Why Big Blue Swim School Invested Heavily in Technology From Day One

Big Blue Swim School was founded in 2009 by national champion swimmer Chris DeJong. He opened five pools in the Chicago region and established Big Blue as a best-in-class offering in the market by building a proprietary software platform, called LessonBuddyTM, to improve operational efficiency and customer experience. Big Blue Swim School is now emerging as one of the dominant players in the $3 billion swim school industry with a plan to grow through franchising to 150 pools by 2021. Franchise partners have already signed on for 81 pools in 18 states. 

“It was clear from the start that the swim-lesson industry would benefit greatly from technology that not only allowed families to schedule lessons for all their kids at the same time but that also made that task a very simple user experience,” said DeJong. “From there, we continued to build LessonBuddy into a robust enterprise management system specifically for managing a swim school.” 

In 2017, Level 5 Capital Partners acquired a stake in the brand, investing heavily to support Big Blue’s growth and further develop its technology systems. “At Big Blue, we approach everything from a place of strength,” said Big Blue Swim School CEO, Chris Kenny. “When it comes to our swim school concept, we want to build a business that gives us more than 50% of the market share and the inability for other brands to truly compete. Big Blue franchise partners have the unmatched ability to teach 2,000 kids a week because LessonBuddy optimizes our pools for maximum capacity while allowing families to easily find their ideal lesson time.”

On the consumer side, LessonBuddy is a self-service tool, providing parents with real-time feedback on their child’s progress. Parents can also schedule and reschedule lessons with the tap of a finger on their smartphone or tablet. “Our consumer feedback tells us that LessonBuddy  creates repeat customers, maintains brand loyalty, and enhances the overall swim lesson experience,” said Kenny.

“With LessonBuddy, we take a unique approach to pool capacity planning, ultimately making lessons more convenient for our families while improving financial performance for our franchise partners,” said Brooke Mallick, Vice President of Marketing for Big Blue. “LessonBuddy makes it easy for parents to fit swim lessons into their lives, not the other way around. Families want to schedule all of their kids’ lessons during the same 30-minute window, so we design pools to meet this need. We can facilitate instruction of a ten-year-old child working on endurance and stroke refinement while also accommodating a younger sibling who is just learning to get in the water. This separates Big Blue within the segment, as it maximizes the lifetime value of the customer.”

Big Blue’s LessonBuddy technology also gives both the franchise partner and the franchisor access to exceptionally strong consumer data. Once an owner-operator officially opens the doors to their pool, LessonBuddy’s cloud-enabled platform provides resources and facilities management support. For franchise partners, Big Blue’s data solutions deliver innovative, cost-reducing results through a turnkey operational model.

Big Blue invests in cloud technology so franchise partner’s entire management platform is available anywhere, and owners can operate successful schools without needing a daily presence. With the company’s cloud-based platform and in-depth analytics, their swim facilities run efficiently. Instead of focusing on payroll or tracking hours, general managers and swim associates can make sure kids are learning effectively and that parents are happy. Overall, it helps simplify the lives of franchise partners and maximizes their location’s performance.

“Big Blue continues to invest in our tech stack to ensure our platform integrates with other best-in-class cloud applications,” said CTO Casey Morford. “This ongoing investment means we can scale the cloud technology to accommodate the needs of our franchise partners as they grow.”

While other franchise brands outsource the management of their technology, Big Blue’s in-house platform provides a depth of consumer data, operational control, and functionality that no other software package can accomplish at scale.

“We have a competitor who switched from one third-party platform to another, and they are still struggling,” said Kenny. “If the quality of a franchisor’s operations and customer experience is too closely tied to a third-party provider’s roadmap, it is harder to execute an effective technology strategy or differentiate from the competition.”

Big Blue also invests in building and maintaining a quality website and online presence, developing a virtual tour using Google interior view to display the pool layout to customers and prospective franchise partners.

“Investing in software creates a common language and established infrastructure that is uncommon for emerging franchise brands,” said Kenny. “Before a prospect signs on as a franchise partner, they know our software will position them for success—and we have the results to prove it.”

Multi-unit franchise opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big franchise opportunity, and veterans receive a 10 percent discount on the $75,000 franchise fee. The total investment for one Big Blue Swim School ranges from $1,825,500 to $3,687,000, as noted in Item 7 of the Franchise Disclosure Document. To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School’s best franchises to buy, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.