Investing in Etiquette Certification
If you are considering the investment of Etiquette Certification it is important to find out the answers to certain questions. All etiquette companies are not the same. There are four important points to consider; the experience level of your instructor, the guidance provided on starting your business, the cost of the program relative to what it provides and the freedom to grow your business under your own brand.
In seeking certification to teach children a major question is how long has the head instructor been teaching and how many children have come through the program. If someone is certifying you to teach children and they have very little experience themselves teaching children, their curriculum probably won’t engage the students. At The American School of Protocol®, our President, Peggy Newfield, has taught over 10,000 children, ten at a time. Their ages range from Pre-K (3 years old) through high school. Peggy’s curriculum is so strong that it has also been taught in over 24 colleges and universities. Peggy has never encountered a discipline problem, EVER.
Once you’ve completed certification, it’s time to get your business up and running. How much information will you receive about how to start your business? Curriculum, of course, is important, but the way you set up your business is even more important. ASP provides more than 200 pages to answer all of your questions (where do my contracts come from? how much do I charge? how big/small should my classes be? do I need insurance to teach children? in working with schools do I need a letter of agreement or contract? how do I structure class schedules? how do I get the media to follow me? how do I set up my social media? what about dining diagrams, menus and seating charts?) If the etiquette company you’re considering can’t answer these questions, you need to keep looking. If you choose ASP, you are provided with 770 pages of material that answer these questions and more. How much information do you receive from other companies? Probably nothing like what you receive at The American School of Protocol®.
You may be thinking “ASP’s Certification is so expensive, my budget is a lot less.” Money drives all of our decisions and you want to make the best choice for your money. The beautiful thing is that in life we do have choices. We received four calls this week from individuals who signed up for our next certification class. All stated that they had chosen a less expensive company to attend training and when it was over they unanimously agreed that they didn’t have enough information to start their business. In signing up for Certification a second or third time more money was spent than the cost of ASPs training.
One final consideration is how you will brand your business. Some etiquette companies require you to use their name which creates additional income and exposure for them, but limits your ability to make a name for yourself. At The American School of Protocol®, we help you to create a business name that reflects your personality and goals. Your success is our mission!
At The American School of Protocol®, we are different.