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The swim school franchise has signed agreements for more than 200 locations in just over three years of franchising.
Big Blue Swim School has been one of the fastest-growing swim school brands since its founding in 2009. Since Big Blue launched its franchise opportunity three years ago, the brand has signed franchise agreements for 207 locations in 24 states across the country. One of the primary factors behind its substantial and consistent growth is its prioritization of strategic investments, which have fueled virtually every aspect of the franchise’s operations, from its leadership team to its cutting-edge technology to its data-driven real estate selection process.
Those investments have positioned its franchise partners for long-term success and market leadership in the fragmented swim school industry over the next five years.
Since its founding, Big Blue has built and refined its proprietary enterprise system to outperform any other software available in the industry.
LessonBuddy™ puts the franchise partner’s entire management platform in the cloud so they can operate successful stores without having to be on site. The platform’s dashboards and KPIs help franchise partners manage their businesses all the way down to the shift level, allowing them to track costs and efficiencies for total transparency in measuring ROI and the overall health of their business.
The hands-off management capabilities offered by LessonBuddy have made Big Blue Swim School one of the most attractive opportunities in franchising for semi-absentee owners looking to maximize their time and capital.
“Franchise owners can be intimidated by the need to build a tech stack, but unlike other brands, Big Blue supplies a turnkey solution with LessonBuddy,” said Chris DeJong, Big Blue’s founder and president. “When our prospective franchise partners take a close look at our proprietary technology, they can see how it will help them run efficient businesses based on how our existing locations are operating. LessonBuddy also allows our investment opportunity to stand out in the pack by offering our partners a major differentiator.”.”
LessonBuddy has proven to be a key differentiator for prospective franchise partners researching multiple brands.
“As a software engineer, it was clear that Big Blue’s technology created a huge advantage over the competition,” said Sam Abraham, a franchise partner bringing three stores to New Jersey. “For example, when our children were enrolled in swim lessons at a different swim school, it was very hard to change a class, and managing multiple children at the same time was nearly impossible. LessonBuddy allows families to schedule and reschedule lessons easily.”
Chris Burden, another franchise partner with plans to also open three pools in New Jersey, says the software was one of the first things that stood out to him about Big Blue.
“The team’s commitment to investing in technology and staying ahead of the curve was very attractive to me and really set the Big Blue concept apart from other swim schools,” Burden said. “It makes ownership and management easier, not just in regards to staffing, schedules, and payrolls, but also in the day-to-day running of the facility. All of the tools are at your fingertips at all times.”
As the brand’s technology strategy demonstrates, Big Blue’s private equity-backed leadership team is well-equipped to optimize the brand’s operating model to ensure franchise partners maximize returns.
“What surprises franchise partners when meeting with the Big Blue leadership team is how consistent we are as a brand, whether that’s with regards to our language, our mission, or our values,” DeJong said. “We have a lot of talent on our team, and it gives franchise candidates confidence that we aren’t making it up as we go.”
Big Blue’s deep bench of corporate leaders provides significant value for franchise partners. Scott Sanders, who boasts decades of experience working with technology companies at an executive level, has been leading the charge as the brand’s CEO. Chief Development Officer Scott Thompson has nearly two decades of experience in franchising, franchise development, and executive management, and is a Certified Franchise Executive. And other members of the brand’s leadership team are leveraging experience from many of the largest global corporations and franchise brands in the world, including PepsiCo, Tutor Doctor, and College Hunks Hauling Junk, among many others.
Burden noted the quality of the Big Blue leadership team was another key factor in his decision to invest in the brand.
“Big Blue provides leadership expertise and support in every area of the business,” he said. “It isn’t just about having people you can call when there is a question, it’s about knowing that there are people in every area working around the clock to improve the business.”
Big Blue’s approach to real estate is one final way the brand leverages its leadership’s expertise to help store owners.
When a franchise partner joins the brand, the real estate team analyzes more than 30 data points to determine where to locate a pool to best position it for success. Throughout the process, the team provides site selection, construction, technology, and marketing assistance. With this proven support, franchise partners are free to focus on creating a great customer experience.
“Locating a store on a well traveled road that has other accessible businesses where our families are also frequenting is certainly affected by rent,” DeJong said. “A prospect may think they’ll save a certain amount in rent by selecting a cheaper site, but they could be giving up $1 million in revenue in the long run. A site selected by our real estate team is going to perform 30% better than a self-selected location.”
The real estate team’s data-driven strategy makes it easy for franchise partners who may not have experience opening a brick-and-mortar store, like Abraham. “I had no experience with real estate, but Big Blue has made it easy,” he said. “Whether it is finding the best rent and interest rates or managing leases and negotiations, the Big Blue team walks you through everything. It is an incredibly sophisticated strategy with white-glove service that you rarely see in franchising.”
Multi-unit franchise opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big opportunity, and veterans can receive a 10 percent discount on the $80,000 franchise fee. The total investment necessary to begin operation of a new Big Blue Swim School is $2,334,223 to $3,641,998 (refer to item 7 in FDD) To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School, visit https://www.bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.
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