What was your background before you became a Master Licensee with Pingu’s English?
With 12 years of experience in the market, Grupo Prepara led the way when they bet on the growth potential of professional courses. Today, Grupo Prepara is the biggest franchise network of professional courses in the country, with more than 200 franchisees across Brazil.
Globalisation saw English become the universal language, and a prerequisite for conquering a worthy job and gaining notice in the corporate world. Anchored in the market’s tendencies, Grupo Prepara took advantage of that niche’s growth and launched two brands related to language, with Pingu’s English specialising in English for early childhood.
Today, Grupo Prepara is considered one of the biggest education groups in the country and possesses several awards relevant to their trajectory including, being elected best franchise of Brazil by the magazine Pequenas Empresas & Grandes Negócios, in the category of Training and Courses. It has also ported the Seal of Excellence in Franchising for the last 9 years and the Group has been included in the award of TOP 25 of Brazilian Franchises
Why franchising?
It’s been 12 years since Grupo Prepara involved itself in the franchise market. We believe that, through the franchise model, it’s easier to reach our goal of bringing education to every corner of Brazil. In addition to that, the franchisees act as our new partners, and more people working for our growth can only mean better development for the business in the market. It’s because of this, that the franchise business is so interesting.
The Brazilian population has perceived the importance of learning English, which is no longer a differential, but a prerequisite. The method develops creative, cognitive, and socio emotional abilities. These are fundamental in guaranteeing the success of the learner in other areas. In other words, we have a context that can be highly explored; franchises that work with the teaching of languages tend to grow even more.
Which business model/s have you adopted for the Brazilian market?
The differential for Pingu’s English in Brazil is the flexibility of the business models. Besides the traditional “Center” model, with exclusive centers and bigger space, the brand offers the ‘In School’ model, a compact alternative capable of being implanted inside primary schools. The initiative is an excellent opportunity for investors that possess interest in expanding businesses with low cost and are looking for a differential in the educational market. It contributed to our rapid expansion and helped differentiate us from other models currently existing in Brazil.
How did the training support your business endeavours?
The training offered by the Pingu’s English team has been fundamental for our growth in the country. All of the brand’s knowledge and experience were passed on to our franchisees. Through this, they have inspired us.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
Bringing a new business to the country is never easy, even if it’s an internationally renowned brand. The challenge was to make Pingu’s English popular among Brazilians, but we’re very confident in the brand’s potential success. It’s because of it that we’re continuing to evolve and we expect to grow even more. The brand’s official inauguration in Brazil occurred in one of the biggest business events in Latin America, the ABF fair (Brazilian Franchising Association). The economic crisis and the rise of the dollar that we’ve witnessed in Brazil these past few months (2016) have certainly posed challenges, but we were surprised by how well the entrepreneurs reacted to the business. We managed to establish five units of the brand in that fair alone, and the objective is to grow more every day.
What is the key factor to your success?
The passion that we feel towards our business is definitely our success factor. We bring education to the entire country through our franchises and we strongly believe in the value of Grupo Prepara.
What are your expansion plans in the near future?
The reception of the brand in Brazil exceeded expectations. With 7 units in operation, we are scheduled to open a further 10 centers before the end of 2019.
Keep reading to hear from just a few of Pingu’s English Brazil’s happy customers.
Contact Pingu’s English Brazil:
T: +55 17 3353 2444
E: contato@pingusenglish.com.br
Av. Bady Bassitt, 4960 – Alto Rio Preto Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo
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