How It Went: Ukraine’s First Forum of English Schools
On November 30, 2024, Kyiv hosted the ESL Leaders Business Forum: an event we had been waiting for and preparing for over the past few months, which brought together more than 130 owners, heads and top managers of language schools from all over Ukraine.
We were happy to see that the forum became a great platform for sharing experience, with lots of inspiring discussions and new connections that, we are sure, will help every participant build a successful ESL business. But let us tell you in more detail how it went.
*more than 150 forum visitors comfortably took their seats in the conference hall of the BASIS school in Kyiv
We chose the modern premises of the BASIS school in Kyiv as the venue. From early morning we welcomed the forum guests, treated them to coffee and morning snacks, and helped them settle in and get ready for a productive day.
After the official opening speech by the organizers, namely our Chief Operating Officer Katya Kravchenko, the first part of the forum began: “Business model. All about the numbers”.
The first speaker was Ruslan Nynyk, co-founder of the Green Forest Family of projects and CEO of the Green Forest English school (he spoke online, but the technology let us create an almost real sense of his presence in the hall). Ruslan’s topic was developing an umbrella brand and narrow product specialization. The short but very rich talk left no one indifferent and was a great start to the forum’s packed program.
The “Business model. All about the numbers” part continued with Nataliia Dudchenko, founder and owner of the Study Less and Study Less Kids online English schools and the Study Plays project. Her topic was developing a product with the freemium business model.
The third speaker of the first part was Yuliia Sokolova, founder of Present Simple, the largest network of English schools for children. Yuliia shared her expertise on a strategy for scaling a language school through franchising, using her own network as an example.
The first part of the forum closed with Natalia Lototska-Hevko, co-founder and CEO of the Green Country English school and the TalkEn.Cloud online platform, with an interesting talk on White Label as a ready-made solution for starting a business.
After the talks, each part continued with a panel discussion where the speakers answered questions from the moderators and the audience. The moderator of the first part was Andrii Salamatov, managing partner of the 4Press creative agency and the GreenDuck business intelligence company, who kept the discussion dynamic and helped find answers to many pressing questions.
After the first part, all guests had a chance to catch their breath, have a coffee and visit the exhibition area, where the forum partners presented themselves: leading companies that specialize in tools and solutions for language schools. Among the forum partners were:
- Voopty: an all-in-one CRM for educational institutions that simplifies and optimizes managing an education business by combining all the necessary tools in one platform.
- KALYNA education: a Ukrainian LMS platform for online learning, language schools, mentoring, marathons and all kinds of educational projects.
- Present Simple: a turnkey education business with a franchise of the largest network of English schools for children in Ukraine.
- and other partners we will tell you about below.
The second part of the forum was devoted to “Marketing: brand and client acquisition channels” and began with a talk by Inna Lukaichuk (CEO of the Englishdom online English school) titled “Rebranding: the ‘psychoanalysis’ of a business and a push for product change”. The applause showed that the topic was relevant and the information useful.
The second part continued with Kristina Zhylina (head of marketing at the Green Country English school) and a short but meaningful talk about transforming communication with clients. The interesting facts and insights Kristina shared got a grateful response from the audience.
The final talk of the second part was given by Anna Velychko (founder of the English with Mrs. Ann school, influencer, teacher and entrepreneur). Her topic, building a language school around the founder’s personal brand, was vivid, concise and very useful.
The panel discussion after the second part was moderated by Nataliia Belska (founder of NB Project, the largest professional events on managing children’s education projects, including KidsBusinessForum). The discussion was heated, the audience had lots of questions for the speakers, and everyone got thorough answers.
Then it was time for lunch and a rest. Guests and speakers enjoyed a tasty lunch and pleasant conversation with each other.
The forum’s exhibition area was also crowded: everyone wanted to get to know the technical solutions and tools that can make life easier and help scale a language school, for example:
- Optimate: a platform that helps automate managing an online school. Easily manage schedules, track student payments, calculate teacher salaries and get full analytics on your school.
- Integra: development of modern AI-powered information systems that provide automation, flexibility and productivity for business.
- ENG HUB: ready-to-use lessons, quests and interactive activities that save time and help make lessons exciting and useful for teenagers and adults at levels A1 to C1.
- Teaching Center: an educational space for bringing together and developing English teachers, with a wide choice of professional growth programs you can take in a format that suits you, on your own or with support.
- and others.
The third part of the forum was about services and technologies.
The first speaker of this part, Iryna Ozarinska (co-founder of the Progress English school), talked about the role of a CRM in systematizing the sales department. Iryna’s mix of experience and practical advice was very useful for the audience.
The next topic, the role of an LMS platform for a language school, was covered by Yanina Khizhynska (director of the Unique Hub ecosystem of education projects and co-founder of the Unique Method methodology center and the POWERED platform). Meaningful, interesting and very relevant.
To close the third part, Illia Filipov (co-founder and CEO of the EdEra online education studio) gave a talk titled “Digitalization and technology: from education to business processes”. The audience was very pleased with Illia’s talk.
The panel discussion of this part was moderated by Oleh Hrytsyniak (founder and CEO of Optimate, a platform for online schools, and host of Osvitonomika, a podcast about business in the education industry). There were so many questions for the speakers that the timing shifted a little, but in the end everyone got their answers.
The final part of the forum was devoted to “Team: recruitment, training and development”.
The first speaker was Olha Tarasevych (HR consultant and business trainer). She covered recruitment amid a staff shortage, a topic that is more relevant than ever in the education business today.
Next came Nadia Diachuk (co-founder and head of the academic department of the Green Forest and Project 12 schools and the Booya online English marketplace) with a talk on onboarding, training and staff development.
The last part of the talks closed with Liubov Yanovska (founder and CEO of the WOW! English school and author of the WOW! Teachers project) with an interesting talk on a total rewards strategy. Even though such a packed day had come before, the audience listened attentively and gratefully to Liubov.
The panel discussion of the final part, moderated by Iryna Minkovska (co-founder and head of the “I and My School” educational center for teachers, parents and children, education entrepreneur and public figure), was so vivid and informative, and all the participants were so active, that it was hard to believe a whole day was already behind them.
At the end of the day, guests and speakers finally had time to network. Catering with tasty food and drinks also added to the friendly atmosphere and good mood.
The forum partners were busy too. The lines at the exhibition stands did not disappear until the very end of the day. Among others, guests got to know these companies:
- Smarte /ˈsmɑːr.ti/: a unique interactive platform with the best and most effective features for teaching and learning languages.
- WOW! Teachers: a partnership project from WOW! English innovative school, a ready-made solution for running an ESL business effectively.
- and, of course, TalkEn.Cloud: an online platform with interactive textbooks, a learning management system (LMS) and an Academy for developing language schools.
At the end of the event, sweet surprises awaited the guests, which delighted everyone and lifted their mood even more. We kept receiving grateful and inspired feedback for a long time afterwards, and we still do.
We are proud of how many inspired, energetic and purposeful people attended this event. And we believe this day gave a push and a breath of fresh air to many of its visitors.
The energy of the event is hard to put into words, but we recorded all the speakers’ talks and the insights shared in the discussions. You have a great opportunity to get all the knowledge the forum visitors received.
Order the recording using this form (in Ukrainian)