Page 35 - ELG1705 May Issue 447

REVIEWS & RESOURCES

THE FAST FOOD RESTAURANT THE FASHION BOUTIQUE
This type of business offers a very limited
range of products with strict rules on Ninety- ve per cent of people who enter
5 production and delivery, and a low a fashion boutique with haute couture
retail price. Additional goods, such as tomato 6 leave without buying anything. The 5 per
ketchup, may be separately charged for. A cent who do buy, however, ensure that most
school would offer a small number of short low- high-fashion boutiques have a very healthy
cost courses with exactly delineated content, so pro t margin, since the selling price covers
every student gets exactly what they expect. It is not only the cost of goods but the total cost of
across the country or the world with no variation design and production. A school sells a small
in the product. number of very expensive courses each year
– almost certainly one-off ESP courses which
Publishers are constantly making new which pays for the writing of the course as well
THE PUBLISHING COMPANY exactly match the needs of a multinational,
products for the same market – and any as the delivery.
7 published author will tell you this obsession is
extremely annoying when a course is remaindered
after only a few years’ shelf life, even though it

is still selling well. Why do they do it? Because THE FRONT BUSINESS
they believe, rightly or wrongly, that their market This sounds like a mafia model, but it’s not.
loves innovation – or even just change for the sake The Front Language School trades on the
of change. If you think your market of language 8 name it has made in one area to make its
students is the same, keep introducing new real money in another. My own language school
variations on the theme, each with a very clear in Oman turned into a front business. Once we
‘innovative’ element. Schools might have over the had established a reputation as a high-quality
last few years run courses which trumpeted The government-recognised provider of language
Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language training, we were able to offer that imprimatur
Learning, Total Physical Response, Functional for other organisations that wanted to provide
English, Communicative Methodology, Self Access, non-language training but were unknown in the
Blended Learning and Clil. market or unregistered with the government.
See elgazette.com for more.

editorial@elgazette.com 35

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