"Everything’s adding up to a bright future for Mathnasium’s franchisees," says the maths tutoring network’s new franchise operations manager
Louise Harris, fresh from touring all of its 13 centres in the UK and speaking to all the franchisees, found a lot of plusses, few minuses and no divisions wherever she went.
“The first thing that struck me was that everybody is in a positive frame of mind,” she says. “A few people have been a bit beaten about by COVID-19 and the restrictions, but all of them have managed to grow their businesses as well as enjoy what they’re doing. They’re moving in the right direction, and there’s no one in the network who’s disgruntled with the franchisor which, in my experience, is rare.”
“People are saying now’s the time to invest in our children and their education. Mathnasium helps them get ahead as well as catch up. It’s giving them an advantage.
“I saw children coming into the centres eagerly. They all got down to work quickly and were clearly loving it. They grow hugely in confidence, not just at Mathnasium but in their ability to learn, and giving a child a love of learning and the confidence that they can do it at such a young age will serve them so well for the future.”
Louise says Mathnasium is especially relevant in a culture where people openly laugh at their own inability at maths and seem almost proud of innumeracy.
“Last night someone told me she was really rubbish at Maths,” explains Louise. “I asked if she felt any shame or embarrassment about it, and she didn’t. When you look at the nations we compare ourselves with, that’s not an acceptable statement to make. Their children are taught confidence.”
Louise’s initial findings are that the franchisees are competitive; they need to be shown how digital marketing can help them locally, and she intends to keep investing in their continuous professional development.
“We’re going to make the best use of the resources we already have,” she says. “We also want to get more franchisees on board and more customers into the centres.
“It’s a delight, working with these guys. At least half are looking at a second centre - and that’s just what we’re looking for in our next franchisees.
“By the end of their first year, they should be in a position to consider opening a second centre.
“I asked one franchisee if she was thinking about a second centre and she said ‘Why limit me to two?’. I love that!”