FAQ: How Has Big Blue Swim School Proven Itself to be a Successful Concept and Why Does it Work?

Big Blue Swim School is emerging as one of the fastest growing players in the $3 billion swim school industry, with differentiators including a proprietary enterprise system that helps with scheduling team members and families, LessonBuddy™, and a data-driven real estate strategy. Now with 227 units sold in 25 states across the country, interest is only continuing to grow amongst business-savvy entrepreneurs looking to enter the learn-to-swim space with a recession-resistant business model.

While Big Blue works hard to position all pool owners for success, it is important that each prospective franchise owner completes proper due diligence before partnering with the brand. Here are the answers to some common questions franchise prospects may have as they look into the business.

How does Big Blue differ from other swim school brands?

Since day one, Big Blue’s pools have been larger than the industry average to better accommodate multi-child families. The brand’s market insights indicate most parents in the U.S. have two kids about 36 months apart. Greater pool capacity means Big Blue pools have the space for older children to swim 1,000 feet while also accommodating a younger sibling who is just learning to get in the water. With more water, Big Blue is able to provide optimal scheduling during peak times and parents have the luxury of putting multiple kids in the water during the same half hour, which means more time back on their calendars.

“Big Blue focuses a lot on catering to the parents by creating a frictionless experience in terms of scheduling the lessons, checking-in virtually, rescheduling, and more,” said Dennis Campbell, Big Blue vice president of franchise development. 

Does Big Blue offer financing? 

With startup costs that range from $2,475,200 to $3,966,700, Big Blue Swim School doesn’t appeal to just any franchisee — it is a franchise opportunity that requires strong financials. That is why the swim school brand makes sure to connect its candiates with SBA-preferred banks and lenders to promote a seamless funding process.

“We do offer financing, but it is not in-house,” Campbell said. “We have several preferred vendors and very strong relationships with them, which creates a bridge so franchise owners can engage and more easily get pre-approval for qualified lending.”

Do I need to be involved in the day-to-day operations? 

No, Big Blue offers a semi-absentee business model, in which owners do not need to be directly involved in the day-to-day operations. “Our model is highly efficient in the semi-absentee-investor structure, so investors can maximize their time and capital with us,” Campbell said. “We look for someone with the business acumen to leverage the data provided and to help scale the business.”

While Big Blue owners will not necessarily need to be on site everyday, Campbell says they will be required to empower their staff. “Franchise owners are really once removed from the business — and while they may not be the day-to-day operator, they should still be a team builder and build a positive company culture to promote staff longevity,” he said.

What tech solutions does Big Blue offer? 

Big Blue is able to lean into the proprietary, cloud-based, ERP software LessonBuddy™ to run a high-scale, high-margin model at a market price point. The easy-to-use lesson management software and customer self-service mobile app puts franchise partners ahead of the competition in every way, while also simplifying the swim lesson process for parents. 

“The platform’s dashboard gives franchise partners the ability to create optimized class schedules, keep employees on track, manage swimmers, and more,” Campbell said. “And, as a customer relationship management tool, LessonBuddy ensures nothing falls through the cracks while helping owners maximize profitability. We want to make the customer experience as seamless and painless as possible. For example, if something comes up and plans change, LessonBuddy allows parents to reschedule their lessons easily.”

How does Big Blue offer franchisees marketing support? 

Big Blue knows that it is essential to have an analytical marketing team that can manage SEO optimization, social media, organic lead generation, and the internal validation journey. Big Blue handles all online and local lead generation on behalf of the franchise partner, providing limited-time offers to eligible leads to develop the customer pipeline. 

“We have an internal marketing team that provides solutions for all digital marketing and we have a playbook on grassroots marketing as well,” Campbell said. “But we do call upon our franchise partners to provide the execution of local marketing and partnership building through our playbook. Franchise owners will work side-by-side with our marketing team in the early stages as they build a pool in their market.”

How is Big Blue Swim School growing?

In just four years of franchising, more than 50% of Big Blue’s territories have been awarded - with 227 units sold in 25 states. With 16 pools open to date, and two more on track to open this year, the brand has a goal of having nearly 400 schools open in 10 years to address the one-third of America’s population of children in the U.S. under 12.

“As we think about the evolution of this brand over the next several years, we believe we will be the top brand in the swim school market and that people will be excited when a Big Blue is opening in their town,” Campbell said. “There is no sign of us slowing down, we are seeing existing franchise partners reinvest and we are attracting an amazing caliber of incoming candidates. This is definitely a franchise opportunity that people are going to want to learn more about.”

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 $2,475,200 to $3,966,700 (refer to item 7 in FDD) To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School, visit https://www.bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.