Your guide for your first school

There is a lot to unpack when it comes to starting a new business but launching a school is even more complicated considering the many aspects you need to think about and the decisions you need to make and even more things you need to do and plan ahead that is why we thought you might need some assisting through this journey to make it easier for you.

We are here going to break down these steps and try to make this process just a little bit digestible.

These are the things that we will cover in this article: 

• The school type
• The location and environment 
• Your targeted segment
• Your goals 
• Your budget 
• Teachers and curriculum 
• The School Furniture 

The School Type

so, the very first thing you need to know is what is the school you are building:

Even though there might be different types of schools depending on the country you are in, yet most countries have the same main types with the same main qualities.

So, back to the types of schools: 

• First, we have public schools; which are schools that are run by the government and funded by the government and educate the national curriculum.
• Second, we have private schools; which are managed by individuals, and these schools could have their curriculums in a foreign language which could be the second language of their country or they could teach in the first language of the country.
• Third, international schools; which are managed by a foreign country that teach the foreign curriculum of the origin country in the school.
• Fourth, religious schools will teach their curriculum along side with religious teachings.
• Fifth, Montessori; these schools are private schools that appreciate and encourage the student individualism and creative aspects focusing their teachings on building leaders.
• Sixth, special schools, which are schools that meet the needs of the students who need special care or special treatment.

There are many more types of schools and each gets different qualities and specifications but these are the main types you need to know. So, since the type of school affects your freedom to choose the curriculum you will be teaching, it will affect the teachers you are hiring, the students you are teaching, and even more. so, let’s discuss the elements you need to consider in order to pick the school type. First, you need to know your environment.

The Location And Environment 

Where is your school:

Knowing the neighborhood you are opening in will let you know the other schools that exist in the neighborhood, if any, which will tell a lot about the needs of this market and whether they have the capacity for another school or not. This will also indicate what types of schools parents choose and the schools work in this environment and will tell if they might consider joining a different type of school. it will also showcase the social level of the people in the neighborhood (your easier target).

If the market has a capacity for your school this will mean you can target those who already live in the neighborhood but if not then you might need to target those from other areas which will be a more challenging task.

Your Targeted Segment

Knowing this, let’s discuss how can you know how the type of school will affect the target you will approach:

In order to know who your target is you need to answer this:

• Who are you teaching or giving this service to?
•  What is their social class?
•  Do they consider learning a new language?
•  Will they be able to pay school fees?
•  Do they need special care?
•  Will they be interested in teaching their kids a high education level?
•  Are they considering developing kids’ leadership skills or not?

There are still many questions to ask to have more understanding of your target. However, once you figure out a sufficient amount of answers about your target and the environment your school will be in now you can start narrowing down the options we have. you can consider a couple of types in your head.

Your Goals And Your Budget 

These types will be narrowed down once again, after a couple of questions you can answer:

• What are your goals:

So, obviously, you need to know the goals of the school and what you want to teach the students, and what principles matter to you. All of this will help you in deciding the type of school you are opening.

• What is your budget:

So, your budget affects everything; it affects the architectural design of the school, the facilities you can add, and the teachers you can afford to hire.

So, now that you figured out the answers to the previous questions then you should be ready to go with a school type, your targeted student segment, your school structure, and many more to help in deciding the next few steps.

Teachers and Curriculum 

Now that you know the type of school you know how advanced your curriculum will be and if your curriculum will be in their mother language or in a second language. So now you can choose the curriculum which will be taught in your school which will affect who you will hire and what qualities you will need your teachers to have. it will also affect the languages they speak, their certificates, and even their salaries. So, make sure to not underestimate this step.

So, now after hand-picking your teachers and curriculum, it is time to choose your furniture and equipment. you now know all you need to know to make this step a hundred times easier.

The School Furniture 

The furniture you have should meet your needs:

• First, you need to consider how many students you will have in the classroom which will affect many things other than the furniture in the classroom. It will also affect the cost and the revenue of your business and how it will be viewed by the parents and students. For instance, a limited number of students will showcase how the school is limited and a high-class school and on the other hand, more students might showcase popularity. so, make sure to pick this wisely.
• Second, you will need to consider the activities that will be participated in the classroom and the school as a whole. which will help you in picking furniture that makes the process of these activities easier.
• Third, the material and the size of the School Furniture need to fit the age of students and the safety standards that your school follows.

I know that there are a lot of things you need to know before starting your school business but I hope this article has helped you and eased this hectic process for you. So, now you can go through this process with a plan in your mind.