So, I opened this month’s issue of Entrepreneur Start Ups today and was shocked to read about all the “new” educational franchises. Actually, shocked is not the right word – I was actually glad! I was smiling to myself as I looked at the financial requirements necessary to own a franchise. Of the fourteen companies listed, the average start up cost is $102K. The lowest is $27.5K. The big name companies, i.e. learning centers are very expensive – after all you need to have a space out of which to run your business. The in-home models (including the one I used to own) are a lot of money. Having been a franchise owner, I can’t help but scratch my head wondering what the thousands of dollars are getting people. Brand name? Not really – most parents (and that is your target market) have never heard of the in-home tutoring services’ names. Quick, try to name one – other than Huntington, Sylvan and Kumon and I bet you will be hard pressed to come up with a branded name.
Then, I looked at the number of businesses sold – the most for in-home tutoring centers is 433, the least is zero – have to wonder why two companies are even listed with zero sold – maybe their way of exposing themselves to all of those franchise-happy people. The average number of franchises sold in this list is 131. I don’t feel too bad knowing I have sold 122 HTB business models and my start up cost is just under $3000. Do the math. I don’t have much overhead, I don’t advertise in Entrepreneur magazine and I don’t have to pay multiple attorneys a ton of money every year.
I love what I do and so do the people who have bought an HTB from me. We are smiling all the way to the bank.