Franchise Mart in talks with Pritam Agarwal,Founder director,of pre-school chain-HELLO KIDS.

What does franchising mean to you?
Franchising business is like associating your brand with like minded
partners, who share your vision and mission with the masses.

What are the essential qualities of a franchisor?
A franchisor should have the determined passion for his/her brand.

How would you describe the ideal franchiseefranchisor
relationship?
Relationship should be formed on the grounds of honesty,fairness, friendliness and professionalism.
The pitfalls a franchisor needs to watch out for…A franchisor must have the acknowledgment of the
franchisees before taking the responsibilities on his/her shoulders. If you do your basics right and remain
focused,you can overcome any adversity. And, the pitfalls that a franchisee needs to watch out for…A franchisee
needs to look out for the gap between promising and delivering of services by the franchisor.

What’s your mantra for success?
I would say — optimum franchisee satisfaction.

How do you manage franchise expectations?
By being patient, pro-active and open to discussion.

Tell us about the concept behind ‘Hello Kids’…
‘Hello Kids’ is a chain of preschools hailing from Bengaluru. It is the largest chain of pre-schools in Bengaluru.
As a group we are focusing on the first players in the industry to offer a no-royalty fee model.

What is the investment requirement for the
franchisees?
‘Hello Kids’ is one of the fastest growing chains of pre-schools in India. The franchise investment ranges
between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh.

How is the brand different from other players?
Our association with NAEYC and UK Early Education has been helping us in upgrading our investment.
Besides, our fee model has enabled franchises to save huge royalties, which in turn results in high profits.

What motivated you to take to franchise route?
The franchising market in India is growing rapidly and the format is the most preferred route by new/first
generation entrepreneurs. Hence, we decided to take up this model.

How are you placed in the market and what are
your expansion plans?
Currently, we have over 140 centres across India.However, most of our centres are based in the South.
Now, we are in the next phase of growth, which we expect to come from tier-2 and 3 cities in the
North. Besides,in order to tap this market we have established a regional office in Gurgaon. We are also
planning for over 200 centres by this year-end..