Bangalore based, Little Elly preschool is now a leading player in pre school segment with 75 centers. The brand not only provides a whole world of joy to the kids but also provides lucrative avenues to the investors and franchisees.
Vittal Bhandary, MD, Little Elly Preschool spoke to Ekta Verma about brand Little Elly and its moves in India and abroad.
Share with us your entrepreneurial journey.
Operational since 2006, Little Elly's journey started from Kuwait where I and my wife Preeti ventured into pre school business. Soon, five centers were opened to reach out to the kids of different economic and social backgrounds at Bangalore city. Today, Little Elly holds presence in 15 cities with more than 100 centers. Little Elly offers a well-paid opportunity to the aspiring entrepreneurs to start a pre school business in the name of Little Elly brand. The brand started franchising in the year 2008 and now, aspires to be one of the top five pre school brands in India in the next five years. Currently, Little Elly has presence in Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Navi Mumbai with most of its expansion through franchise route.
What Kind of support does little Elly offers to its franchisees?
Little Elly offers an excellent support service to set-up, launch and operate a successful pre school with ongoing training, logistic support to operate and conduct the school. It enhances earnings through programs like summer club, winter club, day care and after school programs. Little Elly as a brand not only hones the franchisee's staff skills through specially designed motivational workshops but also provides training for customer satisfaction and retention programs. The brand promises to deliver best practices discussion that will make a difference to the franchisees and their organisation.
What are your expansion plans in the near future?
We are planning to expand aggressively this year in all south and western India, especially Maharashtra and Gujarat. We are also planning to start our first international center in UAE.
According to you, what are the benefits of franchising?
There is a huge potential in this business as more and more parents find it as a necessity these days to send their children to the pre school. Franchising is the best route to expand fast as the Indian pre school market is poised to grow at a tremendous pace as the market is under penetrated, especially in tier II and III cities.
What are the challenges faced in this industry and how do you overcome them?
For Little Elly, the biggest challenge is getting the right faculty and an appropriate location. Little Elly's robust training programme (ITT) for teachers (classroom, as well as on online) helps the franchisees to overcome some barriers. As far as the location is concerned, brand's marketing survey will also help to identify the suitable location.
Franchise facts
Investment: Rs 6-10 lakh
Area: 1500-2000 sq ft
Location: Bungalow in a semi residence area with a decent road access
RoI: 35%
Breakeven: 18 months
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