[HUE]

Toby,

Mark is an expert here. I would listen to everything he has to say, as he's living a very comfortable life, doing exactly what he wants to do, and not being exploited by language companies who set up a revolving door policy for both students and teachers. No envy here...

My only comment would be not to think of traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. A lot of language learning can be done online, and done successfully. I've started moving into this area, and it's not different than a small class of students. All the tools are the same, as well as the classroom opportunities. Plus online means you also have the chance to find students from all over the world.

Good luck.

[mesmark]

Quote HUE

Mark is an expert here. I would listen to everything he has to say, as he's living a very comfortable life, doing exactly what he wants to do, and not being exploited by language companies who set up a revolving door policy for both students and teachers. No envy here...

I'm not sure that's entirely true ... My school does well and I do much better than I would working a regular contract around here, but it's not going to get me a beach chair on an island resort any time soon

One bad side of it is you can't take long vacations and you feel pretty tied to the business. You feel a much greater responsibility in all areas, plus you stress about the business side (which you wouldn't do if you were just an employee.) You also can't complain about management. If it's going wrong, it's your fault.

However, being your own boss is great and I think it would be really hard for me to work for anyone ever again. I really respect my boss, he's a great guy, and he appreciates all my hard work.

Like Chris explained, there are loads of trees you can bark up for business. I've been fortunate in that I have plenty of ideas still untapped, but right now I'm opting for time rather than more work.