by Nancy E Williams
December 17, 2023
The Snapology franchise, based in 2010, supplies instructional play to youngsters.
Baby Enrichment applications are one of many fastest-growing franchise alternatives round. From tutoring, swimming, portray, and sports activities to math, robotics, and coding, mother and father are at all times trying to enhance the lives of their youngsters whereas entertaining them on the identical time. Concerning schooling, S.T.E.A.M. (science, know-how, engineering, artwork, and math) applications have develop into highly regarded prior to now a number of years for the reason that framework was launched in 2006.
The Snapology franchise, based in 2010, supplies instructional play to youngsters utilizing LEGO bricks, Okay’Nex, know-how, and different interactive mediums, providing lessons, camps, scouting occasions, birthday events, playdates, and customised occasions. Ranked #1 within the Kids’s Enrichment class and a part of the Unleashed Manufacturers household, Snapology believes that youngsters are supposed to study by way of play.
Mike Robinson was born and raised in Chicago and went to highschool in Michigan. After college, he had the chance to play skilled basketball in each Europe and South America for a couple of seasons. Following his sports activities profession, Robinson turned a monetary planner with Edward Jones.
“I used to be a hotshot dealer, however all alongside, I simply didn’t really feel prefer it was a lot of an inspiring profession alternative. All through this time, I had been working with children at a number of basketball camps and applications, which was nonetheless my ardour. When COVID hit in early 2020, and every thing was instantly shut down, I had no thought what to do subsequent. It took months of prayer and reflection on my scenario to appreciate that no matter it was I used to be going to do, I needed to proceed having the chance to work with children,” Robinson tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.
Like many others, Robinson used the downtime that the pandemic supplied to discover different enterprise alternatives.
“Franchising actually appealed to me as a result of I didn’t need to begin once more with one thing from scratch. There have been so many decisions! I narrowed down my search to franchise alternatives the place I’d have the chance to proceed working with children. Quickly, I stumbled upon Snapology,” he mentioned. “What actually acquired me was the affordability of the chance – beneath $50K. It checked all of the packing containers I used to be searching for on the time.”
In Could of 2021, Robinson opened his first Snapology in Evergreen Park on the South Facet of Chicago. In simply two brief years, he’s now operating 25 to 30 applications each week, reaching wherever from 400 to five,500 youngsters.
When requested by BE his greatest shock concerning the enterprise, Robinson shared his amazement on the excessive demand for his or her companies from colleges. Maybe stunning to Robinson, nonetheless, statistics present that youngsters have fallen behind in studying resulting from COVID college closures. As cited in an ABC Information report in early 2023, youngsters misplaced out on about one-third of what they normally would have discovered through the educational 12 months from 2020 to mid-2022. This instructional setback has prompted colleges and faculty districts to actively search exterior sources to complement their present curricula and assist college students catch up and excel. Snapology is among the many applications making a considerable impression on this regard.
Whereas constructing his Snapology franchise, Robinson confronted and overcame challenges. “Simply moving into the colleges was robust. Our efforts by way of social media had been sluggish, so we determined to go straight to the colleges and introduce our applications.” His greatest recommendation for aspiring entrepreneurs who’re contemplating beginning a enterprise or investing in a franchise is to do your analysis, have religion, work exhausting, and imagine you provide the very best service round.
Robinson may be very glad along with his alternative of the Snapology model. “The earnings may be very good. However what’s most necessary to me is how rewarding it’s to be a Snapology proprietor and convey all of this surprise to children. I get such satisfaction and pleasure from serving to children, watching them study and develop. Lots of the youngsters we work with come from very underprivileged communities, which is an additional advantage within the rewards class.”
He continued, “These applications are actually enriching their lives, giving them alternatives they could not in any other case have had. And that’s one thing I do know somewhat bit about as a result of that was my very own story, too. I used to be raised very equally. You realize, once I was a dealer, the reward was merely monetary in nature, not emotional. However with Snapology, it’s each financially and emotionally rewarding. An actual win-win. It’s significant, and that’s one thing you may’t assign a greenback worth.”
With Robinson’s success thus far, he’s already planning to develop.
“The quantity of coaching and help we get from Unleashed Manufacturers is unmatched. And, it impressed us to develop our enterprise possession by including one other Unleashed Manufacturers idea to our portfolio – Class 101, whic opened earlier this 12 months in June,” he mentioned.
He added, “Class 101 is a nationwide school planning franchise that helps highschool college students get into schools which can be good for them and qualify for greater quantities of scholarships and monetary assist whereas doing so. Now, our assist, teaching, and mentoring of youngsters will go properly previous their early years into school preparation.”
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