How a love for family and for French grew into a flourishing language business.
Bethan Thompson tells us her success story as a Language for Fun Franchisee.
Before I had children, I worked in a fast-paced environment in recruitment & business development. When I was on maternity leave with my first and longed-for child, I decided that I wanted to enjoy every moment with my daughter and that I would not be able to continue in that position, nor did I want to. I resigned, and almost as soon as I did, I had a chance conversation with a friend of a friend who was a mutual friend of the local La Jolie Ronde licensee. She was looking for French tutors and I was desperate to use my French, despite wanting to spend every minute with my daughter!
I went to Jessica’s house with my daughter, and had a lovely chat about my career needing to change completely since having a baby, and how this was where my priorities now lay. We chatted about our daughters being the main focus in our lives, and Jessica checked out my French too. The result was that I started teaching 2-4 classes per week at a local primary school over 1-2 hours per week as a tutor for Jessica, while she facilitated all the admin and marketing to promote the classes. Then I got pregnant again! My son was born a little early, the following June but I nearly managed to get through the entire academic year. I took the summer off with both children and continued in September with my classes, gaining in experience as I went, loving teaching children and extending my knowledge and passion for France and all things French to them. Jessica finished being the licensee and so I took over, running a stable and successful business for many years (22 to date), and fitting it in with my family; as they grew, the business grew.
Jessica and I kept in touch on and off for all of these years and I followed her set up of French for Fun avidly and with great admiration, wishing her every success from afar as it developed into Language for Fun, with courses translated into Spanish, and later Italian. In December 2018, I popped to see her for a cuppa in the same kitchen where I had the initial chat; this time with no children present; they were now teenagers and not wanting to spend all of their time with me, even if I wanted them to!
I said that I could fancy teaching a couple of adult groups around my conservatory table, and …well..the rest really is history! We also discussed my skillset and what I wanted to make me satisfied, and part of this was also to be involved in the development of the business and its success.
I started my own 2 classes for adults in January 2019 and in September 2019, the formidable Richard, another local franchisee, retired and I very trepidatiously took over his Spanish learners. What to do? Take it on and not find a tutor? Teach them myself and they stay at Beginners 1 level 1?! An enquiry came through Head Office from a 4th year Spanish degree student and I met her and we had a very informal chat. We hit it off and also discovered that her best friend is the daughter of one of my best friends! She started off and all went well…until Covid! However, we worked our way through – very hard- and kept on working hard. We got through it and in fact went from strength to strength and took on Italian in addition. At this point I had 6 tutors for all 3 languages and was still teaching several classes a week myself. I conceived, trialled and implemented a Course in a Day and this was a great way to filter in learners who weren’t able to commit to a weekly class for whatever reason, at the same time as injecting a good amount to cash into my business, relative to time and effort.
After 6 years of building my business, all the hard work meant a stable and sustainable business. I also took on additional hours at Head Office and offered the sale of the Spanish arm of my business to my loyal tutor Megan; we had come through thick and thin together with the business and supported each other unwaveringly. She had at this point become a franchisee in her own right, in a neighbouring territory, and was also ready to add to her portfolio. A huge success story all round
Throughout the years that I have been a franchisee with Language For Fun, the materials and the network of like-minded and passionate linguists have been such a great support. Without the constant and steady stream of enquiries which come through the website, and the never-ending support and development opportunities, I couldn’t have achieved what I have done anywhere near as quickly or easily.
Teaching adults is fun, relaxed and sociable. It’s all the best bits of teaching but no Ofsted, marking, behavioural difficulties, or parents to deal with! My learners have become my friends and I genuinely miss them when we have a break for a holiday!
To learn more about running a Language Teaching Franchise with Language for Fun, take a look at our teach with us page and submit an enquiry.