language club

bilbodreams

Hello everyone, I am starting a foreign language children's club very soon. It's aimed to children between the ages of 4-11.
I have contacted schools in my area but nobody seems interested so far. So I am thinking of renting a community hall and do it that way.
I have got DBS, I have got all the materials I need, insurance I also have worked out all the costs etc
I have created a Facebook page and I am thinking of having a website linked into.
My problem is the marketing side of it, where/how can I (cheaply or free?) advertise it? I am aiming to get the attention of women between 25-55.
I already have got flyers, posters etc
Also how can I create a website? Is WordPress good?
Do you think a Saturday morning club is the best time for these age group?
Can anyone see any potential issues/give me some ideas? What else I am missing? I am so excited about starting these clubs, I really, really want them to work out:)

martindow

I think you are very unlikely to get schools to pay you for providing this at a time when they are struggling to balance budgets, making people redundant or increasing class sizes.

There was someone on Dragons' Den recently running something similar, in Scotland I think. It seemed successful (although she got no money out of them).

If you can find their website or that of someone else running a similar scheme you might be able to get some useful information on pricing and when they run classes.

bilbodreams

I will look on the Dragons Den web, thank you for that, I was thinking more on the lines of parents paying me directly, like an after-school club, so the school gets to offer language club without having to employ additional staff or spend money on resources.
I'd deal with parents communications, enrolments, payments etc but as no schools seem to be interested I am thinking of hiring a hall on Saturdays/ school holidays etc

jamesperrett

It may also be worth contacting local home education groups - there is one near us who have regular languages sessions.

bilbodreams

Didn't think of that! Thank you

Aquamania

At the momemnt, you appear to be looking for venues in the hope they will bring you custom.
It may be better to identify some customers and ask them their preferred venue.

I say this, because I'm not sure there really is much demand for speaking a foreign language here. The British are generally renowned as not speaking anything other than English (save for a few Welsh who may also speak their own language, but probably mainly live in a locality where that language is often spoken anyway)

If I'm wrong, and you do find genuine demand, I think this type of business would grow through word of mouth.

As you have found, the obvious source of customers (schools) have no budget themselves for funding such extra curricular teaching.

It's not clear to me who your target market really is. We have informal language clubs here and they are free or run at minimal cost (just enough to cover the venue cost), but they struggle to survive due to lack on ongoing interest.

We also have a local college that runs adult night classes for various languages (to get a qualification) but these too continuously struggle to find enough pupils to run economically.

There's obviously the 'pushy parents' who want their kids to do well in school and are prepared to fund such extra teaching for them, but much of that is probably expected to be taught at their own homes on a 1:1 basis. If you are suitably qualified, I'm sure there are established businesses that already offer this service - perhaps you could ask if you could go onto their books. They find you the work/customers - you just do the teaching often on a self employed basis.

Another option to consider, again depending on your qualifications, could you offer English as a Foriegn Language? This is probably more in demand currently, and if you get asked to peoples homes to teach their kids, then perhaps you could then encourage their parents to enrol too?
Whilst I think TEFL is currently quite in demand, I'm not sure the future of this based on the changes that will occur over the next couple of years here.

FatVonD

What language were you planning to teach? I know of families that send their children to Greek school on Saturdays and others to Turkish schools but these are in areas where there are a high percentage of those nationalities living locally that want their children to learn the language.

bilbodreams

I am a native Spanish speaker ( teach English as a foreign language)I am hoping to teach Spanish children between the ages of 4-11.

I was thinking that my marketing should be aimed to women between 25-55 as they are likely to have children of those ages. Maybe wrong approach....

I'd like to make it fun, with lots of crafts, activities, songs, stories etc more like a fun club instead of a lesson

lincroft1710

bilbodreams wrote: »

I am a native Spanish speaker ( teach English as a foreign language)I am hoping to teach Spanish children between the ages of 4-11.

Did you mean teach Spanish to children?

DomRavioli

bilbodreams wrote: »

I am a native Spanish speaker ( teach English as a foreign language)I am hoping to teach Spanish children between the ages of 4-11.

I was thinking that my marketing should be aimed to women between 25-55 as they are likely to have children of those ages. Maybe wrong approach....

I'd like to make it fun, with lots of crafts, activities, songs, stories etc more like a fun club instead of a lesson

I doubt Spanish is a language that people would pay to learn - some learn it in school already (depends on the school, I learned french from the age of 5 here in the UK), and most parents won't want to spend what little they have left given rising inflation, costs and stagnant wages on a language club

Perhaps just become a tutor for those who want to learn, as this just sounds doomed to fail.

bilbodreams

Lincroft, yes, I meant teach Spanish to children.
""I am a native Spanish speaker ( teach English as a foreign language)I am hoping to teach Spanish children between the ages of 4-11."""
The bracket should have said( 'I can't teach English as a foreign language) Sorry for the mishap