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WORLD OF MATH

Franchise Opportunity

 

 

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Welcome to a Rare Business Opportunity           

 Thank you for your interest in this unique and indeed very exclusive franchise opportunity.

Word of Math is an international operation providing hands-on mathematical problem solving activities to children in schools.

Operating as a World of Math franchisee will provide you with a professional vocation in what is normally a highly qualified and specialized industry.  In this business you will be working with children from elementary to junior high school (middle school), yet no special skills or qualifications are required.

Primarily you will act as facilitator, attending schools, setting up various problem solving and mathematical activity displays and co-coordinating the participation of the students in completing the activities.

Your working schedule will revolve around normal school terms only.  This means six hour days and five day weeks for approximately 36 weeks of the year.  It leaves you with plenty of free time and up to twelve weeks holiday per year.

Your home will be your principal place of office.  Therefore many of the costs normally associated with running a business (such as rent etc.) do not apply, so your overheads will be minimized.

You can reap the rewards of operating a profitable business while still having the time to enjoy a lifestyle most small business operators can only dream about.

If you decide that this is the opportunity for you and you meet our selection criteria, then we are confident you will find an abundance of personal and financial rewards will soon be heading your way.

 

Introduction to World of Math                  

 Children are immensely inquisitive and hungry for knowledge but also have a short attention span.  Expecting them to sit still for an extended period of time and listen or read from a text book is expecting a lot from such active minds.

Generally, children do not perceive learning mathematics as being an enjoyable experience.  However, get them involved in creative activities and not only are they more responsive and learn more in a shorter time period but they also enjoy the learning experience.

World of Math had its beginnings in 1990 when Phil Way began providing a “hands-on” problem solving approach to mathematical activities as a visit to schools.  Problem solving is the fundamental and central activity in the learning and teaching of mathematics.

Phil had been a mathematics teacher for 13 years. He recognised there was an opportunity to inject some reality into mathematics rather than relying solely on text books and theoretical measures.  He then set about designing and building a number of interactive display activities for use in the classroom.

The program was originally used for students in years 7 and 8 in NSW schools in Australia.  It was so well received that they soon expanded into primary schools.  World of Math now provides activities ranging from lower and upper primary to junior secondary students.

 

The Business                                                

 World of Math is a collection of problem solving activities taken to schools by a presenter.  Because of the difficulty often experienced by students in keeping their attention focused, this program enables them to experience mathematics related to practical real-life situations.

Each set of activities contains seventeen large, exciting, colorful displays showing a variety of applications to mathematical concepts which would not be experienced by students in their normal mathematics lessons.

Usually a large double classroom, library, multi-purpose room or hall is used to set up work stations with the numerous activities.

For students each session then becomes a guided discovery lesson where they solve a variety of problems, discover patterns, identify geometric properties, think logically and apply mathematics to the physical world.

These activities provide immense value and give students a variety of different skills and strategies needed for problem solving.  The students immediately engage themselves fully in the activities and obviously relish the interactive opportunity.  At the same time they begin to change their perception and realize that math can be interesting, challenging and above all, fun.

The 50 to 70 students catered to in each session are split up and move freely from one activity to the other until they have visited as many activities as they can in the time provided.  The duration of each session is approximately ninety minutes for middle school and seventy minutes for elementary.

The students are provided with corresponding worksheets to complete as they progress through the activities.  The teachers are given information and answer sheets with follow-up activities for the students.

The World of Math activities visit a school only once in any given year. They are changed each year so there is no chance of the same activities being presented to the students two years running.

It is not an option for the schools to buy and co-ordinate their own activities. The student’s fee is paid by the students or sometimes funded by the school; it is far more cost effective to simply book, World of Math once per year.  The school would otherwise need to outlay large amounts of money that they simply to do have for these purposes and would still need to purchase new activity sets each year.

The continued growth of the business and the rate of both new and repeat bookings confirm the value of the World of Math programme for schools.

 

Benefits to the students

 Apart from the many advantages covered so far, there are a number of other benefits to students by participating in the World of Math program.  These are:

 

World of Math Franchise System

One of the most influential factors in deciding to purchase a franchised business as opposed to a non franchised business is that there is normally a tried and proven system of operation already in place.  Similarly a franchise provides for you to receive initial and ongoing training plus continued operational support.

Combine these factors with the enthusiasm, dedication and willingness to work provided by owner operators and you have the formula for a successful business.

The World of Math concept has been tried and proven for the past 19 years.  It is a profitable business currently operating throughout England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.

Working systems are in place for everything from marketing and promoting the business through to bookings, scheduling and collecting the money from the students.  Procedures are also in place for the care, maintenance and rotation of the displays.

These systems have been in place since the inception of World of Math in 1990 and are constantly updated and refined.

 

Your market

Each school within your territory will receive World of Math promotional material which is supplemented by follow up calls and advertisement in selected publications.  Each single franchise territory has between 1200 and 1400 schools as potential customers. This should give the franchisee access to 500.000 children in the 5-14 age groups.

Many of the schools will re-book automatically.

Franchisees can further increase their income by attending retirement villages, school camps, day care centres, school fetes etc. 

 

Operating your franchise

The business is easily operated by one person as the administration duties can be performed outside of school hours or a casual can be employed to assist with administration and bookings.  Alternatively a working couple would be able to build up the business sooner by maximising promotions and bookings with one partner able to conduct school visits on days where double bookings occur.

Once established they would then be able to further maximise the potential of this business by procuring further activities.  This would enable them to set up in two different schools on the same day, double booking for most of the school year.

Your home office needs only to consist of a telephone and answering machine (or answering service), fax, and a personal computer could be used to simplify many administration tasks such as contacting schools via email.

 

Advantages of owning a World of Math franchise

 

Training

The World of Math initial training period ensures that you are adequately equipped not only to start your business, but to meet your customer’s demands, build on your knowledge and skills, have the ability to cope with change and stay ahead of any competitors that may appear in the future.

Training will take place both within and outside of the classroom over the duration of not less than one week.  The training programme will cover at least the following topics:

 

You can expect to learn everything that has been used to successfully develop the business so far and to make it a profitable and enjoyable venture.  However it is anticipated that you will already have some basic business and/or administration skills, a willingness to learn, self motivation and a desire to be successful through hard work and dedication.

 

Operational Support

The most effective and workable franchise support systems are found in franchise organisations, where the franchisers are in constant touch with the movements and trends in their market by staying close to the front line.  At World of Maths we fully understand the importance of this and as such stay at the front line of the business through our day to day running of the Queensland territory, in Australia.

So, as franchisers, if we are sharing the same day to day experiences of running the business as the franchisees, we can lead by example and guide from a position of understanding rather than lecture from a point of theory.

Just as we have developed the World of Maths activities to be hands-on based learning, we have developed our support programme to be based on our own hands-on experiences.

The World of Maths team is on hand to assist and advise in the areas of small business management, operational issues and procedures, promotions, problem solving, budgets and quotas, communications issues and so forth.  This assistance will be available via telephone, email or fax at all times and through field visits which will also provide the opportunity for the all important feedback.

You do not need to have a teaching background or mathematical degree to operate a World of Maths franchise.  However our selection criteria will require you to demonstrate an ability to be able to work with and communicate well with children.

Prospective franchisees will also need to be of exceptionally responsible character, have a high degree of integrity and possess organisational and motivational attributes.

 

The Future

In this day and age of rapidly changing technology you could be excused for thinking that the down to earth simplicity of the World of Math programme may mean it has a limited lifespan as children today spend countless hours in front of computers and computer games etc.  However some basic needs never change and hands-on problem solving skills will always be a requirement of our children’s education criteria.

The humble jigsaw puzzle is a problem solving project and not only has it been around since most of us can remember, but it hasn’t really ever changed.  While this is the philosophy behind the World of Math programme it does not mean that there will not be changes if they are required.  The World of Math directors will be constantly monitoring the acceptance and value of each and every activity and will replace any that may be stagnant or past their beneficial stage.  They will also carefully evaluate the education department curriculum and adapt the programme to suit if and where necessary.

 

 Where do I Go from Here?

If you feel that this franchise business may be just your style and you would like to take your inquiry a step further, then please complete the enclosed “Getting to Know You” form and return it to us as soon as possible.  We will be in contact with you again soon and arrange an interview and a possible viewing of a math show.

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