Education franchising attracts two kinds of buyer: families' trust and investors' capital. Both deserve better than a brochure. What follows is the checklist we would put to any education brand — including our own, which we do below. Each item comes with the question to ask headquarters, because in due diligence the quality of the answer matters less than whether it arrives in writing.
Part one: the product
1. Curriculum depth — how many years before a child graduates out?
A one-year syllabus means re-acquiring your customer base every year. Ask headquarters: “Show me the written curriculum for year three, and what a student progresses into after your top level.” If the pathway ends at age 8 or 12, your revenue does too.
2. Curriculum refresh — who updates it, and how often?
Courseware ages fast, especially in coding and AI. Ask: “When was the curriculum last revised, who does the revision, and does the update reach my classrooms automatically or by courier?” A living curriculum has a delivery mechanism; a dead one has a PDF.
3. Teacher training — what happens before opening, and after?
Your teachers are the product families actually meet. Ask: “How many days of certification does my founding team receive, where, and what ongoing audit keeps quality from drifting after month six?” Vague answers here predict vague classrooms later.
4. Technology — owned, or rented and rebadged?
Ask whether the teaching platform, CRM and learning records are built in-house or licensed from a third party — and what happens to your student data if either side exits. A franchisor that owns its stack can fix it, price it, and keep it; one that rents it can lose it.
Part two: the economics
5. Unit economics — averages, with the denominator
Every deck shows a revenue number. Ask: “Is this figure an average across all operating centres, or a top-quartile case? Over what period? Will you confirm the figures for my market in writing before I sign?” The honest networks say yes to the last question without flinching.
6. Revenue diversity — what earns beyond term tuition?
A tuition-only centre hits a hard ceiling: full classrooms equal capped revenue. Ask how many distinct revenue lines an operating centre actually runs — camps, competitions, platform subscriptions, admissions services, commerce — and what share of revenue each contributes at maturity.
7. Territory protection — in metres, in writing
Ask: “What radius or exclusivity does my agreement guarantee, and what happens to it when the network wants a second centre in my city?” Protection that is not written into the agreement is a courtesy, and courtesies expire.
8. The full fee structure — the all-in number
Beyond the licence fee: royalty rate, marketing levy, platform fees, mandatory materials and their margins, renewal fees. Ask for the complete schedule in one document. The number that matters is the annual all-in cost, not the headline entry price.
Part three: the relationship
9. Support after opening day
Launch support is universal; month-nine support is not. Ask: “Who exactly supports me after opening — named roles, contact cadence — and what does the network do when a centre underperforms?” The second half of that question is the revealing one.
10. Outcomes you can verify without the franchisor
Competition titles, exhibition records and university offers can be checked in public databases and school announcements. Ask for specifics — team numbers, seasons, divisions — then verify them yourself. A brand whose proof lives outside its own marketing is a different class of risk.
11. References — including one who left
Ask to speak to two operating partners of your choosing, and one who exited the network. How a franchisor treats a departing partner tells you more about the next ten years than any testimonial reel.
12. Exit terms — read them before the letter of intent
Renewal conditions, termination triggers, what you may sell and to whom, non-compete scope, and who keeps the student relationships. Ask for the exit clauses early. A fair agreement survives being read first; only an unfair one needs to be read last.
A worked example: OpenKids against its own checklist
A checklist is only credible if its author can pass it. Here is how OpenKids answers the twelve items — with one disclosure up front: the operating figures below are self-reported network averages, not audited accounts, and every figure that applies to your market is confirmed in writing before any agreement.
| Item | OpenKids' answer |
|---|---|
| 1 · Depth | Four programmes covering ages 3–24: creative arts, coding & STEAM, competition robotics, university admissions |
| 2 · Refresh | Central courseware, encrypted and streamed to every campus through MagiBox — updates arrive automatically |
| 3 · Training | Ten days at Singapore HQ before opening day; one certification standard across all markets |
| 4 · Technology | Built in-house: MagiBox classroom and learning-record system, MagiDesk and the OpenKids AI agent |
| 5 · Economics | Network averages: cash-flow positive within 6 months, 500+ students by month 36 — self-reported, confirmed in writing |
| 6 · Revenue | Six streams per centre: tuition, AI platform, camps & tours, competitions, admissions, commerce |
| 7 · Territory | 3 km protection at entry tier; exclusive licence and country/region rights at higher tiers |
| 8 · Fees | Vary by market and tier; the complete schedule is documented before signing |
| 9 · Support | Marketing and operations support at every tier; C-suite advisory at Master Partner level |
| 10 · Outcomes | 2026 VEX V5 world title (Team 77789A — checkable on RobotEvents); offers from Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, USC, NYU |
| 11 · References | Site visits to operating centres in Singapore or Malaysia are a standard step of the process |
| 12 · Exit | Set out in the formal partnership documents — ask for them before the letter of intent |
How the checklist sorts the market
Run any brand through the twelve items and a pattern appears. Single-subject brands tend to score well on focus and simplicity, and struggle on items 1 and 6 — depth and revenue diversity. Preschool-adjacent brands are strong on early years and often silent after age 8. Robotics-only brands can show superb outcomes on item 10 with a narrow funnel everywhere else. None of these is a flaw; each is a trade-off. The checklist's job is to make sure you know which trade-off you are buying — a comparison we walk through in single-subject vs multi-brand pathway, with the underlying economics in our profitability analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important question to ask an education franchisor?
Ask whether every figure in the sales conversation will be confirmed in writing before you sign. That one question tests the economics, the culture and the honesty of the network at once — and it costs you nothing to ask.
How do I verify an education franchise's claimed results?
Prefer claims that live outside the franchisor's own marketing: competition results in public databases such as RobotEvents, named university offers, industry awards, and operating centres you can walk into. Then ask for the operating numbers in writing and speak to existing partners directly.
Are franchise revenue figures usually audited?
Rarely. Most figures in education franchising — including OpenKids' — are self-reported network averages. That is normal, but it means the burden shifts to documentation: treat any figure a franchisor will not confirm in writing as if it did not exist.
