic approach to funding your venture.

Develop A Pricing Strategy

Developing a pricing strategy for your foreign language school is essential to ensure your services are competitive and profitable. Here are some important considerations when determining your pricing:

• Research the market: Conduct thorough market research to understand the pricing ranges for similar language schools in your area or online. This will help you gauge what customers are willing to pay and establish competitive pricing.
• Assess your costs: Calculate your business expenses, including rent, utilities, staff salaries, educational resources, and other overhead costs. Determine how much revenue you need to cover these expenses and make a profit.
• Consider value-added services: If you offer additional services like test preparation or cultural immersion programs, determine how much value they add to your offerings. Consider pricing them separately or bundling them into course packages.
• Segment your target market: Divide your target market into different segments based on their preferences, needs, and ability to pay. Consider offering different pricing tiers or packages for each segment, allowing flexibility and catering to different budgets.
• Competitor analysis: Identify your competitors' pricing strategies and differentiate your school by offering unique features or benefits. Consider pricing slightly higher if you can demonstrate higher quality or specialized courses.
• Subscription or pay-per-class model: Decide whether to offer a subscription-based model where students pay a monthly fee for unlimited classes or a pay-per-class model where they pay for each individual session. Evaluate which option aligns with your objectives and target market.
• Discounts and promotions: Consider offering discounts or promotional packages to attract new students or encourage continued enrollment. However, ensure that these discounts do not compromise your profitability in the long run.
• Flexibility: Build flexibility into your pricing strategy to accommodate changes in market dynamics, customer preferences, and evolving business needs. Regularly reassess and adjust your pricing as necessary.
• Offer flexible payment options, such as installment plans or early bird discounts, to incentivize prompt enrollment.
• Consider offering loyalty programs or referral incentives to encourage student retention and word-of-mouth marketing.
• Regularly monitor and analyze the effectiveness of your pricing strategy to ensure it is generating the desired revenue and remaining competitive.

Create A Marketing And Advertising Plan

In order to promote and attract students to your foreign language school, a well-developed marketing and advertising plan is essential. This plan will help you identify the most effective channels to reach your target market and position your school as a trusted language learning provider. Here are some steps to create an effective marketing and advertising plan:

• Identify your target audience: Determine the specific demographics, interests, and needs of your target market. This will help you tailor your marketing messages and choose the most relevant advertising platforms.
• Define your unique selling proposition: Clearly communicate what sets your language school apart from competitors. Highlight the special features, expertise, or teaching methods that make your school the best choice for language learners.
• Choose advertising channels: Explore various advertising channels to reach your target audience, such as online platforms, social media, print media, radio, or television. Consider the cost, reach, and effectiveness of each channel.
• Create compelling content: Develop engaging and informative content that showcases the benefits of learning languages at your school. This can include blog posts, videos, testimonials, and images that highlight your language instructors, available courses, and success stories.
• Implement digital marketing strategies: Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to improve your website's visibility in search engine results. Consider using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, email marketing, and social media marketing to reach a wider audience.
• Build partnerships: Seek partnerships with universities, language institutions, or professional language certification bodies. This can enhance your school's credibility and attract more students.
• Offer special promotions or discounts to attract new students and encourage word-of-mouth referrals.
• Develop partnerships with local businesses that have a similar target market, such as travel agencies or international organizations.
• Host free language workshops or events to showcase your teaching approach and engage with potential students.
• Invest in online advertising platforms that allow you to target specific demographics and geographic locations.
• Monitor and analyze the effectiveness of your marketing activities regularly to make informed adjustments and optimize your efforts.

By creating a comprehensive marketing and advertising plan, you can effectively promote your foreign language school and attract a steady stream of students who are eager to learn languages and achieve their language learning goals.

Develop A Timeline For Implementation And Launch

Once you have completed the necessary steps in creating a business plan for your foreign language school, it is essential to develop a timeline for implementation and launch. This timeline will serve as a roadmap to guide you through the process of starting and launching your language school successfully.

The first step in developing a timeline is to break down the tasks required to start your language school into smaller, manageable components. This will help you determine the specific actions that need to be taken and the order in which they should occur. Consider creating a detailed project plan or using project management software to outline these tasks and their respective deadlines.

Next, assign responsible individuals or teams to each task, ensuring that there is clear accountability for completing them on time. By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, you can ensure that everyone is working towards a common goal and that progress is being made.

To help stay organized and on track, it is also beneficial to create milestones or checkpoints at various intervals throughout the timeline. These milestones can be used to evaluate progress, identify any challenges, and make necessary adjustments to the plan. Regularly reviewing and revising your timeline will help you stay flexible and adaptable to changes that may arise.

Tips for Developing a Timeline:

• Break down tasks into smaller, manageable components.
• Assign responsible individuals or teams to each task.
• Create milestones or checkpoints for evaluating progress.
• Regularly review and revise your timeline as needed.

By developing a timeline for implementation and launch, you are setting yourself up for success. This timeline will serve as a guide, keeping you organized and focused on the key tasks and deadlines. With proper planning and execution, your foreign language school will be ready to make its mark in the market.

In conclusion, writing a business plan for a foreign language school involves conducting thorough market research, defining target market and competitors, creating a mission statement and business objectives, determining the legal structure, estimating startup costs and developing a budget, identifying potential sources of funding, developing a pricing strategy, creating a marketing and advertising plan, and developing a timeline for implementation and launch. By following these nine steps, you can effectively plan and establish a successful foreign language school that can cater to the needs of diverse learners and generate revenue through various models and additional services.

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Rethink Your Language School Business Plan To Maximize Profit

Language schools have a significant impact on the economy. Surprised? Don’t be. Language instruction has proven to have impressive financial benefits in the countries where the industry is abloom. In fact, a 2014 BVA study by Campus France for French Language Training in France says that FSL (French as a second language) training provides $2.1 billion in direct economic profit to France. Moreover, the study pointed to a number of additional positive impacts of language instruction on the economy, beyond the net fund. These include:

41% of international students work while in the country, contributing to public health and social security funds as a result. Interestingly, the students themselves rarely benefit from the programs themselves.

85% of survey respondents have the intention to return to france as tourists in the future., 70% indicated their study experience would compel them to purchase french products. nearly 80% stated it would increase their desire to work with french companies..

This trend is great news for language school owners. Of course, there is the benevolent factor of contributing to your country’s economy. But, it’s also impressive that language schools are a profitable business that may influence an entire economy. Is it really true, though? Are language schools profitable? Absolutely. Language instruction is a multi-billion dollar industry. There is money in education! Is your language school reaping the full benefits of the fruitful market?  Read on to learn how to make your language school profitable.

Get Creative with Your Language School’s Business Model

The answer to making money as a language school owner is all about building a school business model  or plan that maximizes profit. Most private schools operate under the same simple business model — students enroll and pay a fee for a fixed period. They take lessons in a physical classroom with a teacher . The product being sold — classroom learning. But what happens if you push beyond that?

There are other ways to operate a school that optimizes both profit and student learning. If your current business plan not working, it is time to look at other options. And there are plenty. Think about the business models for schools below, as described by Terry Phillips in El Gazette, an international ELT newspaper. This may be the change you need to make to produce the business results you desire.

The Supermarket

Do you ever walk into the store for a single thing, let’s say toilet paper, and come out an hour later with a full basket? This is how most supermarkets work: the store offers a small, limited amount of staple products for below the market price to get customers in the store. Upon the first step of the customer through the door, the rest of the business scheme is set to persuade the customer to do all of his or her shopping in one place. The prices of other products may usually be higher than at other stores — but, hey, you’re already here.

A language school using this business model would offer basic/beginner courses at a low price. Once those students advance their skills, they are more likely to remain with the same supplier for higher-level courses. Those, of course, will be more expensive — but familiarity and customer loyalty play a crucial role here.

Most hotels do not actually gain their main income from renting out rooms. In fact, most hotels aim to get the highest occupancy rate every night to gain a large audience to whom they may sell goods and services. Ever check the price on water bottles in the hotel room mini fridge? That’s where the hotel’s profit comes from! The customer comes for the room, and spends money on easily accessible goods and services. And that’s a lot more profitable.

For a language school, the hotel model would work like this: the language courses at a low rate pull in students, while the joint coffee shop, bookshop, bar or restaurant make the money. You may also make money on immersive language trips, which your students will invest in if they feel like they are saving money on the courses themselves.

The Airline

Voyage accounting is the business  model all airlines use. What does it mean? It means that each trip, from start to finish, is one transaction, a single product. Once a plane takes off, the product may no longer be sold — so any empty seat is lost money. The key concept is to sell every last product before a set deadline.

A language school of this type would offer incentives in a form of discounts or other benefits for enrolling in courses very early or very close to the deadline. To really get into the spirit of the model, you may also offer sandwiches and refreshments in the classroom.

The Leisure Club

What happens if you do the exact opposite of what is a typical language school model ? Whereas a typical school has a specific time when it provides its service to its students en masse, the leisure club model provides the service during the time that the customer chooses.

To apply this model to a language school, one could implement a self-access center with staff available to guide and set learning objectives. It also has levels of membership, including a membership with the advantage of a one-to-one trainer.

The Fast Food Restaurant

There is a reason the fast food restaurant business model is so effective — it offers a limited range of products of equal quality at various franchises for a low price. Anything additional, such as condiments, is an extra charge. The key that attracts customers is consistency of quality and service. A language school following this model would offer a limited number of short-term, low-cost courses. The content of the courses would be exactly delineated across various sites. Create a consistent, high-quality language instruction model in various locations, and you will create a trustworthy brand that appeals to students all over the world.

The Fashion Boutique

Do you ever wonder how those haute culture stores with $2,000 sweaters make their money? Who would buy such a thing? What makes boutiques work is only a handful of patrons. Sure, the majority of people walking in or window shopping will not purchase a thing. But, once a single highbrow customer enters and buys the sweater, the purchase not only covers the cost of goods but the total cost of design and production. Multiply that occasion to a handful times a month, and the store has made a profit. That’s why most boutiques have a very healthy profit margin.

A boutique business model applied to a language school would sell a limited number of seats to very expensive courses each year. The course would most likely be a highly specialized ESP (English for Specific Purpose) that would attract a niche audience that may pay the price tag.

Know the Metrics of School Business Growth

In order to increase profit, language schools need to focus on the metrics that influence those numbers. There are eight key areas identified by school business experts that play a role in the financial success of the business:

 1. LANGUAGE SCHOOL Retention rate

To increase your language school retention rate , focus on communicating with the parents. The efficiency of the system of communication between the school and parents will control how the parent perceives the school their child attends. If a parents dislikes how a school handles communication, he or she will not only pull the student, but compel other families to leave, as well. On the other hand, happy parents make the best ambassadors for your brand!

What is the number of prospects that see your advertisement or hear about your language school through word-of-mouth ? That is your company’s traffic. How do you increase that number? Social media advertising is key here — some of the most accessible and high-traffic platforms available.

3. Inquiries

Your website is the determining factor in how your language school handles enrollment inquiries. It will either turn prospects into applicants or give your school a bad name and turn them away. Make your school’s website user-friendly, clean and interesting with a good layout and quality content. This is the platform that parents will use for all types of inquiry — from basic information about the school to filling out application forms.

4. LANGUAGE SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS

With proper marketing, solid branding, and happy parents, your enrollment rates will climb. While this is your ultimate goal, keep in mind that it takes all eight to keep your school successful.

5. Children per Family

How many children a family has may seem like a strange metric for a business. However, imagine this — you have a family who is a perfect fit with your program, who trust your school enough to enroll all three of their children. The parents are more involved in volunteering and you get to know the children on a better level that enhance both their education and interpersonal skills. That’s a solid relationship to have on a community level as well as a great factor for your retention rate and word-of-the-mouth marketing.

6. AVERAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOL PROGRAM TUITION

As the rate of your inquiries increases, you may be more selective with who you enroll. This also means that you may increase the tuition rate, as more demand and limited supply equals a product of a higher market value. Your tuition should be increasing every year, at minimum to keep up with inflation.

7. LANGUAGE SCHOOL PROGRAMS PER CHILD

Being able to offer a selection range is good for any type of business. A language school should have a selection of programs that will appeal not only to students of various levels of language skills, but to those interested in specialized programs (think Business English or English for Technology). Constantly test and develop new programs, while also marketing these programs to your current and prospective parents.

8. Profit Margin

Do you know the profit margin per child? Most schools get stuck at ten percent. How do you get yours higher? Focus on better business management. With the right focus (and by applying the tips below!) your school should and will do better.

Tips on Maximizing Profit when Starting an ESL School

Approach sponsors in intelligently.

  Have a smart plan for how you approach sponsors and how you utilize their business that benefit you both. Take the example of Jean Joachim, author of Beyond the Bake Sale , who held successful fundraisers for schools in New York City for years. He often used the tactic of partnering up with local stores that gave a percentage of sales during certain hours to the school. He says that people love shopping while feeling good about the money they have spent. “One night at Barnes & Noble we handed out fliers to other, non parent customers, explaining that they could help the neighborhood school just by checking out at a designated register. People were thrilled to help,” he says in his fundraising for schools book. Consider collaborating on such events with local stores and restaurants. When you meet with the businesses, mention that an event like this brings in more customers, acts as advertisement to the establishment, and is a great way to give back to the community.

  Involve Students

When potential donors see the face of the child who will directly benefit from their funds, they are more likely to give more. Plus, getting the students involved makes for great community-building activity. Ask for donations from both parents and local businesses! Schools often ask for and receive glue sticks, coloring pencils, handwriting pens, tissues, whiteboard pens and paper.

OPTIMIZE LANGUAGE SCHOOL STAFFING AND Site

According to school business manager Nazli Hussein, schools need to be resourceful with their staff. He also suggested that schools could allow the school itself to generate income . To generate and save funds, Hussein suggests that schools:

• Share services such as site, finance and human resources teams with other schools
• Outsource staff with specialized skills to schools that need the support but cannot afford full-time staff
• Employ a procurement consultant
• Hire a timetabling consultant to improve efficiency of staff
• Hire volunteers and employ parents
• Rent out school spaces. Consider hiring out car parks, IT equipment and catering facilities
• Offer a varied timetable of evening and weekend adult education classes
• Set up an on-site cafe to generate income from pupils, staff and visitors

Offer Virtual LANGUAGE Classes a nd Online Platforms

Classes going online, either partially or fully, may be the easiest method for increasing profitability. Online teaching and learning is extremely efficient in allowing language schools to increase the enrolment volume while saving costs . With the right classroom software , schools may offer courses to more students, without having to spend on expanding the physical infrastructure. Live or recorded virtual classes may be watched from the comfort of home. Students also save time and resources, not having transportation costs and getting a quality education for a lower price. Meanwhile, language schools may focus on delivering the best quality language training available.

That’s why we created Your Agora - an ESL teaching platform that will optimize language instruction while saving you money. Your teachers and students will love the grading tools, the easy scheduling, and a library full of teaching material that has been collaborated by experienced ESL instructors all over the world. Be a smart language teaching business owner and a caring instructor . Make the switch now!  

Use Your Agora to bolster your language school business plan and help improve your profits.

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Sample Language School Business Plan

Language school business plan sample.

You possess language skills and want to set up a school right?

One of the most important things you need is a plan. There is hardly any progress to be made without this. Hence the purpose of having this English or foreign language school business plan sample.

Our aim is to help you plan for your business.

This sample gives you an idea on how to go about the whole process. That is, from its planning stages to its eventual implementation.

Here is a sample business plan for starting a language training center.

Executive Summary

Bridge Lingual Center is a center of excellence for the learning of languages. We are a fully licensed and accredited school located in the Buffalo, New York.

Our location is strategic due to its diversity. Such diversity naturally increases the need to learn new languages apart from English. Our classes are taught native speakers of the world’s most popular languages.

These languages include Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian. Others are French, American Sign Language (ASL), Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. We plan on expanding the number of languages taught. However, this will depend on demand.

The learning environment at Bridge Lingual Center is very conducive for learning. This is due to our highly interactive classes where students get the opportunity to learn from native speakers. Our online learning program has just been introduced. This will be crucial in developing good language skills within a short time.

Products and Services

We offer a wide range of quality services carefully designed to help with easy language learning. Currently, the available language courses include ASL, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Russian.

Other languages are Arabic, Japanese and French.

Cultural programs have also been designed to help immerse our students into the very detailed aspects of various cultures. These helps increase their level of interests and eventually their skills in their chosen language.

Our library services are also very crucial to fast learning. Materials include audio, and visual contents.

At Bridge Lingual Center, our vision is to build a language school known for excellence. We speak through our students. Ease of learning isn’t something that is so common.

However, we are doing all we can by deploying the latest technology coupled with our native speaking workforce.

Through this, we seek to become the reference point for language learning in the nearest future.

Our Mission

We are driven by professionalism and the adoption of global best practices. We believe that these attributes, coupled with innovation will significantly impact on our reputation as an emerging brand.

Our mission is to break into the top 10 league of best language schools in New York in 5 years.

SWOT Analysis

Bridge Lingual Center has been in existence for the past 4 years. During this time, we have seen a steady climb in student enrollment. A major reason for this is due to our marketing efforts. We’ve also attracted referrals from students.

While there has been a lot of positive gains, these gains have not come without their fair share of challenges.

An assessment of our business so far has shown where we’ve performed well as well as shortcomings. This information is critical to our success going forward.

An assessment of key indicators of our operational health show the following;

i. Strength

Our strong work ethic and quality of workforce has been a major boost to our growth. The location of our language school has also impacted positively.

As a result, we’ve witnessed a growing number of students who have shown a great deal of enthusiasm and approval of our instructional approach.

The results too have been deeply satisfying.

ii. Weakness

In spite of all the strength, there have been weaknesses too. There are lots of competing language schools within the City of Buffalo. Although we aren’t fazed by competition, the problem lies in our current capacity.

This problem isn’t insurmountable as we are stepping up our marketing campaign to meet up and gain our fair share of the market.

iii. Opportunities

The growing need to learn languages for business, communication and cultural assimilation etc makes this area very exciting.

There are endless possibilities and we are ever ready to strategically position our business to take advantage. Our growth outlook extends much beyond Buffalo, New York. We plan on opening more locations across many states.

This 10-year target is a deliberate attempt to reap immense benefits which are inherent in the language learning industry.

iv. Threats

This is a problem we’ll have to deal with when it happens. That is, rise in popularity of subscription based language teaching software. This is a real threat which may eventually affect traditional language teaching schools like ours.

However, our most recent online language teaching program seeks to address that.

Financial Projection

We will be actively improving our services starting from this year. This will see major improvements on all fronts.

This will see a jump in our finances over a period of three years.

We have made projections based on available data and the results have been exciting as summarized below

• First Financial Year                                     $850,000.00
• Second Financial Year                               $1,500,000.00
• Third Financial Year                                   $2,300,000.00

Competitive Advantage

Our language school has largely been driven by innovations and the adoption of best practices. The careful selection of our instructors has also added to our advantage.

Bridge Lingual Center also sits in a strategic part of town which has seen a recent surge in the need to learn a language.

Marketing Strategies

Our marketing strategies will be ramped up to enhance our presence and improve our brand. This aggressive marketing drive will be adopt several platforms such as the social media space and on our websites.

Word of mouth marketing and sponsored print and TV ads will also be included in our marketing campaign. We will also target clients who needs to learn as second language.

This language school business plan sample can be used to position your business for excellence. During and after writing your plan, you’ll have to provide an answer to the question “how good is my plan?” How good a plan is depends on what is included. It must reflect clearly and in a concise way your goals and how you intend to execute them.

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Tutoring Service Business Plan

Start your own tutoring service business plan

Bryan's Tutoring Service

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">, opportunity.

Schools are underfunded, kids need schooling, some kids need more help than others; some parents want to help more than others do. Tutoring helps kids learn.

Bryan’s Tutoring Service offers a wide range of academic subjects. Sessions can be set up as private or students may form groups for tutoring. Private sessions offer intense individual assistance, but groups sessions can also be beneficial with decreased economic costs and the use of team-based approach that the business program encourages. For The Atkinson-based courses, Bryan’s Tutoring Service offers an extensive collection of past exams which are invaluable for teaching the material and for exam preparation. For all students, Bryan’s Tutoring Service uses the Systematic Analysis Framework (SAF). This unique problem solving approach taught to students provides a system to approach all topics that they encounter in school. This system seeks to provide the student with a way in which they can better solve their own queries. This system differs from most tutors who are primarily concerned with answering the student’s immediate questions and not concerned with providing the students with basic problem solving skills for future applications.

Bryan’s Tutoring Service has identified several target market segments that will be pursued. The largest segment is the Willamette business students. Bryan has close relationships with most of the professors of the business program, allowing Bryan to tailor the tutoring to the specific course material as well as receive referrals from said professors. Within this market segment there will be three subgroups: quantitative clients, non-quantitative clients, and international students. Bryan’s Tutoring Service will also serve undergraduate students from Willamette and the surrounding colleges.

Competition

Tutoring has been around as long as students. And as long as students get in over their head, they will need tutors to help them catch up and keep up with their classmates. Some materials just need to be explained in different ways for them to make sense.

However, while the need for tutoring exists, the bulk of tutoring taking place in the market is very limited and unorganized. What sets this company apart is its experience and the attention paid to individual needs of students.

Bryan’s Tutoring Service exists to help students. We take a unique and innovative approach to teaching that helps students connect with the subject matter they need to master. Through personalized and focussed teaching processes, our students develop the tools they need for ongoing success in their fields of study. Our success depends on our attention to the needs of our clients and truly helping them achieve – we don’t succeed unless our clients succeed.

Expectations

This is a personal tutoring business. Bryan will be able to make enough during the school year to sustain his needs when June July and august come around and students are fewer.  The rent and expenses listed are for him to pay his rent and to eat etc. between group sessions. 

Financial Highlights by Year

Financing needed.

Bryan will use his savings for this venture. He does not need much just enough to get him through the first month’s rent 

Problem & Solution

Problem worth solving, our solution.

Bryan’s Tutoring Service offers a wide range of academic subjects. Sessions can be set up as private or students may form groups for tutoring. Private sessions offer intense individual assistance, but groups sessions can also be beneficial with decreased economic costs and the use of team-based approach that the business program encourages. For The Atkinson-based courses, Bryan’s Tutoring Service offers an extensive collection of past exams which are invaluable for teaching the material and for exam preparation. For all students, Bryan’s Tutoring Service uses the Systematic Analysis Framework (SAF). This unique problem solving approach taught to students provides a system to approach all topics that they encounter in school. This system seeks to provide the student with a way in which they can better solve their own queries. This system differs from most tutors who are primarily concerned with answering the students immediate questions and not concerned with providing the students with basic problem solving skills for future applications.

Target Market

Market size & segments.

The company was founded tutoring students in the graduate school of management in their quantitative subjects. This remains the core segment, although other segments have been developing and show potential to provide the bulk of future income. Graduate students can be divided into three groups: quantitative subjects/students, non-quantitative, and international students.

Undergraduate students will also be served, however Bryan’s Tutoring has a less intimate relationship with the various undergraduate schools and professors. There are several colleges, public, private, and community-based that will provide Bryan’s Tutoring with a steady flow of students. Bryan’s Tutoring will offer tutoring in the courses offered to graduate and undergraduate students. Please review the following section which provides additional detail regarding the different target segments.

Graduate Students The company was founded tutoring students in the graduate school of management in their quantitative subjects. This remains the core segment, although other segments have been developing and show potential to provide the bulk of future income. Graduate students can be divided into three groups:

• Quantitative : These are students who are at the graduate school level and enrolled in quantitative course such as: accounting, finance, business algebra, calculus, and statistics. While this remains the backbone of the company’s business, other areas have been growing quickly and are poised to take off.
• Non-quantitative : These are students who are requesting tutoring for other subjects that are not quantitative. For example, marketing, international management, organizational behavior, and economics. While this was traditionally not as demanded as the quantitative reviews, the experience that the company has developed in tutoring quantitative courses lends itself well to this segment. The ability to prepare students for upcoming exams and to give them practice tests has been a popular service that should only continue to grow in the future.
• International students : Because of the large percentage of students in the program from foreign countries, a specialized service is provided to them. The same courses are tutored, but the focus is less on explaining the complicated math and more on helping them understand the English explanations of the math. From the beginning, a sizeable percentage of students requesting tutoring were from foreign countries. It didn’t take long to figure out that most of these students were quite bright and really did understand the math concepts behind the different subjects being taught. They were just struggling to keep up with the lectures and understand the difficult examples given in class. The same is true of the non-quantitative courses. Tutoring and review courses taught for international students focus less on the math or subject of discussion and more on helping them develop the language skills necessary or simply reviewing the subjects their professors covered. Originally the students who sought these services were quite desperate. Bright individuals who had always been at the head of their class back home, they found themselves struggling to keep up in the classes being taught in English. However, more and more students have been taking advantage of these services to give them the edge they need to compete with their American colleagues. The stigma and embarrassment of having to seek out help have been replaced with a view toward the services as the price of being able to compete in the foreign language (English) at their true capacity. Growth is expected to continue as more and more students use the services and their stigma diminishes.

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Current alternatives

Tutors tend to be individuals with a little extra time and specific expertise in a given topic. However, few have the resources to provide a comprehensive tutoring program covering every possible aspect of a course from understanding the material, to getting the best grade possible from a given professor. The majority of competition comes from one-on-one tutoring conducted by friends of the student. There is no organized tutoring service available to students that really covers their specific course from soup to nuts.

As the company looks to expand beyond the walls of Willamette University to cover community colleges and potentially franchise out to other colleges in other states, there appear to be few organized competitors. Companies like Sylvan Learning Center are mostly geared for handling the needs of younger students, K-12.

Now, while one-on-one tutoring from a friend may be a cheaper way for a student to go, there really is an advantage to paying for tutoring. The tutoring sessions include examples that have been tried and tested previously with prior students. Over time, Bryan has developed a repertoire of examples and approaches to help students with nearly all of the challenges that prevent them from getting the most out of the experience.

As an example, in accounting and finance classes the professors like to use examples that are complicated for some students to grasp. Often the principle is shown using a huge corporation with millions of dollars in revenue, multiple divisions, and decades of history. The principle being taught may be quite simple, but having to wade through the complicated organizational structure and many other accounting principles can be very confusing to some students.

Bryan’s approach is different. Students are better able to see these principles when isolated temporarily in a very simplified manner before placing them back into context. So, students are introduced to a very simplistic business model – Billy Bob’s Lemonade stand. It is shown that each of the accounting or finance principles being taught can apply to a lemonade stand. The advantages of this approach are:

• Many of the North American students had their own lemonade stand at some point in their childhood and so they can relate to the business.
• Even the international students can pick up the concept quickly and see how it would work.
• Using the same business throughout the tutoring relationship provides a safe place for students to learn where they are already familiar with what the business is and how it works.
• Accounting and finance principles work the same whether revenue is in the hundred of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars and whether the calculations are round numbers or not – for purposes of discussion it is easier to work with smaller numbers to teach the principle before applying the principle to complicated situations with large numbers. Too often students are confused not because the principle being taught is confusing, but because they are daunted by the large numbers being used. Once they become familiar with the principle, the numbers are easy to figure out.
• By using the same business to introduce each principle, students don’t need to spend time learning everything about a new business each time they learn a new principle. This means that more time can be spent discussing the principle and less discussing the business.
• Having already seen other principles applied to the same business (before simplifying it back down to its core), students are better able to see the principle inside a complicated business structure.

This is just one technique that has been developed successfully over several years that sets Bryan’s tutoring sessions apart from other options.

After each exam, students are encouraged to bring in their exams to be reviewed. The collection of exams over the years provides the tutoring service with a number of examples for use in tutoring session and to better prepare students for upcoming tests.

Similarly, over the years, certain handouts have been prepared to help teach students particular principles. These are accumulated and updated occassionally as needed. Students who are enrolled in tutoring sessions have full access to several years worth of materials. The cost to the company to provide these materials is very low because they have been developed from time to time over the years when a need arose. Although some investment of time was required to produce them, it is an overhead cost and can be spread out over several years for as long as the handout remains current or useful.

One challenge that the tutoring company faces is the cyclical nature of demand. Students tend to seek tutoring more when an exam is looming. Because of its experience in the school and its understanding of when exams will be coming up, topics of discussion for tutoring classes can be planned and students can be encouraged to keep their studies on a more even track. The focus is on prevention of problems so that last-minute cramming is kept to a minimum.

Finally, the services offered by the company are differentiated from competitors by the quality of Bryan’s teaching. He is fun, energetic, and has a certain stage presence that makes it interesting to attend his tutoring sessions. Moreover, his personalized attention focuses on the specific needs of individual students.

Bryan understands that different people learn in different ways, so classes are taught on various levels. Board displays and other visual aids are employed whenever possible to reach those who learn visually. Explanations are thorough for the audio learners. A training model is employed that gives students a good deal of hands-on time during the session so they can learn by doing. And an analysis of each student helps determine which of these approaches will be the most useful for each individual.

Our advantages

There are no other companies providing specialized and targeted services to the target market. This gives the company an edge that will help it to survive for some time to come. The experience with and knowledge about each of the professors and their courses gives the company an ability to provide specialized services that no one else can compete with on anywhere near the same level. Moreover, the service is further differentiated by the following items:

• Individualized service, based on personalized evaluation of each client and his or her specific needs and strengths. This takes into account the recognition that students learn in various ways, some students learn visually, others orally. Bryan’s Tutoring first evaluates each student and their best way of learning and tailors the tutoring to most effective serve each student.
• The option of one-on-one tutoring or review sessions offered to small groups (enough students so they can learn from each other, but not so many that it becomes confusing and distracting in the session).
• Specialized handouts prepared over several years of tutoring.
• Experience explaining difficult concepts and knowledge of what works best with certain types of students. Sessions can be focussed to better meet the needs of individual students.
• Systematic Analysis Framework (SAF) will be applied to all tutoring. SAF is a system where each student is taught to properly approach any type of problem with a systematic method that provides them with the tools of handling problems with a formal problem solving technique, empowering the student to be able to learn more on their own. This is in contrast with most other tutors who assist the student with specific problems or questions. This is short sighted as it only addresses the difficulty at hand, it does not assist the student with problem solving techniques that provide students with tools to assist them in the future with unforseen problems.

Keys To Success

Keys to success.

• Developing methods of approaching subjects that helps students get their minds around challenging concepts.
• Creating excellent word of mouth promotion of services – clients sell services to other students.
• Truly listening to clients’ needs and diagnosing where their understanding of concepts is breaking down.

Marketing & Sales

Marketing plan.

The real key to this business is staying ahead of the changing student roster. It is important to get out and get seen by all of the incoming students. Testimonials by prior clients are very helpful. A barbecue or party at the beginning of the year would give students a chance to meet and mingle with tutors and get to know who to turn to for help when they feel they need that extra little edge.

The marketing strategy will also incorporate a networking focus where the Bryan’s Tutoring is in close contact with the professors. This allows the company to be quite familiar with the material the various professors are teaching. It also provides the professors with an opportunity to offer referrals to Bryan’s Tutoring for students that need additional assistance that the school cannot provide.

While Bryan’s Tutoring primarily serves Willamette University’s graduate programs, it will also serve the undergraduate departments and other local colleges. Bryan’s Tutoring will place advertisements in the different student newspapers. These advertisements will be effective due to their low cost and targeted readership. Students are the almost exclusive readers of the newspapers so Bryan’s Tutoring receives considerable visibility.

Lastly, upon permission from the various schools, Bryan’s Tutoring will disperse flyers into students mailboxes, communicating to the students the various services Bryan’s Tutoring offers and why it stands out in terms of effectiveness relative to the competition. These flyers will also be posted on various bulletin boards within the student areas.

The bulk of sales come from word of mouth. When new students come into the school, the upperclassmen tell them about the resources available. So past clients provide most of the advertising for the company. Getting seen and getting the word out to new students is always important. One important message to convey is that the tutoring services are not just for slow students who are having a hard time keeping up, but for anyone who wants an edge and to get the most out of their learning experience.

Bryan’s Tutoring will develop and maintain testimonials of past student clients for a sales pitch indicating just how helpful Bryan’s Tutoring has been to the students. Bryan’s Tutoring will periodically offer a free session, typically in the beginning of the school term. The goal of this session is to provide qualified leads with an opportunity to experience Bryan’s Tutoring and view for themselves how effective the service can be. This sales event will be able to convert many possible customers into paying customers, people that possibly would not have even considered a tutoring service, not previously recognizing their own need for such a service. After the free session many "doubters" will be converted into customers.

The sales strategy will also emphasize the ability for students to create private groups for tutoring. By forming a group, the students pay less per person, Bryan’s Tutoring makes more per hour, and it promotes group work, a fundamental educational and real world tool.

Milestones & Metrics

Milestones table, key metrics.

Our Key Metrics are: 

• student grades and achieving goals 
• students tutored
• student retention
• parent satisfaction
• word of mouth
• # of tweets and retweets 
• # of reviews on yelp and google 
• # of facebook views and likes 

Ownership & Structure

Bryan’s Tutoring Service is a sole proprietorship. The company is owned and operated by Bryan Thomas. As the company continues to grow, it is foreseen that it will be transitioned into a Limited Liability Company (LLC). An LLC structure will soon be favored to offer liability protection.

Company history

Bryan’s Tutoring Service came into being by accident. The founder, Bryan Thomas, was a graduate student at the Willamette University Graduate School of Management. During the first year of the program, a fellow student approached him and asked for assistance in understanding the concepts from one of the courses that was going to be tested on an upcoming exam. They got together for what was to be the first of many study sessions and a long-term friendship. For the remainder of the year, the two met regularly to discuss course topics and would frequently include other students as well.

With previous teaching experience in a large language school, Bryan discovered that he was able to connect with students and help them understand concepts in ways that their professors were unable to – interestingly, to many students the concepts in the quantitative courses were as foreign as Portuguese or Korean. As the year progressed, the size of the study sessions grew to include other students – with Bryan spending much of the time at the front of the group explaining concepts and leading the discussion.

At the end of the first year, a position became available for the following year to work for the school as a tutor. The position paid poorly, and was limited to only a few hours per week. The "tutoring" sessions were open to all students in the program and often had as many as 30 students in the room. It was at this point that several students approached Bryan seeking private tutoring and were willing to pay for these sessions. From this was born Bryan’s Tutoring Service. For the remainder of the year, Bryan provided tutoring both in large review sessions and in private sessions with paying students. Since that time, the business has continued to grow as new students have entered the program and tutoring has expanded to undergraduate courses.

Management team

Bryan’s Tutoring Service will be lead by Bryan Thomas. Bryan brings a wealth of academic excellence as well as a proven record of tutoring. Bryan first began tutoring at a large language school. It was this experience that provided Bryan with the insight that he enjoyed and excelled at tutoring. While Bryan attending Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management he informally began tutoring students. During Bryan’s second year in the business program, the school hired him to be a tutor for the first year students. This provided Bryan with incredible insight into the specific course work at Atkinson as he worked hand in hand with the professors preparing the students for the course work and exams.

Bryan’s Tutoring Service is a home-based tutoring business that offers a wide range of tutoring services. Due to Bryan’s expertise, professor networking connections, and low overhead, Bryan’s Tutoring Service will realize good revenue and profits the years of this plan

Bryan is quite skilled at surveying people and determining what is the most effective way that individuals learn. This skill is key for Bryan and for the tutoring service. Most teachers have a set way of teaching the material, from years of teaching the same curriculum, year in and year out. Bryan has always searched for the best way to teach the individual. When the person does not respond well to one methods he immediately changes methods looking for a more effective way.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

Key assumptions.

Our key assumptions are: 

• In this education based society people to get degrees to get ahead. 
• Not everyone learns the same. 
• Different tools help different people ace the tests 

Revenue by Month

Expenses by month, net profit (or loss) by year, use of funds.

The tutoring business will need about $5,000 to start. Costs include gas and transportation to meet with students away from his home and occasional handouts. Bryan has reserved a room in his house and an office/meeting room for his business. Additionally, Bryan incurs Internet service provider fees, and every two years a new computer. 

Sources of Funds

Bryan will use the money he made in his side job to make the tutoring his only source of income. 

Projected Profit and Loss

Projected balance sheet, projected cash flow statement.

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How to write a business plan for a training center?

Writing a business plan for a training center can be an intimidating task, especially for those just starting.

This in-depth guide is designed to help entrepreneurs like you understand how to create a comprehensive business plan so that you can approach the exercise with method and confidence.

We'll cover: why writing a training center business plan is so important - both when starting up, and when running and growing the business - what information you need to include in your plan, how it should be structured, and what tools you can use to get the job done efficiently.

Let's get started!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a training center?

What information is needed to create a business plan for a training center.

• What goes in the financial forecast for a training center?
• What goes in the written part of a training center business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my training center business plan?

Being clear on the scope and goals of the document will make it easier to understand its structure and content. So before diving into the actual content of the plan, let's have a quick look at the main reasons why you would want to write a training center business plan in the first place.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

It's rarely business as usual for small businesses. The economy follows cycles where years of growth are followed by recessions, and the business environment is always changing with new technologies, new regulations, new competitors, and new consumer behaviours appearing all the time...

In this context, running a business without a clear roadmap is like driving blindfolded: it's dangerous at best. That's why writing a business plan for a training center is essential to create successful and sustainable businesses.

To write an effective business plan, you will need to take stock of where you are (if you are already in business) and where you want the business to go in the next three to five years.

Once you know where you want your training center to be, you'll have to identify:

• what resources (human, equipment, and capital) are needed to get there,
• at what pace the business needs to progress to get there in time,
• and what risks you'll face along the way.

Going through this process regularly is beneficial, both for startups and existing companies, as it helps make informed decisions about how best to allocate resources to ensure the long-term success of the business.

To anticipate future cash flows

Regularly comparing your actual financial performance to the projections in the financial forecast of your training center's business plan gives you the ability to monitor your business's financial health and make necessary adjustments as needed.

This practice allows you to detect potential financial issues, such as unexpected cash shortfalls before they escalate into major problems. Giving you time to find additional financing or put in place corrective measures.

Additionally, it helps you identify growth opportunities, like excess cash flow that could be allocated to launch new products and services or expand into new markets.

Staying on track with these regular comparisons enables you to make well-informed decisions about the amount of financing your business might require, or the excess cash flow you can expect to generate from your main business activities.

To secure financing

Crafting a comprehensive business plan for your training center, whether you're starting up or already established, is paramount when you're seeking financing from banks or investors.

Given how fragile small businesses are, financiers will want to ensure that you have a clear roadmap in place as well as command and control of your future cash flows before entertaining the idea of funding you.

For banks, the information in your business plan will be used to assess your borrowing capacity - which is defined as the maximum amount of debt your business can afford alongside your ability to repay the loan. This evaluation helps them decide whether to extend credit to your business and under what terms (interest rate, duration, repayment options, collateral, etc.).

Similarly, investors will thoroughly review your plan to determine if their investment can yield an attractive return. They'll be looking for evidence that your training center has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and consistent cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand the importance of creating a business plan for your training center, let's delve into the necessary information needed to craft an effective plan.

Writing a training center business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast.

In this section, we cover three key pieces of information you should gather before drafting your business plan!

Carrying out market research for a training center

Carrying out market research before writing a business plan for a training center is essential to ensure that the financial projections are accurate and realistic.

Market research helps you gain insight into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies and other key factors which can have an impact on the commercial success of your business.

In particular, it is useful in forecasting revenue as it provides valuable data regarding potential customers’ spending habits and preferences.

You may discover that your training center could benefit from offering more remote courses, as people may be more likely to take classes from the comfort of their own homes. Additionally, market research might indicate that people might be more likely to take classes that are shorter in duration, as they may prefer a quick and effective way of learning.

This information can then be used to create more accurate financial projections which will help investors make informed decisions about investing in your training center.

Developing the sales and marketing plan for a training center

As you embark on creating your training center business plan, it is crucial to budget sales and marketing expenses beforehand.

A well-defined sales and marketing plan should include precise projections of the actions required to acquire and retain customers. It will also outline the necessary workforce to execute these initiatives and the budget required for promotions, advertising, and other marketing efforts.

This approach ensures that the appropriate amount of resources is allocated to these activities, aligning with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and equipment needs of a training center

As you embark on starting or expanding your training center, having a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) is essential for ensuring your business's success.

Both the recruitment and investment plans must align with the timing and level of growth projected in your forecast, and they require appropriate funding.

The staffing costs for a training center might include wages for instructors, administrative staff, and support personnel such as janitors and IT staff. The equipment costs might include computers, projectors, and other audiovisual equipment, as well as furniture, office supplies, and other items needed to run the training center.

To create a realistic financial forecast, you also need to consider other operating expenses associated with the day-to-day running of your business, such as insurance and bookkeeping.

With all the necessary information at hand, you are ready to begin crafting your business plan and developing your financial forecast.

What goes into your training center's financial forecast?

The objective of the financial forecast of your training center's business plan is to show the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business over the next 3 to 5 years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a training center are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a training center shows how much revenue and profits your business is expected to generate in the future.

Ideally, your training center's P&L statement should show:

• Healthy growth - above inflation level
• Improving or stable profit margins
• Positive net profit

Expectations will vary based on the stage of your business. A startup will be expected to grow faster than an established training center. And similarly, an established company should showcase a higher level of profitability than a new venture.

The projected balance sheet of your training center

The balance sheet for a training center is a financial document that provides a snapshot of your business’s financial health at a given point in time.

It shows three main components: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: are resources owned by the business, such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: are debts owed to creditors and other entities, such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers) and loans.
• Equity: includes the sums invested by the shareholders or business owners and the cumulative profits and losses of the business to date (called retained earnings). It is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Examining the balance sheet is important for lenders, investors, or other stakeholders who are interested in assessing your training center's liquidity and solvency:

• Liquidity: assesses whether or not your business has sufficient cash and short-term assets to honour its liabilities due over the next 12 months. It is a short-term focus.
• Solvency: assesses whether or not your business has the capacity to repay its debt over the medium-term.

Looking at the balance sheet can also provide insights into your training center's investment and financing policies.

In particular, stakeholders can compare the value of equity to the value of the outstanding financial debt to assess how the business is funded and what level of financial risk has been taken by the owners (financial debt is riskier because it has to be repaid, while equity doesn't need to be repaid).

The projected cash flow statement

A cash flow forecast for a training center shows how much cash the business is projected to generate or consume.

The cash flow statement is divided into 3 main areas:

• The operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the operations (running the business)
• The investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.)
• The financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to investors and lenders

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to ensure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

It is also a best practice to include a monthly cash flow statement in the appendices of your training center business plan so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The initial financing plan - also called a sources and uses table - is an important tool when starting a training center.

It shows where the money needed to set up the business will come from (sources) and how it will be allocated (uses).

Having this table helps understand what costs are involved in setting up the training center, how the risks are distributed between the shareholders and the lenders, and what will be the starting cash position (which needs to be sufficient to sustain operations until the business breaks even).

Now that the financial forecast of a training center business plan is understood, let's focus on what goes into the written part of the plan.

The written part of a training center business plan

The written part of the business plan is where you will explain what your business does and how it operates, what your target market is, whom you compete against, and what strategy you will put in place to seize the commercial opportunity you've identified.

Having this context is key for the reader to form a view on whether or not they believe that your plan is achievable and the numbers in your forecast realistic.

The written part of a training center business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

In your training center's business plan, the first section is the executive summary — a captivating overview of your plan that aims to pique the reader's interest and leave them eager to learn more about your business.

When crafting the executive summary, start with an introduction to your business, including its name, concept, location, how long it has been running, and what sets it apart. Briefly mention the products and services you plan to offer and your target customer profile.

Following that, provide an overview of the addressable market for your training center, current trends, and potential growth opportunities.

Next, include a summary of key financial figures like projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Finally, in the "ask" section, detail any funding requirements you may have.

2. The presentation of the company

The second section in your training center's business plan should focus on the structure and ownership, location, and management team of the company.

The structure and ownership part provides an overview of the legal structure of the business, who the owners are and how much each has invested and owns. If you are seeking financing it is important that the reader gets a clear picture of which legal entity is receiving the funds, and who controls the business.

The location part should give an overview of the premises from which the company is operating, and why that location is of particular interest (catchment area, accessibility, amenities nearby, etc.).

When describing the location of your training center, you could emphasize the potential for growth. It may be situated in a region with access to a large pool of potential customers, as well as resources that could support the expansion of your business. You could also emphasize the diversity of the local economy, which could indicate a stable market for your services. Additionally, you could point out the potential for strategic partnerships with other businesses in the area, which could help to increase your reach and build a network of customers.

Finally, you should introduce the management team. Explain each member's role, background, and experience.

It is also important to emphasize any past successes that the members of the management team have achieved, and how long they've been working together, as this will help potential lenders or investors understand why they should trust in their leadership.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your business plan should include a detailed description of what your company offers, who are the target customers, and what distribution channels are part of your go-to-market. 

For example, your training center could offer one-on-one tutoring, small group courses and online classes. The one-on-one tutoring would provide customized instruction tailored to a student's specific needs and goals. The small group courses would allow for students to work together to understand concepts more quickly, as well as build relationships with one another. Finally, the online classes would give students the chance to receive instruction from anywhere in the world, making it more convenient for those who cannot attend a physical location.

4. The market analysis

When you present your market analysis in your training center business plan, it's crucial to include detailed information about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and any relevant regulations.

The main objective of this section is to help the reader understand the size and attractiveness of the market while demonstrating your solid understanding of the industry.

Begin with the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your training center, the key trends in the marketplace, and introducing different customer segments along with their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, focus on your target market, zooming in on the specific customer segments your training center aims to serve and explaining how your products and services fulfil their distinct needs.

For example, your target market might include adult professionals who are looking to gain new skills or certifications to advance their career. They may be looking to transition into a new field, or gain an edge in their current one. They are likely to be willing to invest in their education and may be looking for an intensive program that can provide quick results.

Then proceed to the competition subsection, where you introduce your main competitors and highlight what sets you apart from them.

Finally, conclude your market analysis with an overview of the key regulations applicable to your training center.

5. The strategy section

When you write the strategy section of your training center business plan, remember to cover key elements such as your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

In the competitive edge subsection, elaborate on what makes your company stand out from competitors. This becomes especially important if you're a startup, aiming to carve a place for yourself amidst established players in the marketplace.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you plan to maintain profitability while offering competitive prices to attract customers.

Outline your sales & marketing plan, detailing how you'll reach out to new customers and retain existing ones through loyalty programs or special offers.

For the milestones subsection, outline your company's achievements to date and your main objectives for the future, complete with specific dates to set clear expectations for progress.

Lastly, the risks and mitigants subsection should address the main risks that could affect your plan's execution. Explain the measures you've put in place to minimize these risks, assuring potential investors or lenders.

Your training center may face a variety of risks. For example, your center could face a financial risk if there is a decrease in enrollment or if the cost of materials and supplies increases. Additionally, your center might face a risk of litigation if an instructor or student is injured or if a student is unsatisfied with the quality of training.

6. The operations section

In your business plan, it's also essential to provide a detailed overview of the operations of your training center.

Start by covering your team, highlighting key roles and your recruitment plan to support the expected growth. Outline the qualifications and experience required for each role and your intended recruitment methods, whether through job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your training center's operating hours, allowing the reader to assess staffing levels adequately. Additionally, mention any plans for varying opening times during peak seasons and how you'll handle customer queries outside normal operating hours.

Then, shift your focus to the key assets and intellectual property (IP) necessary for your business. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, make sure to include them in this section.

You may have a variety of key assets and IP at your training center, such as proprietary learning materials and teaching methods. These could include professionally developed course materials, e-learning modules, multimedia content, and textbooks that are all unique to your center. Additionally, you might have specialized equipment such as computers, projectors, and audio visual gear that allow you to conduct training sessions in an effective and efficient manner.

Lastly, include a list of suppliers you plan to work with, detailing their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, and contract duration. Investors are interested in understanding why you've chosen specific suppliers, which may be due to higher-quality products or established relationships from previous ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of the content of a training center business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours.

What tool should I use to write my training center's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main options for writing a training center business plan efficiently:

• Using specialized software,
• Outsourcing the drafting to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your training center's business plan

Using online business planning software is the most efficient and modern way to create a training center business plan.

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

Hiring a business plan writer to write your training center's business plan

Outsourcing your training center business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are experienced in writing business plans and adept at creating financial forecasts without errors. Furthermore, hiring a consultant can save you time and allow you to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

However, hiring business plan writers is expensive as you are paying for the software used by the consultant, plus their time, and their profit margin of course.

From experience, you need to budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a complete business plan, more if you need to make changes after the initial version (which happens frequently after the initial meetings with lenders or investors).

You also need to be careful when seeking investment. Investors want their money to be used to grow the business, not spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services (and other consulting services such as legal services) needs to be negligible relative to the amount raised.

The other drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself: you just get the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business plan software - which makes it difficult to maintain the document up to date without hiring the consultant on a retainer.

For these reasons, outsourcing the training center business plan to a business plan writer should be considered carefully, weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside help.

Ultimately, it may be the right decision for some businesses, while others may find it beneficial to write their business plan using online software.

Why not create your training center's business plan using Word or Excel?

I must advise against using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write your training center business plan. Let me explain why.

Firstly, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is highly technical and requires a strong grasp of accounting principles and financial modelling skills. It is, therefore, unlikely that anyone will fully trust your numbers unless you have both a degree in finance and accounting and significant financial modelling experience, like us at The Business Plan Shop.

Secondly, relying on spreadsheets is inefficient. While it may have been the only option in the past, technology has advanced significantly, and software can now perform these tasks much faster and with greater accuracy. With the rise of AI, software can even help us detect mistakes in forecasts and analyze the numbers for better decision-making.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Moreover, software makes it easier to compare actuals versus forecasts and maintain up-to-date forecasts to keep visibility on future cash flows, as we discussed earlier in this guide. This task is cumbersome when using spreadsheets.

Now, let's talk about the written part of your training center business plan. While it may be less error-prone, using software can bring tremendous gains in productivity. Word processors, for example, lack instructions and examples for each part of your business plan. They also won't automatically update your numbers when changes occur in your forecast, and they don't handle formatting for you.

Overall, while Word or Excel may seem viable for some entrepreneurs to create a business plan, it's by far becoming an antiquated way of doing things.

• Having an up-to-date business plan is key to maintaining visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 parts: a financial forecast highlighting the expected growth, profitability and cash generation of the business; and a written part which provides the context needed to interpret and assess the quality of the forecast.
• Using business plan software is the modern way of writing and maintaining business plans.

We hope that this guide helped you to better understand how to write the business plan for a training center. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a 5 years business plan
• Business plan myths

Know someone who owns or wants to start a training center? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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6 Teaching Business English Lesson Plans for All Learner Levels

Krzl light nuñes.

• May 31, 2022

From learning corporate terms to mastering expressions for negotiating, Business English is brimming with topics on how students can thrive in the workplace. Teaching each concept, however, requires thorough planning and choosing the most effective materials and methods. Whether you’re new to teaching professionals or are a seasoned Business English teacher looking to design better classes, here are some teaching Business English lesson plans you can use for different types of learners.

Learn more about what teaching Business English entails.

Table of Contents

What are some tips for teaching Business English lessons?

Before you get started in mapping your Business English classes out, here are some pointers to keep in mind when specializing in this ELT niche :

• Make sure that you know your students’ backgrounds. Where do they work? What are they responsible for? How do they use English at work? Conduct a needs assessment before launching into your course.
• Get your learners comfortable before you start your lessons by using icebreakers , Business English games , and other warm-up activities .
• Provide vocabulary and practice activities that students will be able to use at their actual jobs. 
• Prioritize skills that your learners need at work. If they often meet with offshore clients, for example, business meeting phrases should be one of the first lessons you teach.
• Better define your lesson objectives and teaching strategies by making use of Bloom’s taxonomy , which classifies cognitive skills.

Consider these additional strategies, from the Bridge Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English course , when planning your overall curriculum, as well as your individual lesson plans:

Business English lessons for beginners

These free Business English lesson plans are great for professional students with a lower level of English. They can be used in both online and in-person classes.

Find out how to get a job teaching Business English.

Lesson plan #1: Types of companies

Lesson topic: Types of companies

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe different types of companies and say the products or services each one produces or provides.

• A physical or virtual whiteboard
• PowerPoint slides containing 10 logos of different companies and pictures of different types of companies

Lesson plan #2: Staying at a hotel

Lesson topic:  Staying at a hotel

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to make requests and ask for information in a hotel.

• PowerPoint slides containing a list of expressions for booking a room, checking in, and asking about hotel services
• An audio file or video of a hotel receptionist and guest ( like this one )

Business English lessons for intermediate learners

The following teaching Business English lesson plans are great for intermediate learners who already have a thorough understanding of basic English concepts.

Lesson plan #3: Modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition

Lesson topic:  Modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the rules in their workplace using the modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition.

• Handouts (or PowerPoint slides) of the some of the points from this article on company policies

Lesson plan #4: Making a request by email

Lesson topic:  Making a request by email

Lesson objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write a formal email to make a request.

• PowerPoint slides showing expressions for writing formal emails
• An example of a professional email chain

In a recent BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar , panelists discussed how Business English teachers can tackle the topic of writing business emails with their students. For additional lesson plan ideas, check out what these experts had to say:

Business English lessons for advanced learners

Lastly, these teaching Business English lesson plans should ideally be used with advanced students who are looking to take their language skills to the ultimate level: fluency.

Lesson plan #5: Working with people from different cultures

Lesson topic: Working with people from different cultures

Lesson objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about their experiences working with people from other countries and give advice on cross-cultural work relationships.

• Handouts (or PowerPoint slides) of the article “10 Ways to Work Effectively Across Cultures”

If you’re struggling when it comes to incorporating classroom tasks like those outlined in these free Business English lesson plans, take a look at the following video from the Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English course . It offers tips for conducting task-based learning in a Business English classroom:

Lesson plan #6: Creative presentations

Lesson topic: Creative presentations

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to present a product, a service, or an idea creatively.

• Five different simple objects (a ball, a bag, etc.)
• Equipment to play a video

Teaching professional students is one of the most rewarding ELT niches to pursue, as these students are highly motivated individuals. With the right teaching Business English lesson plans, you can be sure you’re meeting stakeholder expectations and helping your students succeed.

Learn the 21st-century skills and tools you need to effectively teach English to professionals by earning Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English.

Back in her hometown in the Philippines, Krzl worked as a writer at a TV station before moving to Chile. After she completed her TESOL certification, she worked for language institutes and then decided to become an independent English teacher to business professionals. When she’s not giving classes, she’s either surfing along Chile’s long stretch of coastline, traveling, or practicing photography by the beach.

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Executive English: 4 Business English Lesson Plans That Turn Students into Influencers

Building confidence in business is a lifelong gift you can give your students.

Never again will they clam up when coworkers make chit-chat.

No longer will their voices lose power during interviews and meetings.

Taking your ESL students to the next level in their careers is rewarding for not only your students, but for you as well. It gives you, their ever enthusiastic teacher , a great sense of accomplishment.

You will see your business English students blossom, get promoted, develop confidence and take on different professional personas—ones loaded with strength and self-assurance.

Crafting exceptional and informative business  English lesson plans is the first step to your students’ success.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

The Cornerstones of Business English Lessons

If this is your very first time developing plans for business English classes , we have you covered here.

One of the most essential aspects in developing ESL business English lesson plans is to get to know your students  and find out the information needed to make the lesson practical for them .

If you have a student working in corporate marketing, then a business English lesson pertaining to accounting would be almost useless. Knowing your students, their careers and needs will help you connect with them in an informative, concise way. Your lessons will be useful to them outside of the classroom, building more confidence on their professional paths, whatever those might be.

So, you should know the following about every student:

• Where they work
• What their job responsibilities are
• What they do on a normal day at the office
• When and how are they exposed to English at work (email, meetings, calls, conferences, etc.)

These questions are essential to building a lesson plan your students will enjoy!

Give your students a survey on the first day of class that asks these questions and more like them, then save the completed surveys in your teaching binder or folder.

Take the following lesson plans, combined with the specific information about your students, to create targeted lesson plans students can use in their everyday professional lives and to better their career prospects.

4 Business English Lesson Plans That Promote Rapid Career Growth

Each of these lesson plans is built on the PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) method of creating plans for language lessons. You can learn more about how this works (and how to create your own from scratch) here!

If you’re after an easy and informative way to introduce the business world to your students, then be sure to check out FluentU.You’ll be able to showcase actually used business English in native contexts. Be sure to request a free trial to fully explore the FluentU program.

1. Breaking the Ice

In your students’ business lives, breaking the ice in their native tongue is terrifying enough at times.

Imagine the anxiety and stress having to break the ice in English must induce.

This does not need to be the norm. You can give your students the essential ESL skills they need to feel confident and to succeed. After all,  speaking English  and speaking (any language) at work is mostly about confidence, and the role of psychology is almost as important as knowing the right words and grammar to use in these situations.

This English lesson plan focuses on starting a conversation, ending a conversation and general role playing for students to hone what they have learned. Let’s take a look at what this lesson will contain and how to present your business English lesson plan material.

Presentation

This lesson plan’s presentation will consist of useful phrases. You will present to your class the essential knowledge they will need to make ample English small talk in any and all business situations .

An excellent place to start is with the actual phrase “breaking the ice.” What do they think this phrase means? What are some examples of “breaking the ice” with coworkers? You will elicit answers from your students and discuss some ways they think they can “break the ice” in a business situation—or examples of when they have done this in the past.

You will also discuss other important phrases, useful for opening a business conversation in English.

Here are a few example phrases you can use in your lesson:

• Hello, my name is ______, are you enjoying your evening?
• Where are you from?
• What company do you represent?
• How long have you worked here/there?
• Which department do you work in?
• How do you like your job?
• Did you catch the morning lecture?
• Do you mind if I join your group?

After you share and discuss these quick little door openers, you can move on to excellent ways to end a business conversation in English. Many of your students use these in their native language already, so, in my experience, they will catch on fast.

Here are a few conversation closers you will share with your students in the presentation:

• It was nice to talk to you, I must excuse myself.
• Great to meet you, do you have a card? (or, here is my card).
• I must be going, I see my boss signaling toward me.
• Thank you, it was nice to meet you and we should discuss this further later.
• Do you have LinkedIn? Let’s connect there to continue our conversation.

These conversational wrap-ups are great for your students and will eliminate those awkward moments of saying goodbye in business settings.

When your students have listened and understand the phrases, you can move into this practicing stage.

You will have all the phrases you discussed cut into two parts a set for each pair of students. Once your students are paired up, you will distribute the mixed up parts of the phrases and they will work together trying to piece each phrase back together.

This jigsaw of sorts will allow your students to communicate and discuss which section goes with which, further creating the phrase in their mind. For example, one piece of paper will contain “Did you catch… ” and your students will try to match it with ” …the morning lecture?”

Go over which combinations are correct and take questions, then have the students copy down the correct phrases in their notebooks for future reference.

Once all pairs have matched and discussed the jigsaw business English phrases, they are ready for a more practical exercise.

Each student will be given a card you have made with their occupation, company, the lecture they attended and a few family/hobby details. Students will then be paired up. The pairs will change every five minutes and the students will have an opportunity to break the ice, discuss a few topics and end the conversation.

You can float around the room and make sure the conversations are on track, while answering any questions which may arise.

All in all, this is a wonderful business English lesson plan with communication, collaboration, vocabulary and self-expression at the core.

2. Involvement in Meetings

Business meetings are an essential part of business and there are often several meetings held within an average work week.

Participation in business meetings can be another daunting engagement your students may currently try to avoid. Your students need to be prepared and have the business English skills necessary to participate with confidence and increase their chances for recognition, responsibility and promotion.

This business English lesson plan can help them understand the importance of meeting involvement while gaining the ESL skills they need to be successful in all areas of life.

Preparation

Yup, one extra P is here!

For this business lesson, you will need to craft a well-organized worksheet to help guide your students in the right direction.

The worksheet will contain two parts. Part one will have useful words, phrases and lead-in sentences commonly found in business meetings, while part two of the worksheet will have two different role playing scenarios your students will use in their mock meetings.

Your first objective will be to ask your students about business meetings they have been involved in or their concepts of a normal business meeting.

Many of your students will have had some type of meeting experience, but maybe not in English. You should draw from their previous experiences and allow them to describe it and discuss it in English. Next, you will discuss several business English phrases used in meetings. You can get more great phrases to introduce from this post .

Here are a few great examples to put into your presentation and worksheet:

• Could you please clarify what you mean?
• Can you please speak up a bit, I can’t hear you very well?
• Please continue, I apologize for interrupting.
• What if we… ?
• What would you think about…?

You and your class will discuss these phrases as a class and you will give examples of how each could be used.

In this step of your business English lesson plan, you will organize the class into small groups. The size of each group depends on your class size, of course.

Then you will hand out the worksheet and allow your students to practice using the new business meeting phrases with one another. Give them time to discuss the phrases amongst themselves and ask you any questions they may have.

Once all practice has been enthusiastically carried out, it is time to let the role playing commence!

Part two of the worksheet will be the guide to a specific business meeting scenario. For example, if you want your students to brainstorm a few marketing strategies for a certain product, you will give them a product to discuss in a meeting scenario.

“The meeting will be centered around new marketing strategies for Starbucks coffee.

What can you and your team come up with during this meeting?

Take notes, deliver concise ideas and support each idea with why  you think this idea is effective.”

Let your students loose to collaborate and participate in a mock meeting using the new business English phrases discussed in the presentation and practice stages of your lesson plan. This activity will give your students key business meeting phrases, collaboration, English expression of ideas and also allow them to gain more confidence for practical use.

3. Questions in Negotiation Situations

Negotiations are another key aspect of business English.

Many business English students shy away from their native language style of negotiating when it comes down to trying to negotiate in English. Developing confidence is essential in negotiations and, if your students possess this key element, they will have more success at the negotiating table.

This business English lesson plan will give your students the four steps of negotiation and how to embody each step when at the office.

In order to ask the right questions in negotiation, your students must first know the cycle of a negotiation. You will present each step and discuss them as a class, giving examples or answering important questions.

These are the steps of negotiation to cover in your lesson plan:

1. Exploration . This is when two parties explore what each offers, expects and hopes to obtain in the negotiation.

2. Bidding. The bidding stage is when exploration is complete and one of two parties offers and exchange for goods or money.

3. Bargaining. This is an essential stage, when both parties negotiate until a satisfactory term is met.

4. Settling. Settling is essentially the finalized agreement. This is the handshake and signing of contracts stage.

Each stage is important and knowing the right questions to ask in each stage is also very important for your students to understand.

After the stages are discussed and fully understood, you can partner your students up and have them brainstorm questions that would be useful in each stage. For example:

“What warranty or guarantee does your company offer on this particular product?”

This question is a perfect Exploration question used to get the facts and details out on the table. Your students will brainstorm essential questions for each stage of negotiation together. This will create collaboration and develop ideas useful for the practice stage.

You could even craft a worksheet about the above stages, along with useful questions and answers, to help guide your students during the lesson.

With your students still in pairs, they will be given a role-play scenario in which one is the buyer and the other is the seller. Your example role-play will look something like this:

Seller: You are the representative for a groundbreaking MP3 player similar to the iPod. You must convince your buyer to sell your product and not the others.

Buyer: You see potential in the new music product, but you are still uncertain about making the switch in products and need to get more information.

This role playing scenario will follow the four stages of negotiation and your students will use the questions they brainstormed while practicing to have a successful negotiation which may or may not lead to a successful Settling stage agreement.

4. Meeting management

Meeting management in business is another important task your students may need more confidence and ESL skills to perform.

This practical exercise is the next step up from getting involved in a meeting, since your students will now plan and guide a business meeting in class.

This business English lesson plan will allow your students to practice emailing, collaboration and build confidence to guide and keep other members of a meeting on track.

Your students will need the key aspects of email structure to allow them to email colleagues effectively and efficiently to get the meeting time, date and location set.

Before introducing any new material, ask your students to write a short email inviting a colleague to join a meeting. Afterwards, have each student read theirs aloud. You can use their emails as a guide to introduce the proper email language necessary for landing a business meeting.

Here are the essential aspects of a well-developed email for planning a business meeting:

• Project details and objectives
• Q & A about the project
• Brainstorming and collaboration to make project a success
• Important points to note

This short and concise email format will be a great template not only for the lesson, but for them to also use in a more practical business situation. You can also give great examples on the board or in a slideshow to really allow your students to soak up the new information.

Once your students have  crafted their own emails  without any instruction on proper language, and have then watched your presentation of relevant words, phrases and grammar, they are ready to do some more serious email drafting.

Put them into small groups and let them discuss, collaborate and craft their new business meeting emails to one another in the group.

Each student will write an email using the business meeting email format, addressing it to another student in their group. The receiving student will then write a reply to the email as well.

Your students have crafted emails and invited others to their meetings. Next, they will each take turns running the meeting and keeping everyone on task.

You will give each student a meeting topic and let them present the project details and objectives before opening the floor up for Q & A from other meeting members. For example:

“Introduce a new MP3 player which rivals the iPod to your meeting members. It costs less, holds more music, comes with better headphones and also has an interactive touch screen. Your team must brainstorm new ideas to market this product.”

Each student will have an opportunity to introduce a new product and run the meeting accordingly. They will learn valuable communication skills, writing , leadership skills and also develop more confidence when taking charge in a business meeting scenario.

So, as you can now see, business English lesson plans are excellent to have in your teaching arsenal.

They are perfect for your pre-intermediate to advanced level students who have a career (or are preparing for a future career) in the corporate world.

These lesson plans are simply essential for ESL students looking to make a shift and move into the business sector of employment, seeking promotion within their company or generally wanting to build more confidence when speaking to foreign clients and colleagues.

These business English lessons will give your students the important resources needed to be successful in their career and beyond.

Plan those lessons well, with their needs in mind, and hand them the keys to success!

Stephen Seifert  is a writer, editor, professor of English and adventurer. With over 7 years of teaching experience to students worldwide, he enjoys the many aspects of culture and traditions different from his own. Stephen continues his search for writing inspiration, boldly enjoying life to the fullest.

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11 Engaging Business English Lesson Plan Ideas for Teachers

Business English can have a reputation as…a little boring. Isn’t business the same way? All offices and paperwork, offices and emails?

While yes, you do need to learn all of those things to be successful in the business world (and therefore, you need to learn all of those in business English classes ), you’ll be happy to know that your business English lesson plan ideas don’t need to be boring at all!

To help you out, I’ve compiled this list of business English lesson plan ideas to make your lessons engaging, useful, and interesting. Essentially: not boring!

Some extra tips for teaching business English

Before we jump into our business English lesson plans, there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re planning! First, make sure to know where your students are at—some kind of assessment so you know their approximate English levels is a great start.

You will also want to tailor your lessons to provide vocabulary and skills for your students’ specific jobs and businesses. Finally, at the beginning of each lesson, make sure to start with an icebreaker or game! I’m tellin’ ya—English comes much easier when it’s fun to learn!

1. Business English A to Z

Level : All levels Objectives : To target potential areas of improvement, to assess student knowledge, to introduce new vocabulary Materials : Whiteboard, timer, individual pencil and paper

“Business English A to Z” is a great lesson that can be adjusted for all levels, and is especially ideal for assessing student knowledge and introducing basic business English vocabulary. It’s also a fun icebreaker and can be used to introduce a variety of different themes and business English lesson ideas.

To begin, write the letters from A to Z on a whiteboard or a chalkboard, with plenty of space. Have the students write out all the letters of the alphabet in their notebooks or on a piece of paper, and begin the timer. The students have five minutes (or more or less, depending on the class—that’s your call!) to list common business English words for each letter.

When the time’s up, students share what they’ve come up with for each letter, while you write them out below their corresponding letters on the board. The student who has the most words per letter wins!

2. Business English Definitions Race

Level : Easily adaptable to all English levels Objectives : To introduce new vocabulary, review previously learned vocabulary, and assess student knowledge Materials : Whiteboard or chalkboard (or paper in a pinch), writing implements (markers, pens, chalk), buzzers, list of business English words and their definitions

Also an engaging icebreaker or assessment, the “Business English Definitions Race” can be used to introduce or review business English vocabulary. Split the class into teams, and give each team a buzzer or a pen, depending on the format you choose.

For the teams with buzzers, you’ll read out a common business English word, and whoever answers first, and correctly, gets the points. (Keep a tally on the board!).

You can also write the full list of words on the board ahead of time, and have the teams line up and take turns filling in the proper definitions next to the corresponding word. Whichever team gets the most definitions wins!

3. Job Interview Role Play

Level : Can be adapted to different levels, but some conversational English knowledge is necessary Objectives : To practice interview questions and responses, to review English grammar and sentence structure Materials : None necessary, could provide notecards with sample jobs or sample questions, or a video of a sample interview

The “Job Interview Role Play” lesson plan, while more easily adapted to advanced English and above, is useful for anyone learning business English.

As a lead into the lesson, you can have two students practice what they think a typical interview looks like, or show a video of a sample interview. Then, split the class into pairs, and have each student take a turn being interviewed, and being the interviewer.

Depending on the level, you can provide notecards to pass around, filled with sample questions for the interviewer, or with job ideas to give guidance on what students could be “applying” for. The interviews should include greetings, common questions, and typical farewells.

4. Staying In a Hotel

Level : Intermediate to advanced English Objectives: To learn common phrases and vocabulary needed for hotel stays and general travel Materials : Whiteboard or notecards for target words and phrases, audio file with an example of hotel receptionist and guest

Many people in business have to travel frequently, and if a student is learning business English, there’s a chance they might need to travel to English-speaking hotels. This lesson, “Staying in a Hotel,” will introduce all the phrases and vocabulary needed for hotel stays in the English world.

Begin with an audio file of a guest checking into a hotel and speaking with the receptionist. Have the students parse out common words and phrases to write on the whiteboard, before splitting them into pairs to practice checking into a hotel.

5. Making Slogans

Level : Intermediate to advanced English Objectives: Review of common business English vocabulary, practice writing and reading English Materials : Paper, pencils

“Making Slogans” gets students to use their creative sides while also reviewing and learning business English vocabulary.

To begin, have the class share any famous business slogans they can think of (write them on the board if you wish). Split the class into groups (ideally three or more), and have them brainstorm new slogans for a business. The businesses can already exist, or the students can make up a new business.

For example, students could think of a new slogan for a common worldwide brand, like McDonald’s. They could also brainstorm slogans for a broader business, like a restaurant, or for the businesses they currently work for.

6. Resumé/CV Preparation

Level : Advanced beginner and above Objectives : To practice writing and reading resumes or CVs Materials : Various examples of resumés or CVs (preferably hard copies), paper, pencils/pens

An essential skill in business (and in the world) is crafting a resumé or curriculum vitae (CV). That’s generally how you get jobs, after all! For this lesson, share a few examples of resumés via PowerPoint or slides, and then pass out some hard copies of different types of resumés or CVs.

Using these examples, each student will then practice writing out their own resumés, either on paper or on their computers (if they have them).

Be on hand to answer questions, help with formatting, or to discuss issues as they come up.

7. Guess the Brand Bingo

Level : All levels Objectives : To identify businesses, discuss effective branding, practice English listening skills Materials : Images of common brand logos on worksheets in different grid patterns, answer key for teacher

“Guess the Brand Bingo” is an engaging lesson for students to delve deeper into the business world. In addition to practicing their English listening, students can discuss common brand logos and what makes them effective, learn English names for businesses, and consider what makes these businesses stand out.

Pass out the bingo worksheets to each student, then, using your answer key, say the name of the business. The student needs to find the brand icon on their sheet and mark it off. Whoever gets four or five in a row first, wins! Just make sure to check their icons with the ones you’ve listened to make sure they got them correct!

8. All About Meetings

Level : Upper intermediate and above is best, although can be adapted to lower levels Objectives : To practice a typical business meeting, reinforce common business English and meeting culture Materials : Whiteboard with common meeting phrases, video clips of meetings

Meetings are kind of a necessary evil in the business world (and maybe the world, in general). Although nowadays many meetings are conducted online via Zoom or other chat programs, students still need to know how to conduct a meeting or take part in one, in English.

Begin the lesson with a discussion of what happens in meetings, common phrases students need to know, and video or audio clips of meetings. Then have the students break into groups and have a pretend meeting, where they greet everyone, introduce themselves, and discuss what the “meeting” will cover.

9. Writing Emails Race

Level : Can be adapted from advanced beginner and above Objectives : To introduce and review typical business English email structure and vocabulary Materials : Email template, timer, small writing papers, and pens

Emails! Another necessary evil in the workplace. Also, a very efficient, useful way to communicate with colleagues all over the world.

For the “Writing Emails Race,” put an email template on the board (on a slide or a PowerPoint). Discuss the common phrases and vocabulary seen in most emails, then pass out small pieces of paper. In pairs, students will then practice writing emails back and forth, complete with sample email addresses and subjects.

After several practice rounds to make sure each student understands the format, start the timer! The pair that writes the most emails back and forth, that are also grammatically correct, wins.

10. Guess the Job

Level : Can be adapted from advanced beginner and above Objectives : To practice speaking and reading business English, to introduce new vocabulary Materials : Notecards with different jobs

For “Guess the Job,” students will each get a notecard filled out with a different job. Students will then walk around the room, trying to guess the jobs on each other’s notecards. Students must ask questions to figure out the various jobs.

This lesson can be adapted to different levels using more complicated jobs, such as “teacher” and “doctor” versus “chief financial officer” and “software engineer.” Don’t forget to mill around and check pronunciation and grammar as the students chat, while making notes on any discussion points for later.

11. Surveys, Graphs & Charts

Level : Best for intermediate and above Objectives : To practice conversational English, to familiarize the student with surveys, graphs, and charts Materials : Graph paper, markers, pens, regular paper

This final lesson plan, “Surveys, Graphs & Charts,” is ideal for several lesson periods.

Begin by splitting each student into groups. The groups then need to come up with a survey for the rest of the class. Depending on the level, it can be an easier question, such as eye color, or it can be more tailored to business English, such as how many hours a week they work, or even more complicated.

The students must then design the survey and administer it to the rest of the class. After all the members of the class (themselves included) have filled out the survey, the groups will then analyze the results. Using the results, have the groups make a chart or a graph (or both) and then present it to the class.

This lesson is an ideal business English lesson plan, and it includes conversation, numbers analysis, information discussion, and presentation skills.

There you have it! 11 engaging business English lesson plans to spice up your lessons, without sacrificing the essential vocabulary, grammar, and themes necessary for fluency.

If you’re an ESL teacher , what lessons would you add to this list? If you’re a student, which of these sounds like the most interesting class? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

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