DEA Music & Art is Offering Franchisees the Opportunity to Become a Part of the Premier Supplemental Education Brand in New York City

Originally named in honor of founder Magi Kapllani’s parents, Dizdari Education Academy, or DEA Music & Art for short, pays homage to the classical training she received as a young child forming a love of the fine arts before she was even in elementary school. Now, with unlimited territories available, DEA Music & Art is looking for qualified franchise owners who are looking to bring diverse and inspiring supplemental education to their communities.

Kapllani’s parents are well-known, classically-trained musicians in Albania and established a popular music school and center for culture in the area, named DEA Center of the Arts. “Being raised by the two of them, music was around my siblings and I all the time — our second home was the opera house,” she said. “In 1999, I came to the U.S. to attend the piano performance master's program at the University of Illinois and performed all over Chicago. After moving to New York City, I decided to establish my own school where students could receive the absolute best music education possible like my parents did in Albania.”

The first DEA Music & Art studio was established in 2003 in Staten Island-Rosebank to meet the demand from parents who were seeking high-quality music and arts education for their children. DEA Music & Art studios are run by musicians and artists who have dedicated their lives to performing, exhibiting and teaching. In both one-on-one and group lessons, each and every student benefits from tailor-made music and art instruction that is designed to meet their specific aspirations.

As opposed to the usual music schools, DEA Music & Art offers a wide range of programs in music, visual and performing arts, including Pop Idol, Rock Band, Virtuosi, Visual Arts, Chorus, Theatre and individual instrument lessons. They can also enjoy summer camp and book birthday parties at the studios, which create additional revenue streams for franchisees.

In order to adapt to COVID-19 from a consumer standpoint, DEA Music & Art has implemented virtual classes to provide students with all of the professionalism, opportunities and excellence of the school from the safety of their home. Moving forward, the brand is going to continue offering virtual classes as it allows enrollment of students from all over the country.

In addition to virtual offerings, DEA Music & Art is rolling out micro-schooling programs. “If students will be going to school virtually this fall, we are inviting parents to drop their kids off at our studios — which will have all of the social distancing and sanitation protocols in place — where our staff can help students connect to their virtual classroom and assist with additional work,” said Kapllani. “Micro-schooling can make life easier for working parents. Plus, during the downtime, we have the expertise to provide fun activities such as music instrument lessons, visual arts and rock band practice. This also creates an increased source of revenue since owners will be opening doors at 8 am versus 3 pm.”

In addition to a diverse curriculum, Kapllani notes that her classical experience with piano performance was a key differentiator in establishing DEA’s success. “I’ve always believed that practice is only half of the work — performing is the other half,” she said. “Through carefully constructed performing and exhibiting platforms, students learn how to overcome their fear and handle themselves confidently in front of other people. Our students achieve public speaking skills, confidence and high self-esteem, which they can utilize to become anything they want to be in life. Our students not only learn the foundations of music and arts — they take home experiences and memories that last a lifetime.”

These performances aren’t small-time affairs, either. Each year, pre-COVID, the students perform as the opening act for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular™ at the prestigious Radio City Music Hall, sing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden and more. According to Kapllani, all performances will be held virtually for the time being — the school had its first virtual recital in June and it was received well by parents.

With this incredible offering and opportunity, the original DEA Music & Art location caught on with families in the area, growing from only eight students to needing multiple instructors to keep up with the demand. In 2011, Kapllani opened a second studio in the Willowbrook area of Staten Island. In 2016, Kapllani opened a third studio on Page Avenue in the Tottenville section of Staten Island. In 2019, with a dream to help others open their own studio, Kapllani decided to start franchising the DEA Music & Arts brand.

Now, Kapllani is looking for franchisees who can help bring DEA Music & Art to more communities throughout the East Coast and beyond. “Our ideal franchisee is someone who is a hard-worker and has a passion for teaching children,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be someone with my kind of music or art background, as they will not be the teacher, but they should be passionate about what they do.”

As of now, DEA Music & Art is primarily targeting New York and New Jersey for franchise growth. “Most supplemental education franchises in these areas are sold out, but DEA has unlimited territories available,” Kapllani said.

Looking ahead, Kapllani notes that she’d love to see 25 to 30 locations open within the next five years. In terms of support, the first DEA Music & Art franchisee is going to receive 100% of the team’s attention. Initial franchise training for DEA Music & Art owners will last five days in one of the studios. Pre-opening training will provide owners and studio managers insight into the day-to-day operations, how to choose the right curriculums and programs from the DEA Music & Art library, marketing tactics for establishing enrollment as well as overall financial and studio management best practices. There will also be additional in-studio support once the DEA Music & Art center is ready to open and ongoing support as well.

“If you have been seeking the right fit for your future, DEA Music & Art is a place where you can thrive, inspiring a love for music, art and education with the youth in your community,” said Kapllani.

The start-up fees range from $136,700 to $215,400, including the initial franchise fee of $39,000. For more information, visit: https://franchise.deamusicandart.com