I recently had coffee with fellow franchisee Peter from Yamashina school on the eastern edge of Kyoto. Our school, SSE Ohtsu, is only 1 stop away on the JR Biwako Line on the western edge of Shiga prefecture. So Otsu and Yamashina are neighbours. How does this affect our business? Peter and I compared notes and recently we had helped each other- Peter has gotten several new students who got flyers from me at Otsu station, and I have gotten a few students from Peter’s flyers a Yamashina. So when choosing a location think about this: being isolated MAY give you a monopoly on the area and the students, but also leaves you stranded and alone. Being NEAR another [Smith’s] school can be very beneficial to both schools. But how near is too near? Think about the area population, number of other schools in the area, and the location of the nearest Smith’s school. All these factors can help you decide where to build your school. Another advantage we discussed was sharing part-time staff and working together on bigger advertising projects in the area. Something as simple as putting BOTH schools locations on your flyers can help each other out! TEAMwork in action! So find your neighbours and take them out for coffee.
Edward, SSE Ohtsu
Leave a Reply