Debutots
- Franchise

Description of Company:

We are the UK’s premier drama-in-education company for the early years (6 months-7 years). We use story, drama and play to promote skilful communication, develop cognitive skills and grow a child’s positive sense of themselves and others.

There are no “jazz hands” here, just a book shelf-load of original stories and a like-minded team of passionate practitioners who empower young children with creativity, confidence and a love of language through interactive storytelling and carefully crafted drama techniques.

Our classes have been expertly created to support National Curricula and are held in educational settings and in local venues with parents and their little ones.

Work Description:

The age range of our classes is from 6 months to 7 years so we don’t just cover the heavily saturated 2-5’s market, and we have a stronghold in the both the educational sector and the parent and child activity market. In fact, our franchisees have named Debutots “a chameleon” because there are so many avenues our work can go down...classes, workshops and parties are being delivered throughout the country via 17 different avenues (at the last count) including Children’s Centres, after-school clubs, nurseries and schools!

We view our franchise opportunity very much as a lifestyle business and therefore see that the earning potential relates to the amount of time you can commit to Debutots.  We do not impose a minimum number of classes to be set up, as other drama franchises do, and whilst we set minimum sales figures at the launch of your franchise, these are agreed and based on how you, and we, see the potential for your business.

We believe that family really does come first and further support this by keeping our additional practitioner training costs to a minimum: you can quickly expand your business and increase your earnings without compromising the initial reason you bought a lifestyle franchise.  65% of our franchises have a practitioner working for them and 67% of these will taken this step within the first 15 months of operating.  We have made it affordable and easy to increase your earning potential whilst still meeting the demands of your local area....and your family!

Average hours per week:

Choose your own hours

Investment required:

£6320 plus VAT at 17.5% (plus £1000 for your advertising and marketing costs for the 1st year)

Earning Potential:

The figures below show the range of income that our franchisees are generating per half hour and per hour.  The figures vary depending on the territory and if the classes are in educational settings or parent and child classes in local venues. (Figures exclude one off workshops and parties which generate a higher value)
Per half hour: £35 - £90
Per hour: £50 - £120

Experience Required:

We believe a Debutots franchise is the perfect working opportunity for confident, passionate, imaginative and committed individuals.  Enthusiasm for storytelling and/or drama and working with the early years age group is essential, in addition to good health, physical fitness and a sense of fun. A background in, or sound knowledge of, drama or storytelling is useful in addition to experience with children either 0-7 or 2-7 as a teacher, carer or parent.
It’s essential you are self-motivated with a genuine desire to run a long-standing and profitable business.

Training & Support:

Comprehensive Initial Training
5 day Training Programme to ensure you launch your business with confidence and are armed with the skills to be a success.  This includes:
·      3 day practical training including hands-on sessions in educational settings
·      1 day business training
·      1 day practical assessment/evaluation and business training in-situ

Comprehensive Operations Manual providing you with the answers to all your questions.  Our “bible” is a big one, but well worth the read!  It includes:
·      Essential day to day information for the smooth running of your business
·      Easy to follow, tried and tested marketing strategies
·      PR and Media Guidelines
·      Templates for every type of correspondence you may possibly have!
·      Class Practice Tips

Ongoing Training and Support Opportunities
Ongoing Training allows our practitioners to continually develop their skills, and make connections with other franchisees.
·       The Debutots ‘Professional Development Masterclass Programme’ - past masterclasses facilitated by outside professionals include storytelling, and voice care and training. Forthcoming masterclasses include clowning, behaviour management and supporting communication in the early years.
·       Refresher courses in class practice run by Head Office
·       AGM franchisee practical idea sharing sessions

Support is friendly, professional and not just from HO, but from our close-knit team of franchisees.
·       Network support through the dedicated franchisee forum
·       Daily telephone and email support from HO regarding business and class practice issues
·       Yearly field visits from HO
 
Complete Class Plans and Corresponding Resource Packs for Schools, Nurseries, Childminders and Parents

Complete Class Plans mean that the hard work has been done for you so you have the time to grow your business!
·       3 year rolling curriculum
·       135 original stories in themed topic blocks
·       A carefully developed structure that also allows you to add your own creative stamp on the sessions

Corresponding Resource Packs are one of the key ingredients to our success in educational settings.
·       Linked to the EYFS and KS1 in England, Curricular Guidance for the Pre-School Child and the Revised NI Curriculum in Northern Ireland, and the new Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. (Wales in the pipeline!)
·       Termly indispensible planning, observation and assessment tools for educational settings
·       Additional weekly handouts for parents and childminders
·       All done for you - you just need to collate them for your customers
·       HO will revise these if changes are made to any National Curricula

Car Required:

Ideal but not essential

Storage Required:

Minimal

Contact Details:

Charlotte Collins or Karen Wallace-Jones on: 0117 904 4059 (Co-Founders and Directors) You can also visit www.debutots.co.uk to find out more about the company.

Name:
Jennifer
Location:
North London
Family:
Son, Ben, aged 4; daughter, Thandi, aged 2 and husband, Paul
How does this fit in around your family?
It fits in well, as I can choose my own hours. At the moment, I tend to work mainly in the mornings and keep the afternoons free for the children. My son's at nursery every morning anyway so he doesn't notice me working. I catch up with any admin or letter writing in the evenings when the children have gone to bed, but am managing to keep weekends free. I also do Debutots parties, but as they're only an hour long I'm happy to do them on the weekends. If I find I've got more bookings than I want while the children are not at school yet then I'll just train up other practitioners to cover my classes!

How much roughly did the franchise cost you? £6000 (2 years ago)
What did that investment buy? » I retained £1000 of the investment in my business bank account for my first year's advertising. » The franchise license and full use of the logo » All equipment including: stationery, leaflets, T-shirts, stickers, visual aids and marketing material including advertisement artwork » A page on the website and my Debutots email address » The full Debutots curriculum with comprehensive class plans » Extensive training, friendly, supportive on-going advice and the huge, fabulous Operations Manual!
Do you get support/training? I really can't fault the Head Office support. When I was just starting out, I had loads of questions that kept popping up; I have fewer now, but it's very reassuring to know that my questions will be answered almost instantly by people who've got years of experience. There's always someone there on the end of the phone or to reply to emails. They've really been great. Very supportive, very encouraging and also very inspiring. The initial training was intense, but I learned a huge amount. We had to take classes in nurseries as part of the training, which was daunting to start with, but by the time I'd finished training I felt very confident to get out there and start my classes. I also learned a lot about running a business and more specifically about all that Debutots has to offer. Although it was nerve racking, I loved taking the classes. I've worked with drama with children before, but this was so much more enjoyable and rewarding. The children loved it and participated amazingly well.

Are there on-going costs? Yes, a management service fee, which is 10% of my sales and calculated monthly. When I'm on holiday and not running classes, I don't pay anything!
What's the best thing about Debutots for you? I love the fact that I'm delivering a product that I genuinely think is amazing for children. I'm enjoying the responsibility of being in charge and being able to choose my own hours. I'm excited about the business' potential to expand. It's also great to be able to do a job that I really enjoy and that others will gain so much from too.
Are there any down sides to the job? I think the only 'downside' would probably be the administration that I tend to have to do in the evenings, when sometimes I'm tired from classes and/or looking after my kids during the day. However, I completely understand and accept that administration comes hand-in-hand with running a business and it's just that because I choose to spend my free time with my children during the day, it's inevitable that I'll need to do the admin in the evenings. Having said that, there are so many templates available from Head Office that it does speed things up. Also, as the children get older they’re going to spend longer in nursery or school so in the future I'll have more time during the days to do admin.
Would you recommend this franchise opportunity to other Mums? Absolutely - it's great. It's incredibly fulfilling to be running a business as well as being a mum and still managing to have lots of time to be with my children. I also find that being a mother adds something to how I work and to how I relate to the children in my classes; equally, the fact that I am enjoying my work and making learning so fun for the children in the classes adds something to the time that I then spend with my family. An extra bonus is that my children get to hear me tell them amazing stories and I can practice on them!