Part Two
It was 2012 and I was well on my way to beginning a new and exciting chapter in my life, but first I had to navigate the murky waters of Greek bureaucracy. Though it was a lifelong dream to open my own language school, doing so in the midst of an economic crisis, in a country that I had never lived in as an adult and one notorious for its ridiculous red tape, proved to be quite the challenge! Read on to hear all about my adventures.
After much deliberation, I decided that opening an online ESL learning platform would be the best fit for my needs and goals. Doing so would allow me to work from home, (or anywhere else I desired, for that matter!) create my own working hours and interact with students from around the world- all the while, doing what I love most- teaching English! The idea of being my own boss and having complete creative freedom also greatly appealed to me. Now for the difficult part. I had never worked in Greece, much less opened my own company in the country, and the sheer amount of challenges I knew I would face were certainly daunting. That, however, did not stop me- and should not stop you, if you’re flirting with the idea of branching out on your own!
Armed with all the information one could need and a set of parents determined to help their daughter achieve her dream, I began the somewhat long, yet always interesting path to becoming a small business owner! To say there were many hoops that needed to be jumped through is probably quite the understatement, but I was determined that nothing would get in my way. A few months of running around getting papers stamped and going from one depressing governmental building to the next, finally led me to the day I received my official papers as owner of English Education Lab. What a proud moment that was! Thus, began my first tentative steps into the world of online teaching and business ownership.
I wasted no time in creating a website for EEL and letting my students know that I would slowly, but surely transition to purely online teaching within the year. It was then time to begin the task of advertising EEL and getting word out. Alas, how does one do so with little experience and even less financial stability? Stay tuned to find out in part three!