Guide To Starting A Coaching Centre

The system of Indian education is mushrooming with coaching centres in every nook and corner of the country. These institutions have a great importance in a student’s academic life because they not just aid in preparing for examinations but also build dream careers. Over 70 million students are studying in such coaching institutes across India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi NCR, Rajasthan and other States. No wonder a coaching institute makes an excellent idea for a small business venture since the industry itself is profitable and ever-growing.

What is the need for a coaching business in India?

The reasons attributed for the thriving of the coaching business in India are given below:

• There is an urgent need to readdress the concept of generalised schooling since many students cannot grasp the concepts completely leading to low grades. This further demotivates the students which can be a cause behind successive failures.
• The failure to teach comprehensively results from school teachers being overstressed and having to accommodate a large number of students in a classroom. 
• Lack of addressing concepts is followed by the impossible feat for a teacher to address individual student needs and learning styles. Do not repeat this error when you plan how to start a training institute in India.

Thus, with a little bit of planning and a rather significant initial investment, starting a coaching centre does promise returns, profitability and a satisfying career option.

Important coaching centre facts:

• Uttar Pradesh in India has over 1.5 million students from Grade 8 upwards enrolled in over 8000 coaching centres.

• Lucknow city itself has more than 700 centres.

• The pandemic times have meant the closure of the coaching centres affecting the lives of millions of students, their future and studies, and the thousands of institute owners, faculty members, etc. 

• UP has a largely Hindi speaking population who attend such coaching classes because of their low English speaking and comprehension abilities.

• Kota in Rajasthan is renowned for its many coaching centres, especially for the IIT JEE exams. The famous Bansal Centre here started in 1981.

• The average fees for a fast-tracked version of coaching in the Bansal Classes are Rs 80 thousand plus the cost of stay and food arranged by them.

• Many school students join the courses in Grade-8. The coaching centres appear to have a tie-up with local schools for the Board Exams enabling the student to focus on clearing the IIT JEE Exams.

• Other establishments too gain from coaching centres. Locals rent out their buildings, and hotels see an increase in footfalls. The PG and hostel business is always thriving in such areas.

The startup process on how to open a coaching centre 

Wondering how to start a tuition centre? The below steps and a coaching centre business plan are essential to ensure you have covered all the important steps required to start a coaching institute in India.

Step-1: Firstly, decide your user segment  

Coaching Centers today cater to particular student demographics from Grade 10 exams, the Plus Two exams, competitive exams for post-graduation and graduation. There are also the common entrance exams like JEE, CET etc., the governmental exams to become Inspectors of the Police, Forest Departments etc., the civil service examinations, and many more. It is thus imperative that you zero in on the most paying segment for you by doing comprehensive market research of your targeted audience, their preferences, timings, the competition course’s pricing etc. before you start the how to start a coaching centre process.

Step-2: Get your study materials and subjects right

The second step is vital since it impacts the decision making of your students in joining the coaching centre. Choosing the right study materials along with the subjects and focusing on teaching methodology is a good way how to attract students for coaching. The most popular among coaching institutes are in the niche segments for examinations like: 

• UPSC Civil Services Exams,  
• Engineering entrance exams to the IITs like JEE, 
• Medical entrance examinations for AIIMS and the NEET, 
• Defence entrance exams like the SSC exams, Banking Entrance Exams
• CAT management courses entrance exams,  
• Entrance exams to law courses or CLAT, etc. 
• There is also immigration-related English (as a foreign language course) like the TOEFL, IELTS, GRE and GMAT exams. 

After deciding on your subjects based on your research and abilities, the next step is to get the study materials right. The study material must include multiple topics as required by the particular examination and should be designed keeping examples, explanations etc., to the point and crisp. Providing digital and printed versions of the study materials helps students revise. Also, provide exercise sheets and recorded versions of all sessions to help students adjust and learn at their own pace. 

Revision quizzes, assignments, tests at frequent intervals are also good to help you gauge the students' progress. Many coaching centres also have an attendance system wherein the parents are kept informed of the absenteeism and progress of each learner. This is a novel method used in the how to open coaching institute process.

Also Read: Best Small Business Ideas for Rural Areas, Villages, Small Towns in India

Step-3: Decide on your location and infrastructure

It is best to start small and cap your initial investment lower. Read up on how to start coaching classes at home as this helps pay off your loans availed and keeps expansion from the profits earned plausible. Choosing a location is not as easy as it seems. Remember, the space needs to be in a well-known area and close to your targeted audience, transportation services like bus or train stations, if near, will be an added advantage. Further, the place should be quiet and conducive to learning. At the same time, ensure spacious, airy rooms, a toilet facility, drinking water and uninterrupted electricity supply in your centre. In time, you can grow to rent out individual buildings. 

Step-4: Recruiting staff members

When embarking on the journey to your coaching centre business, keep a few other things in mind. Divide your batches to maintain the optimal learning curve ratio of one teacher for every 20 students. Check academic records for all staff members to ensure they teach well and from experience. Typically you may need three or more staff members for each subject depending on your batches and student numbers. Comprehensive and experiential learning methods should be adopted. It is a great idea to engage with mentors and professionals from the particular segment too.

Step-5: Promoting and marketing your centre

How to attract students for coaching classes? Your success is directly proportional to the students enrolled and your marketing efforts. There are several ways to reach your targeted audience of students and their parents. Providing education is a selfless goal. But running the coaching centre is primarily market dependent.

• Make sure your faculty, teaching methodology and study notes/material are exemplary compared to other coaching centres. This will be a true example of how good your course is and helps advertise your centre effectively.
• Provide a couple of demo classes for free and circulate coaching classes advertisement pamphlets in Hindi if you are in UP. 
• Visit the areas schools, colleges etc., for enrollment drives.
• Local newspapers and TV ads on the cable networks are also effective means of marketing your centre in the how to start coaching centre process.
• Provide offline coaching, online classes, fast-tracked courses, boot camps etc., to ensure student loyalty during these pandemic times.
• Provide tuition waivers based on performance and encourage needy students with great pricing or self-financing options at zero interest rates and the like.
• Use social media wisely. Encourage reviews and be prompt in responding on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. which are the rage among students.
• Record and upload a library of lectures on YouTube and encourage a blog page the students and faculty contributed to.

Step-6: How to register a coaching institute

A coaching centre needs to be recognised as an institute of educational excellence. Depending on your scale of operations, your licensing requirements may differ. If you are operating from an extra room in your home, it is better to procure a license to trade and register under the Shops and Establishments Act. This is mandatory for a larger institute. 

Here are a some of the licenses and registration that may be required:

• Before commencement, a decision needs to be taken regarding the model of operation and business operation structure. Your choices may be Proprietorship, Pvt Ltd Company, LLP, and more for the registration of coaching institutes in UP.
• Tax payments, Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance and accounting software etc., are mandatory for coaching centres with a profit of over Rs 9 Lakh.
• The Municipal Corporation Trade License is also an important requirement that should precede the commencement of business. It needs to be filed at least three months ahead. It should include documents like the rental receipts/agreement, lease deed, building owner’s consent and the necessary declarations or affidavits with the requisite fee required by the laws.
• You will also need labour department clearance if employing many staff members or faculty.
• The Shops and Establishments Act registration should be done within a month of commencement.
• It is also a good idea to register your centre under the Industries and Commerce Act.

What to avoid in a coaching centre:

All is not well in the coaching centres of today. While VK Bhansal of Kota may be a classic example used by many to start such centres, many students of coaching centres admit that learning at coaching centres is not always a pleasant experience. Here are some of the things to avoid:

1. Instances of paying toppers to use their photographs as students of the coaching classes.
2. Sometimes, coaching classes like schools do not address the student's learning problems and instead blame the students for their poor understanding ability or lack of effort in studying.
3. These centres like schools also charge exorbitant fees.
4. Coaching classes are known to admit potential rank students to get better pass percentages.
5. The study material given is a repeat of the school or course curriculum and does not aid the student.
6. Some of the topics taught do not ever appear in the examinations.
7. Many students find the YouTube online sessions more relevant and educational.
8. The faculty members never clear student doubts and make the student feel inferior for raising any doubts.
9. The coaching centres, despite their huge fees, do not guarantee a rank in the examinations.
10. Influential people promote most coaching centres, and hence taking them on is detrimental to the student’s career.
11. There is no uniformity in syllabi, and often the advertised pay structures and placement drives are falsehoods meant to attract students.
12. If a student gets ranked, it is due to the institute. In the same breath, no one except the student is blamed for failing. Institutes do not even talk about their failure rates.
13. Many village students and economically backward students are wrongly lured into the trap of coaching centres.

Also Read: What are The Best Tech Business Ideas for a Start-up?

Conclusion

India is a large market, especially for the educational segment. With the industry growing, the mushrooming of coaching centres indicates that the market has a lot of scope, and the idea of how to start coaching classes is very profitable. Starting small and remaining in the market for the long run is an excellent strategy to follow. Coaching centres will also need to use the latest in technology, accounting software, social media channels etc., to stay on top. By following the essential steps and avoiding certain factors listed in this article, you can successfully start a coaching class. Did you know that the Khatabook app helps in accounting and GST compliance that can be monitored from your mobile phone itself? Use this app to manage these aspects for your coaching centre successfully.