Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Things are apparently looking good at G.communication. Its president, Masaki Inayoshi, sat down with the Chunichi Shimbun to talk about the past year.

Inayoshi says that the past year has gone well for the new Nova. Of the approximately 670 schools left in the wake of Nova's collapse, G.communication has re-opened 126 of them. Combined with the new schools and jukus opened by G.communication, they were operating 396 schools as of the end of October. These schools apparently have a combined capacity for 300,000 students, but the current student body is only 76,000, 80% of which are from the old Nova.

As for the problem of employing some 1500 of its instructors, the issue has largely been resolved with after reaching an understanding with the labour union in June. Inayoshi says that the instructors who wanted to stay on with Nova are all employed. Nova currently has 656 instructors, of which 500 are from the old Nova. He also says that the problems over the past year have been dealt with and the company is back in the black.

When asked about old Nova's faults, Inayoshi says that there was a lot of waste. There were too many schools, and alot of them were overly large and subject to high rents. He moved about 80% of those schools to smaller and cheaper locations nearby. He is also critical of the way Nova used to charge for lessons up front and has done away with that practice opting for a monthly payment system instead. He calls the system of spending lots of money on advertising and collecting lessons fees up front a "warped business model."

Inayoshi also notes that he's been able to attract Nova refugee students to the new Nova by offering them lessons at 75% discounts. He says that even when students have used up their remaining lesson points, about 70% decide to renew their contracts. To him, this is a sign that they're satisfied with the lessons.

As for his next move, Inayoshi says that he wants to set up an ocha no ma ryuugaku center in the United States next year. While the current center is in Osaka, he says that it will be more efficient to employ instructors in the States. Also, look for new Nova TV commercials in the new year in which the Nova bunny will make its return.

Comment: So Nova is profitable again, huh? I suppose when you drastically shrink the company and cut costs, that's what happens. One thing that stands out are the numbers: 80% of its students and 76% of its instructors are refugees from the collapse. Neo-Nova is a rump of its former self. It may be profitable, but how large can it be expected it to grow with numbers like these? It doesn't sound like it's attracting a lot of people. The return of the bunny will also be interesting to watch. Apparently G.communication will try and squeeze every last yen out of its corpse despite its connection to the tragedy of last year.

Original article

「ＮＯＶＡウサギ復活」　１年で黒字化達成、ジー社会長に聞く

2008年11月18日 朝刊

経営破たんした英会話学校ＮＯＶＡの事業を引き継いでから１１月で１年を迎えたジー・コミュニケーション（名古屋市）の稲吉正樹会長（３９）は、 中日新聞のインタビューに応じ、米国に「お茶の間留学」の講師を集めるセンターを新設し、テレビＣＭを年明けに再開するなど、積極的な営業展開に転じる考 えを示した。主なやりとりは次の通り。　（矢野修平）

－ＮＯＶＡ再建は進んでいるか

再建のペースは予想以上に速い。教室は（約６７０あった教室のうち）１２６校を引き継いだ。新規開校や学習塾への併設などを合わせると、１０月末 で３９６校になっている。（最大３０万人とされる）受講生は現在７万７６００人。約８割が旧ＮＯＶＡから継続して受講している。

－約１５００人いた外国人講師については、再雇用をめぐるトラブルがあり、６月に労働組合側と和解を結んだが

大きな問題はなかった。（再就職希望の）講師は、ほぼ全員引き継いだと思っている。現在の外国人講師数は６５６人で、うち約５００人が旧ＮＯＶＡからの講師だ。旧ＮＯＶＡが抱えていた問題点は、この１年でほぼ解決した。黒字化も達成し、大きな課題はない。

－旧ＮＯＶＡの問題点とは

教室は無駄が多かった。どこも必要以上に広くて家賃が高く、約８割を近隣に移転させた。また、受講前に多額の授業料を前払いさせる料金体系も改 め、月謝制を基本にした。多額の宣伝費をかけて生徒を集め、多額の前払い金を次の宣伝費に充てる。いびつなビジネスモデルだった。

－再建の手応えは

旧ＮＯＶＡの受講生が、未消化授業分を通常の２５％の料金で受けられる優遇策を適用している。それが終わっても約７割が継続している。授業内容に満足してくれているからだろう。まったく違う会社になっており、丸１年を機に攻めに転じたい。

－どう展開するか

テレビ電話を使った「お茶の間留学」の講師を集めるセンターを、米国に年明け以降、設立したい。現在は大阪にあるが、講師の採用面から現地の方が効率が良い。また、テレビＣＭも年明けから開始する。キャラクターのＮＯＶＡウサギを登場させ、新ＮＯＶＡをアピールする。