Aptech Montana International Preschool has made it to the Franchise 100 list 2020 recently published by The Franchising World magazine. The brand ranked high among the ‘emerging brands’ in the annual list of Top-100 franchise brands in India, which are assessed on over 45 parameters to identify the high growth and franchise-friendly opportunities across the sectors.
Aptech Montana is part of the global education behemoth Aptech, which has a global presence and have trained millions of students. The education behemoth entered the preschool segment by getting into a strategic alliance with Montana in 2016 to form Aptech Montana International Preschool.
The brand grew its franchise preschools by over 133% from 30 centers in 2017 to over 70 units in 2019-end. The company credits its specialization in providing a safe, caring and comfortable environment for children behind its franchise growth. In addition to preschool, the brand offers facilities including Day-Care, Toddler Time and Activity Centre. “The objective is to combat emerging markets’ ‘early years’ learning crisis by providing an environment which fosters all-round physical and cognitive development of a child in a safe and nurturing environment,” says Bhavika Chouhan, Business Head, Aptech Montana International Preschool.
To build parental trust, the brand has launched a smart app that keeps parents and children connected, even during school hours. In addition, the preschool employs all-women staff to ensure children have a mother figure around. The teaching faculty of its preschools is given rigorous training across all fronts of childhood development, including academics, behavioural development and specialised programs.
Business Model
The brand attributes its asset-light franchise model behind its growing franchise footprint. A franchise preschool of the brand requires an investment of Rs 15 lakhs onward and a minimum area of 2,000 sq. feet, with some outdoor space. The monthly expenditure of the preschool varies from city to city as rent is the major component of operational expenses and usually works out to Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.25 lakhs.
The average fee of a student lies between Rs 45,000-50,000 and it would take a franchise school approximately 50+ students to reach breakeven. The brand offers its franchisees end-to-end support starting from site allocation to training and hiring the staff and sales team. It also provides manuals, IT and administrative systems for running the preschool, and has a continuous monitoring system to ensure quality.
