Tips on Starting a School

A K-12 school is a venture which seems all hunky dory from the outside and has interested entrepreneurs young and old, fresh or experienced, here in India. Having worked in a School in Gurgaon, I feel the situation is not as glorified as it is made out to be. I would like to share my thoughts on starting and running a school.

Starting and running a School is a lot about doing the following things well.

Setting a Vision: A clear vision needs to be set at the onset itself. We need to define the purpose of our school and what it aims to be.

Making a Solid Plan: We need to clearly identify our target market. We should know what type of parents we are targeting (as the real ’customers’ are parents and not students), what they expect and how we intend to match these expectations. Our fee and facilities should be set in accordance with the above.

Doing the Paperwork: Most schools in India are run under a Trust/Society. We need get the same registered and getting the necessary affiliation from the Board of choice.

Buying Land & Giving the Building Contract: Since this is the bulk of the investment, finding and analyzing different options is a must. Know which location would be better for your target market. Hiring a good Architect and Builder are key to getting a good facility up.

Hire a Good Team: The Principal is generally the CEO of the school. Hiring a good Principal and then building a great team around him/her is of prime importance. Since most founders do not possess teaching skills, the team is what drives a good school.

Make a Marketing Plan: Try to be specific in marketing to your TG. This will help lower your spends and give you a better return.

Starting a school has some advantages as a business opportunity.

Recession Less: Schools tend to grow at a regular pace, notwithstanding economic conditions around. Parents do not tend to compromise on their children’s education.

Self Sustaining: Once set and running, schools can sustain themselves and do not require much participation from the management on a regular basis.

Despite these, I do feel there are some downsides as well.

Low Returns on Investment: Since the capital expenditure is very high in starting a school, the returns are relatively low as compared to other businesses. Also the gestation period tends to be high.

Lower Growth Rates: Some reasons for this are that admissions happen only once a year and capex needs to be done to take in new students above the capacity. With regards to greenfield expansions, some models such as Franchising have proven to be a boon for schools looking to scale.