"The franchise system enabled us to rapidly react to changes both in Hungary and on an international level. This is also very attractive to those seeking investment opportunities: more and more people are recognizing the advantages of the education market," points out Gyula Csitári, one of Logiscool's founders. "We're currently present in 21 countries. We have even managed to spread our school network to a new continent over the last couple of months, and now children in the Republic of South Africa and Nigeria are able to study coding and digital literacy with our method in Logiscool schools. This is a giant step, since very few Hungarian education franchises have managed to secure a foothold on the African continent so far."
Afterschool classes have been experiencing an ever greater priority over the past decades, the company argues. Statistics show that one in every four U.S. primary schoolers participates in some type of extracurricular activity. The same tendency can be observed in other parts of the world as well, drawing the attention of investors and entrepreneurs. From an investment standpoint, the size of the market, the innovation opportunities and the steady demand provide secure foundations.
The economic effects of the pandemic, however, have greatly rearranged the landscape: 2020 and 2021 became the years of virtual learning trends.
Logiscool argues that school models based on franchise foundations were the quickest to react. The strength of such models is based on the fact that owners are closely connected to their communities, and are therefore able to efficiently adapt to changing market demands. This is how the Hungarian-founded Logiscool network was able to completely restructure its entire product portfolio, teaching kids & teens coding and digital literacy, within a few months, and expand with new partners despite the pandemic.
One important strategic change in the product portfolio was the introduction of workshops, "miniature courses" that only last a few weeks. Their purpose is to give students a glimpse into a subject (or several) they're interested in, and which they can later explore in greater detail at courses or camps, should they decide to do so, the school says.
Additionally, the school's registration periods were also expanded; and programs are available both on- and offline since 2020.
This complex business transformation was necessary because it gives the target group, parents and children, the greatest possible security in the current uncertain situation, Logiscool noted.