5 Tips for Running an Education Franchise

If you’re longing to start a learning franchise and you’ve done your research into all things pre-investment and launch, you might now be wondering what actually goes into running an education business. These five carefully chosen tips for running a franchise in the thriving education industry will help you on your way to building a strong operation that’s able to attain and maintain profitability.

It’s been a huge and mixed year for anyone running an education business in 2021 (and 2020, for that matter), but as demand for quality tutoring, teaching and learning services soars post-pandemic, so does the level of competition in the sector. Equip yourself for success when you start your own education franchise by running it effectively and efficiently, and standing out head-and-shoulders above the competition.

Why start an education franchise?

Whether you're looking to offer remote tutoring via video, or in-person classes to individual students or small groups, there are tremendous opportunities for tutors to earn a good wage and to offer much-needed help and support to students who've been disrupted by the past two years' events.
- Henry Williams, Startups

As briefly noted, demand is on the rise in the £43.6 billion [Statista] education sector post-COVID. Plus, starting an education franchise means benefitting from all the advantages inherent to franchising, such as the provision of high-quality training and support and the access to a proven business model. Beyond these important and valuable factors, there are also even more advantages to running an education franchise, such as:

• The availability of low-cost investment options
• The room to grow and expand your business with time
• The room to adapt your lessons easily to changing client demands/wants/needs
• The chance to have a positive, meaningful impact on others
• The ability to pursue a specialism that you’re truly passionate about
• The freedom of flexible working hours and a good work/life balance

5 tips for running an education franchise

If you understand exactly why you want to invest with an education franchise, and you’ve chosen the education franchise that’s right for you, it’s now time to turn to advice on running that franchise well. These five tips will help you on your way, giving you focus and clarity as you head into a new phase of your professional life...

1. Keep things organised, planned ahead and then ahead again

Like it would be for any teacher, lesson planning and organising schedules should be your bread and butter as an education franchise owner. Even if your role is purely managerial and you’re handing off sessions to a team of tutors in most cases, it’s important that you maintain a strong grasp on what’s being taught, and when, and how. 

There’s no other way to ensure that your franchise’s tutoring services consistently attain the high standard that you want your customers to expect of you. A “managerial” role doesn’t equal a “hands-off” role, and an eye for detail combined with an ability to stay ahead of the game will keep your business running smoothly and consistently.

2. Take your time recruiting employees and ensure you get it right

Your business is only as good as your employees. From the front desk to the executive offices, every employee represents a facet of your business to clients, and to the community at large. Hiring the wrong person can cost you more than just money. - Morris Bixby Group

As you grow your business, it’s natural to want the recruitment of new teachers, tutors and/or workshop facilitators to happen as quickly and easily as possible. But don’t forget: What’s quick and easy in the moment could cost you a lot of time, energy and money down the line if you fail to appoint the right employee. Save spots in your franchise for diligent, hard-working and communicative people who share your vision and commitment.

3. Remain in touch with how it felt to be a student

Understanding your target audience is key to successfully running (and marketing!) any business, and in the case of an education franchise, you have the benefit of knowing that at one point or another, you were a student. What kind of teaching would you have responded to, back then? What would have made you sit up and pay attention to the lesson? How can that knowledge inform the services you’re offering and the lessons you’re planning in the present?

4. Seize every ongoing training and development opportunity offered to you

The benefits of franchising have already been touched on above, but this bears repeating because it’s easy to forget when you’re in the midst of keeping a business up and running, putting out fires and managing employees each working day: Don’t forget you’re not doing this alone. You have a franchisor on your side. 

Even after your initial training is complete and your launch day is in the past, that franchisor should still be offering you opportunities to train and develop as a business owner. And you should still be taking them up on them, realising that there’s always, always, ALWAYS room to grow and learn. Isn’t that the entire crux of an education franchise’s business model, after all?

5. Create and maintain a comprehensive franchise business plan

A good business plan that you keep up-to-date and use to set SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) is utterly invaluable when it comes to the effective running of your education franchise. This plan will keep you in line with your franchisor, in touch with your own intentions, and on track to achieve long-term success. It will allow you to notice, early on, when you need to correct your course or make an adjustment to your plans.

Become a franchisee in the education sector and start running your own business today

If you’re about ready to make an investment in the education sector, you should check out the top three education franchises in the UK. There’s so many options out there, and now it’s up to you to find the right one - whether it’s making science fun and entertaining with Mother Nature Science or teaching the next generation valuable computing skills with Jam Coding.