The international education franchisor celebrates a strong 2019, and plans to continue riding a wave of success.
Sylvan Learning has a long legacy of franchising success, having been in operation for over 40 years. The education franchisor currently operates in more than 750 points of presence, and plans to extend that even further as a new decade gets underway.
“2019 was a banner year for Sylvan Learning’s franchise development,” said Georgia Chasen, vice president of franchise development. “Last year, Sylvan Learning brought on 52 new franchisees and opened 24 centers, in both domestic and international markets. Over the last four years, we’ve attracted more than 200 new franchisees to the Sylvan Learning system and we are confident that the trend will continue in 2020.”
Far from ready to rest on its laurels, Sylvan Learning has spent time identifying the key areas for brand development, that will allow the concept to continue flourishing. This includes the brand’s industry-leading tech like its personalized learning platform, SylvanSync, as well as proven ACT/SAT test prep curricula, in-demand STEM courses, and more.
“This year, we’ve made several investments to create a stronger franchise opportunity,” said John McAuliffe, CEO. “This includes developing a new scheduling and admin system to create easier operations, as well as migrating internal technology to the cloud to create more reliable platforms.”
Looking ahead, McAuliffe is confident that Sylvan Learning can increase its points of presence by 40 in 2020: “In addition to internal innovation, we’ve invested heavily in franchise development and marketing by creating a strong team to find qualified candidates. Since our system is over 40 years old, we naturally had a large number of seasoned owners interested in retiring and exiting the system. This led to a significant number of resale locations, but now we are seeing a growing interest in purchasing new territories.”
“For 2020, Sylvan Learning’s franchise development will focus on established markets and candidate outreach in communities we know will benefit from a Sylvan Learning center,” said Georgia Chasen. “We have open territories all over the country and internationally, and encourage candidates to reach out from any state.”
Some of the markets tapped as those with potential include Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Northern California.
