Business with prospects

Kids want to be youtubers but there are those who want them to be more creative. To be creative in the realism of information its software young people between the ages of 7-19 need to learn programming and this is the focus of the activities of the  “Giganci Programowania” franchise. 

Does a person who wants to have the “Giganci Programowania” franchise  have to be a mathematician or scientist?

No, we welcome such knowledge but business knowledge is more important. Its not a franchise which has to be run by programmers. The franchise is looking for people with knowledge of local education markets, business experience and motivation to grow the business.

How did you get 100 outlets in such a short period of time since you started? It's a rare feat among franchises.

We believe that a competitive cost of entry is important. The second reason is the growing awareness of the importance of programming for the future and parents' willingness to invest in their offspring to acquire such skills. One factor we have already touched on. The large number of outlets of our own which gave us credibility in the eyes of potential franchisees that this is a tried and tested model which works for the company offering it. 

What does running this business actually  look like?

The business is fairly cyclical and is divided into clear phases. First we have the recruitment of students phase in the school holidays. We then proceed to acquiring the necessary trainers. When the courses begin we concentrate on managing and supervising them and start finetuning the marketing for future programs.  This means that it is hard to talk of a typical day in the life of the franchise. It all depends on the time of the year. 

What is the cost of the franchise for your partners? 

We have a license fee system with the level of fee dependent on the size of the area to be covered by the given outlet. We then charge 10% of turnover at first rising to 12% later. The franchisee also has to won or be able to rent at least 30 m.sq of space

What does a franchisee get in return?

Our offer to franchisees includes a proven brand, access to know-how and experience, products in the form of training materials for the conduct of classes and assistance with marketing and recruitment. The CRM system for client contact is an important management tool. We also have 300 scenarios for the classes we run and 40 different courses for different age groups. We cater for all levels from beginners, through learning different programming languages to virtually professional level.

How is your expansion to foreign markets going?

The first market we entered was Spain. Later we developed master franchises in Slovakia and Croatia. But we are going global with places such as Mexico, Singapore, Chile also having outlets.  

In how many years will teaching programming become more important than teaching the 3Rs?

The basic skills of the 3Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic) will always be the most  most important in education. Programming is after all based on writing. But my guess  is that the next 10 years will change much on the education scene and that behind the native and English language knowledge of programming languages will be next in line in terms of importance.