Building a Successful Language School in Japan

Dean Rogers talks about the struggles that he went through in starting his English language conversation school in Tokyo.

He shares his experiences, tips, as well as the mistakes that he made, which helped his company grow from one school to now ten schools throughout Japan. Dean talks about the unique policy of "customer second" that helped his company retain and develop top talent. He stresses the importance of being goal-oriented, showing strong management, effective leadership, all things that he believes will help new entrepreneurs on their way to starting their own language school business.

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[brianjohn]

Thank very much for uploading this video

[dianovichjohn]

The best video about opening a school in Japan or any country by far. I'm planning to open a school in Japan next year, been planning for about 2 years, so while the industry has become more commoditized there's still room for ppl who innovate.

[cubbyhouseenglish]

It is possible to start a successful business without any outside investment and seminars and only initial advertising.
The 3 key ingredients are as follows.
Knowing what you want to achieve and where you want to take your business and sticking to it (a clear business plan), having the know how (accumulated experience from previous employment in the industry), innovation! (don't copy), and the big one.... HUMBLENESS, CUSTOMER SERVICE (not firing customer but working with them) and RESULTS.
Word of mouth in the community is the best advertising you will EVER get.

[expatinasia]

Interesting to a degree, but really nothing specific to opening a language school, as others said.
I've learned more about opening and running a school whilst sharing a beer with those who have already done so.

[Elfunkox]

Really liked this video and the other one about DMA. Lol, i even learned things about gaijinpot i never even thought about.

[fergaldownes]

Hey mate.. good video. What is the best way to accept payments for online group classes? iTalki is only for 1-2-1 lessons. I am looking for a payment platform or site where you can advertise group lessons where a person would pay in advance for a full pack of lessons. Does this exist?

[essennagerry]

I think you are talking about two different types of "judging people". In my native tongue we differantiate it with teo words - one for the type of judging which is condemning and one basically means estimating. So when it comes to judging people in the way that you promote in this presentation, we basically say "you need to learn to estimate people", i.e. we don't use a word with sich a negative load.

[DB]

I'm moving to Japan to be an English teacher. Do you have an email I can reach out to you for guidance

[carbooknet]

Excellent presentation. But tell me how hard will it be start a small type school in a home or rented place not to expensive and get students to attend? Do you need a lot or if any capitol to start in japan or any place in asia? And do you need a japanesse partner to do this?

[shady]

nice video for those who have 1 million $ .... it will take me YEARS to save that kind of money and I don't think I would risk it starting a business imo ...