We’re beyond thrilled to announce that our very own kids’ art education franchise, Kidcreate Studio, has earned a spot on the prestigious 2021 Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List!
While this is an important accomplishment for any franchise, we consider it an amazing honor for our education franchise, as it demonstrates the continued importance and value of art in kids’ lives, even after a year of unprecedented changes to the education industry.
Like its sister list, the Entrepreneur 500, which highlights non-franchise corporations to watch, the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List recognizes fast-growing and emerging franchises alongside well-established brands that have become household names, such as Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts, and the UPS Store. Kidcreate Studio is honored to share the list with these prestigious brands and be recognized by Entrepreneur as an up-and-coming national education franchise for kids.
#1 Children’s Art Franchise of 2021
Not only have we secured a coveted spot on the main Franchise 500 list, but Kidcreate Studio also took top honors in the Children’s Art Franchise category- an impressive feat in any year, but particularly noteworthy given the unprecedented events of 2020 that could have stopped another education franchise in its tracks!
Kidcreate Studio’s Chief Operating Officer Mike Conlon had this to say about our top ranking: “I am particularly thrilled about the #1 in category rating. It shows that there is a demand for what we are offering and that we are moving forward and doing well even in times of COVID.”
If we’re able to secure top honors on a Franchise 500 list during a pandemic, there’s no telling what our education Franchise Owners can accomplish as things start to return to normal in 2021 and beyond!
What Is Entrepreneur?
A famous business website in its own right, Entrepreneur started as a magazine for business owners, entrepreneurs, and Franchise Owners to learn about the hot trends in business and interviews with some of the world’s top entrepreneurs.
With the invention of the internet, Entrepreneur Magazine has continued its legacy online and is regarded as a highly-reputable source for business news. Many of the world’s top businesses have been interviewed, analyzed, and reported on by Entrepreneur Magazine.
The site is a central hub for many business owners, entrepreneurs, and Franchise Owners to gain valuable information on how to run their businesses more efficiently. Businesses featured in Entrepreneur are highly regarded and considered an authority in the industry they serve.
What Makes the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List So Prestigious?
Every year, franchises big and small vie for the attention to be honored as one of the nation’s top franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine. It is an award that carries tremendous weight in all industries.
One of the reasons why the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 is considered so prestigious is that to be nominated, franchises must score highly on 150 different metrics. It is the culmination of all of these metrics that create an overall score.
The franchises with the highest cumulative scores based on these 150 data points are recognized as the nation’s top 500 franchises, meaning that well-known, recognized national brands compete against smaller, more regional brands, and their overall score allows for an unbiased selection of the top 500 list.
Additionally, franchises must have at least ten different locations to be eligible for the list. Thanks to the significant growth we’ve experienced and the new Franchise Owners we’ve welcomed in recent years, we were able to qualify on all counts!
The Five Pillars of the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List
Franchises are measured with the 150 metric points and what are known as the five pillars of the Franchise 500 List. The five pillars include:
- Cost & Fees
- Size & Growth
- Support
- Brand Strength
- Financial Strength & Stability
Entrepreneur uses these five pillars to ensure unbiased measurement of franchises both big and small. Let’s take a closer look at each pillar.
Cost & Fees
One of the key factors that go into evaluating franchises is the cost and fees associated with the franchise. In particular, Entrepreneur focuses on three aspects of cost and fees:
- Overall franchise fee
- Total investment
- Royalty fees
Thanks to the comparatively low investment and franchise fee requirements to invest in our education franchise, Kidcreate Studio was able to remain competitive against other franchise brands to rank in the Franchise 500.
Size & Growth
Along with cost and fees, Entrepreneur emphasizes evaluating the size and growth of a franchise. More specifically, the focus on three elements of size and growth:
- Open and operating units
- Growth rate
- Closures
These three factors provide an unbiased approach to evaluating the growth of both small and large franchises. Our impressive growth rate and the overall success of our Franchise Owners in their markets helped boost Kidcreate Studio into the upper echelon of franchise brands to make this prestigious list.
Support
Entrepreneur puts focus on the support Franchise Owners receive after becoming part of the franchise. Entrepreneur evaluates six parameters of support provided to Franchise Owners:
- Training times
- Marketing support
- Operational support
- Franchisor infrastructure
- Financing availability
- Litigation
With the outstanding initial and ongoing support our education Franchise Owners can expect from our Founder Lara Olson and the rest of the Kidcreate corporate team, it’s no surprise that we met Entrepreneur’s requirements for this category!
Brand Strength
What makes a franchise great? Is it the service, the products, or its brand recognition? Maybe it’s a little of both. Nonetheless, Entrepreneur makes sure to pay particular attention to brand strength in their evaluation. Here are some ways the committee assesses brand strength:
- Social media
- System size
- Years in business
- Years franchising
Our focus on branding and marketing via social media to help our Franchise Owners achieve visibility and brand recognition in their local markets gives Kidcreate an edge in this category. The Kidcreate brand is well-known in cities across America, standing apart from other education franchise opportunities with its whimsical approach to art education and commitment to bringing fun, inclusivity, and creativity to every child.
Financial Strength & Stability
The last predictor that Entrepreneur evaluates is the financial strength and stability of a franchise. Two areas that Entrepreneur uses to assess each franchise include:
- Franchisor’s audited
- Financial statements
We’re assuming the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 committee took a look at this profitability summary when they were finalizing their rankings for 2021!
A Little About the Kidcreate Studio Franchise
Kidcreate Studio started as a result of one mother’s frustrations about the limited art exposure in the curriculum for her young child. Founder Lara Olson’s son Jake was often frustrated by other subjects but lit up like a lightbulb every time he was in art.
Lara knew the value of art to build self-esteem in learners and looked for a place to provide that for her son, but couldn’t find anything designed for young children in her area…so she decided to create one herself. Thus, Kidcreate Studio was born!
Now, Kidcreate Studio is blossoming into one of the major players in the education franchise space. Kidcreate Studio specializes in children’s art classes, camps, and art-themed birthday parties. It is an art studio designed just for kids! Kidcreate Studio Franchise Owners enjoy running a business that brings significant financial and emotional return-on-investment.
This year, Kidcreate Studio landed at #426 on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List. With the influx of new Franchise Owners in exciting new markets, we believe we can only go up from here!
Interested In Starting an Education Franchise?
Do you have experience with teaching art? Love to do crafts with your kids? Are you an entrepreneur looking for an excellent investment?
Kidcreate Studio is a fast-growing education franchise that can promote a valuable return-on-investment while also providing a great space for kids in your community. Our Franchise Owners love the feeling of giving back to their communities while starting a business they can share with their families for generations to come. Please visit our franchise website for more info.
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