John Chow’s blog offers some good reading in his post entitled “My Five Requirements For Investing In A New Business“.

A brief summary of his five points are:

• 1. low startup costs
• 2. exclusive rights
• 3. self managing
• 4. global
• 5. portable

Right now, I’m very much in favor of that, as the school I’m running is anything but #1, #3 or #4 or #5! In fact, it really isn’t such a smart business to run! It’s not so expensive to start up a small school, but it does require a lot of cash to start up a biggish one. While exclusivity isn’t so much of a problem, the competition is fierce, even though quality is lacking! Self-managing… hah! Global: we’re in the global business market, but we’re anything but! We’re very much a local business, in size, market and scope! And it is not portable! Too many licenses, laws and government departments make sure it is not portable! So an education business isn’t necessarily the smart thing to do, especially if you need teachers, classrooms and bodies on chairs! Mmm.