Are you adventurous and ambitious?
Do you crave to be in control of your own destiny?
Would you like to work hard and retire early?
If so, then you should think about co-owning an English school in Shanghai. By investing just a few years of your life in the world's most promising market, you are assured a return exponentially larger than your input.
How can you be sure that this investment will reap rewards? It's a business, and all businesses have the risk of failure. Well, not so the children's English teaching business in Shanghai (so long as you're a foreigner, that is).
To make a successful business all you need is the following:
- A market hungry for your product
- A good product that satisfies your customers more than your competition can
Anyone with experience teaching children in China will know that the market is ripe for the picking. Chinese parents place the utmost importance on their child’s education in general, and English in particular. Luckily, due to China having been closed for decades, competition in the children's English teaching market is not yet overdone (unlike in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, where I would not recommend investing in this industry).
We at DD Dragon believe we can provide the perfect product. We have great materials and teaching system, but sadly those alone are not enough to squeeze out the competition. The X-factor is FOREIGN TEACHERS. You need good and stable foreign teachers to gain the trust and support of your students' parents. Time and time again we've seen schools grow rapidly while they had a good teacher, and then hit a brick wall after the teacher left. Conversely, those few schools in China where a good teacher has stayed two years or longer seem to have no constraints when it comes to the growth of student numbers (and thus profit).
Hence DD Dragon's current offer: invest in a school in Shanghai, starting off as a teacher and then moving on to a managerial role once a solid base has been established. We believe that any school that is run by a foreign teacher will have such a large head start on the competition that the outcome of the race is a foregone conclusion.
THE ORIGINS OF DD DRAGON
ABOUT DD DRAGON
THE RIGHT MODEL
SHANGHAI OPPORTUNITY
THE DEAL
PROFITS
FAQs
THE ORIGINS OF DD DRAGON
DD Dragon is the brainchild of 36 year old UK citizen Steven Molteno, known to his Chinese staff as "Chairman More". On completion of high school and despite the concerns of his family, he spent 3 years on the road in Africa and South America, during which time he learnt the true value of a $1 bill. Thereafter he committed himself to a degree in biology, graduating at the age of 25 with an Honours degree and a strong suspicion that he'd wasted 4 valuable years of his youth. He then spent a year on the northern Mozambican coast, where he built a dhow and made his living trading raw materials across the Tanzanian border. This seemingly idyllic life came to an abrupt end when the local authorities wanted the larger piece of the pie. To escape the corruption of Africa and to further explore his new-found interest in business, he left Africa for Taiwan at the age of 27 with the parting words "I'm off to the East to find a Chinese partner and make English schools". Which is exactly what he did.
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ABOUT DD DRAGON
Shortly after arriving in Taiwan in late 1996 Steven Molteno teamed up with Vivian Chang to found DD Dragon Educational Organization. As well as opening English schools they also wrote and published the English With DD Dragon textbook series. In 2003 they expanded the company into China, setting up their headquarters in Shanghai. Since then DD Dragon has opened more than 20 branches in China (6 inShanghai), and have come to realize that the market is hungry for quality English language schools.
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THE RIGHT MODEL
There are many models on which a children's English school can be run, but most of them are flawed. Some schools use Chinese people as teachers (to cut costs) and ignore the fact that the students pick up appalling pronunciation habits. Other schools have a Chinese teacher to teach half the lesson, and a Westerner the other half (also to save money). The failure of this system is that the Western teacher gets to spend too little time with the students, and inevitably falls into the role of "clown" as opposed to "
teacher". But by far the greatest problem with 99% of English schools is that they are owned by people who cannot speak English at all. Since they've never taught the language they do not understand the teacher-student dynamic. Furthermore, due to the language barrier there are no effective communication channels between the Western staff and the management, and so the necessary changes cannot be implemented.
Experience has taught us that the best system by far is a school part-owned and managed by a foreigner, who himself teaches some of the classes. In this way the highest level of education can be attained and maintained, and the trust and support of the parents is assured (as is profit).
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SHANGHAI OPPORTUNITY
Shanghai is the largest city in China, and by far the richest.It is rapidly regaining its former reputation as "the Paris of the East". For those interested in making money in the English teaching business the opportunities abound. Shanghai has already become a world-famous international city, and parents realise that it's vital their child is fluent in English if he/she is to get into the right school, let alone university! Add to this the fact that the One-Child Policy means there are 6 adults focused entirely on one child (2 sets of grandparents plus the parents) there is no shortage of cash within even the poorer households for spending on quality English education. Where the shortage lies is the lack of good children's English schools. Evidence for this is the fact that we have many students who happily undergo a 3-hour round trip across the city to attend a 1.5 hour lesson at a DD Dragon branch.
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THE DEAL
The licensing, teaching system (including materials), staff, decorating etc. will all be taken care of by ourselves. What we are looking for is first-language English speakers who can teach well, who can commit no less than 3 years to the project, who have ambition, and who have some capital to invest. It is difficult to provide an exact figure for the cost of opening of a new school, since rent changes from area to area. A ballpoint figure is probably around RMB80,000 (US$10,000). This would cover the decoration costs (around RMB30,000), up-front rent (3 months at RMB10,000 a month) and the rest to cover salaries. Our proposal is to sell shares in a new school according to the overall start-up costs. For example, if the total cost were RMB80,000 then one share (ie. 1%) would be RMB800 (US$100). Thus, a 30% share would cost RMB24,000 (US$3,000)
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PROFITS
Since each student pays RMB440 per month, a school hits the profit mark at about 60 students.
60 Students
Total Income = RMB26,400
Total Costs = RMB23,000
Profit = RMB3,400
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200 Students
Total Income = RMB88,000
Total Costs = RMB41,000
Profit = RMB 47,000
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400 Students
Total Income = RMB176,000
Total Costs = RMB76,000
Profit = RMB 100,000
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Here is the break-down of approximate costs of a school with 400 students:
Rent: RMB12,000
Chinese Staff: RMB16,000
Foreign Teachers: RMB36,000
Water/Electricity/Stationary: RMB2,000
Taxes: RMB10,000
You will no doubt be wondering at what speed a school can grow. There is no hard and fast rule, but a well-managed school should easily pass 200 students within 3 years, and may well reach 300 to 400 by that time.
We look forward to hearing hearing back from anyone who thinks they fit the following description:
Self-confident
Competent
Creative
Ambitious
Diligent
Yours sincerely
The DD Dragon Team
e-mail: steven@DDDragon.com
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FAQs |
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What if I really want to do it, but don't have the capital?
Then we recommend that you let us know of your interest, and apply for a job at a DD Dragon branch. If you prove yourself to be hard-working and dependable, we can sit down and talk.
How do I know I won't be ripped off?
A contract will be drawn up and verified by the Shanghai government. The contract will state precise details of the business relationship entered into, and at which court the legal proceedings will be dealt with in the event of either party being dissatisfied. You can also consult a lawyer (approximately RMB5,000) to know your rights.
Can I buy more than a 50% stake?
Should you want such a large share, we recommend that you franchise our company instead of going into a co-ownership agreement. We view Shanghai as a money-spinner and are loath to sign away too large a share of a downtown area.
I've never taught before.Can I make a school?
Having hired and trained people who've come from all walks of life, we feel we know what kind of applicant makes a good teacher. We’ll let you know if we think you have the right stuff.
