IDEA Lab Kids was founded in 2011 with a simple yet profound mission: To provide a fun and intellectually stimulating after-school program for children. Founder Ghazal Qureshi started the Houston-based concept as a way to provide her own three children with a variety of engaging after-school activities under one roof, and it quickly gained momentum in the region. Today, IDEA Lab Kids offers more than 50 courses in STEAM—science, technology, engineering, art and math—to children ages 4 to 14.

IDEA Lab Kids, which has awarded 26 franchises since the brand started franchising in February 2017, met major milestones in 2019 that have helped it start off strong in 2020.

In terms of domestic expansion, IDEA Lab Kids had nine grand openings for new locations in 2019 and also sold franchise rights to 45 more locations. The brand plans to continue expanding its footprint, with a goal of awarding up to 400 locations in the U.S. alone over the next four years.

IDEA Lab Kids also saw significant internal leadership changes in 2019 that will help the brand tremendously in 2020. For one, Devina Bhojwani, who brings a strong background in corporate leadership and franchisee experience, succeeded Qureshi as CEO. IDEA Lab Kids also added two key members to its leadership team: Director of Sales and Operations Erin Johnson and Manager of Programming Laura Garza.

“We grew not only in presence but also by strengthening our team to hire the right staff to support our franchisees,” Bhojwani said. “Erin and Laura both come to us with more than two decades of experience in the education sector.”

The IDEA Lab Kids leadership team is especially thrilled that the brand increased its footprint in Canada in 2019.

“Our major milestone in 2019 was that we grew our presence in Canada by assigning master franchise rights to 15 locations in Toronto and five locations in Vancouver,” Bhojwani said.

IDEA Lab Kids plans to keep this international-expansion momentum going in 2020. The brand would especially like to expand into the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The leadership team plans to accomplish this by learning from past and recent openings and making sure best practices are instilled for future franchise openings.

“One of the major lessons we learned in 2019 was that even though our sales growth has been phenomenal, it takes time for these locations to open, usually between six to eight months,” Bhojwani said. “From scouting real estate to the store buildout to the grand opening, there is a lot involved in getting a brick-and mortar-center up and running, and our different departments work with and support franchisees every step of the way.”

The timing for a franchise with IDEA Lab Kids is certainly ripe. Bhojwani noted that educational trends show a stronger push for STEAM education.

“Public and private schools have become great advocates of STEAM and are encouraging families to educate their children—if not at school then outside,” Bhojwani said.

IDEA Lab Kids has taken notice of this and is constantly finding ways to make sure its innovative programs keep up with the times and continue to be fun and engaging for kids. What’s more, the brand is also prepared to provide nothing less than top-notch support for new and existing franchisees.

“In this era of disruptive technology, the education landscape is transforming before our eyes,” Bhojwani said. “We are hoping to start seeing more Augmented reality (AR) and AI in our space. There is also a lot of focus on Social-emotional learning (SEL) and that is a space we are continuously watching to monitor how we can build a program around it.”

With a variety of innovative programs, a focus on growth and, above all, an emphasis on providing children with a fun environment in which to learn, IDEA Lab Kids is on track to take the children’s education enrichment industry by storm in 2020.

The startup costs for an IDEA Lab Kids franchise range from $111,500 to $200,000. The franchise fee is $35,500. To learn more about franchising with IDEA Lab Kids, visit https://franchise.idealabkids.com/.