Enterprise Nation

Susan Hobson doesn’t just work in one room in the house. Her house is the business! Susan is an experienced and accomplished teacher who decided in 2007 that she wanted the independence to work from home. Planning began on how Susan could turn her home into a business and her teaching skills into a way of earning a living.

The end result is Perfectly English; a company set up to provide one to one and face to face English lessons for overseas students, plus accommodation for their holiday. Susan converted her loft to provide the accommodation and runs the lessons from her home. It is a full English immersion experience for the students who stay for at least one week and, on average, two to three weeks.

Susan uses her broadband connection for communication to arrange visits and bookings, and also for marketing the business, both by emailing out to foreign language schools and updating her presence on the internet via her website. The house is wireless enabled which helps the students in their lessons and when they return to their accommodation and want to contact friends and family.

The business is still in its early days but Susan is enjoying the variety of each day and the freedom that comes with being your own boss. She plans to develop the business by investing more time in marketing and promotion and making the most of technology tools such as BT Tradespace and blogs to spread the word about Perfectly English to students across the globe.

• www.perfectlyenglish.co.uk