Parents are signing up their children to both early learning and additional education programs in a bid to give them the best start in life in an increasingly competitive world. Education and training accounts for seven percent of franchisors in the Australian market, according to the industry survey just released, Franchising 2014, produced by Griffith University’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Franchising Excellence. And much of the education on offer starts at an early age.
Begin Bright
Tina Tower, the founder of Begin Bright, and the Telstra Young Businesswoman of the Year 2014, says school readiness is now much more on the agenda for parents.“It used to be that people would only bring their kids if they had a lot of money or had children who were severely struggling. Now people are strong on educational support outside school,” she says.
This is a business arena significantly shaped by governmental directives. The New Early Learning Framework of 2012, and the National Curriculum, for example, have had an impact on how learning is conducted. It has become less formal, for instance, but also put greater expectations on the knowledge students should have acquired in their first year.
Tower’s business steps in to fill the gap between the playful character of pre-school and childcare, and the educational demands of kindergarten. For instance in a weekly one-hour lesson that often supplements part time daycare, students learn the single letter sounds, how to spot words, how to recognise numbers. “Our curriculum is based on the first year of school. We want them to start school, happy, smart and confident,” says Tower.
“The biggest challenge is finding awesome franchisees. Once the centres are up and running, it’s easy to keep the customers but this isn’t a franchise where you can employ a 16 year old.”
The franchisee’s role is based around people skills, she says, and how they interact with the teachers and parents.
Franchisees can expect to employ about 10 teachers, and have 150 students weekly.
Tower aims to grow the business to 100 centres by 2018 but will not expand beyond the Eastern Seaboard based until the network is 50-units strong.
While there is plenty of potential for this sector, there are still challenges to face. Tower says, “We’ve had a lot of changes in education, and I’m always keeping my eyes open. When there are changes we have to adapt, and fill the void.”
At the moment the school readiness marketplace is spotted with single operators. New brands coming into the arena could be a threat, believes Tower.
Listen to Read
Catherine McLennan, co-founder of Listen to Read, agrees parents are looking for ways to help their children by supplementing their education. “The market is becoming quite competitive and parents are unsure how best to navigate the options: centre based programs or online/app based programs? The challenges for franchisors are finding qualified, passionate people who are not daunted by the prospect of running their own businesses,” she says.
In a very competitive marketplace there are regular new franchises catering for pre-school children and senior high school students. “I believe that the landscape will change dramatically in the next few years as time-poor parents will become more inclined to move towards online or app based programs rather than attending weekly sessions in tuition centres,”
says McLennan.
Listen To Read is an Australian owned and developed reading/brain stimulation program which combines back to basics reading with the added stimulation of sound therapy. The sound therapy high frequency filtering stimulates the neural pathways to retrain the auditory centres in the brain, explains McLennan.
In this franchise parents can choose the option of weekly classes over an average 12 week term, or take the Home Listening Program option using a special listening device with support to improve the gaps in the child’s reading. “Both options come with a money back guarantee which we offer with much confidence,” says McLennan.
The app based program is in the final stages of testing and will be available early in 2015. At present there are three franchised areas in Sydney: the Sutherland shire, St.George and the Southern Highlands. “Our plans are to extend the availability of the program into other states and internationally.
“Ideally we want to get the program into all schools in Australia. Results from school trials have seen improvements in reading age of two years in just 12 weeks. We want to make the program available in prisons, juvenile justice centres and indigenous communities to improve the low levels of literacy in these institutions.”
McLennan sees potential in the US and South Africa too.