chris
raye: for love or money?
Chris
Raye is a Smith's School of English franchisee. Like
our other franchisees, he follows our systems carefully.
He knows our curriculum upside-down and inside-out,
does a killer trial lesson, works his area wisely, and
studies his target market diligently. He does everything
precisely as he's learned from us. But Chris Raye's
franchise is a bit different from our other franchises.
You see, Chris Raye doesn't make a whole lot of money.
And he likes it that way.
 "I
came to Japan because of my love for Japanese calligraphy.
I first started learning it back home, and I came to Japan
to further my skills. After finding a calligraphy teacher
I really liked, I got a job at one of the nearby big-name
English schools. I needed the money even though I hated
the company. Don't get me wrong, the students were okay,
but they knew and I knew how they were getting ripped
off by the company: lessons paid for months in advance,
high textbook fees, irrelevant curriculum, the whole works.
After a few months of working for them, I just knew I
had to find something better. They had me working a forty
hour week. I needed the money (and the visa) but I had
no time to study and practice my calligraphy — which
was my main reason for coming to Japan in the first place.
That's when I read the literature and thought, "What have
I got to lose? Maybe these Smith's guys have got something
for me. I'll give 'em a call." So I did and that's when
everything started to change.
"We
sat down and I told 'em exactly what I wanted: a stable
income with time to study and practice my calligraphy.
They asked me how much money I wanted to earn per month
and when we finished crunching numbers, I was amazed at
how little I'd need to be teaching in order to make it
real. I don't even have a business background but they
didn't seem to mind. They took care of everything.
"Within
a few weeks my franchise was up and running. Now, I'm
not making a fortune, but then again I didn't want to
in the first place. I'm earning enough for me; my goals,
my life. I've been able to quit my other job and work
my Smith's franchise "full-time," which for me means only
the few hours a week I need to in order to earn as much
as I was making at the slave-ship going at it forty hours.
I have time enough to study and practice my calligraphy,
I have great students, money in the bank. Life is good.
Smith's made that all happen for me.
"Some
of my friends tell me I could have done it all on my own,
but I doubt it. My Japanese ability isn't all that great,
I know zilch about business, and frankly, I just didn't
want to go through all the bother I've heard one has to
go through in order to start a school on one's own. No,
for me, my Smith's franchise was, is, and continues to
be, a good decision."
 Granted,
Chris's franchise isn't setting any franchise records
in terms of production, money in the door. But we at Smith's
recognize that, for some (many?) people, money isn't everything.
It's only a tool that allows people the freedom to do
the important things they really want to do. And we support
that. A Smith's School of English franchise. For love?
For money? How about both?
Isn't now the best time to give us a call and start making
some good decisions? Give
us a call and start converting your time into the
kinds of experiences you've always wanted to have here
in Japan.
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