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Q. What types of franchises opportunities are available?
A. Individual and Multi-school programs have been designed to fit the various goals of individuals looking at our opportunity. Each opportunity requires a different level of investment of time and financial resources. Options are available for Swimtastic Swim Schools to be constructed as standalone buildings where you own the land and building, or to lease in a business or retail setting and build out the space following our specifications.
Q. Do I need prior swimming experience to be accepted?
A. No. Our training, guidance and support programs are focused on individuals with no prior experience. What you do need is the drive to be successful and other characteristics that we can discuss when we have the opportunity to talk.
Q. Why should I buy a franchise versus going in business on my own?
A. It takes approximately seventeen skills to effectively compete in today's competitive business climate. Most individuals have strong familiarity with approximately 4 to 7 of these critical skills because of their prior employment background. This is one of the main reasons that independent businesses experience a failure rate of over 70% within the first five years in business whereas a franchised business has less than a 5% failure rate according to the US Department of Commerce. A franchisor provides support in the critical areas to supplement the efforts and skills of the franchisee. A franchisee has a consistent source of information, support and years of experience whereas the individual business person must rely on his/her own resources.
Q. How much money is required to open a Swimtastic Franchise?
A. There are many variables that will impact this amount. Typically, as outlined in our Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, the total costs of entry including the franchise fee, inventory, working capital, training, land, facility construction with pool, and other items run between $505,000 for a leased school building to $1.4M for a location where you own the land and building.
Q. How much money can I make?
A. We cannot suggest how much money you can make. There are too many factors and variables that can affect this. Swimtastic is one of the few franchisors that provide you with historical financial data for our company owned locations. You can use this information to build your own business plan and answer this question for yourself. Most franchisors today choose not provide this information but the Federal Trade Commission is encouraging franchisors to do so under the proper guidelines. This is an important part of our formal discovery process.
Q. Will I have a protected territory?
A. Yes. Swimtastic is one of the few franchise organizations that provides their franchisees with an exclusive protected territory. We believe that this causes the franchisees to work together to increase brand awareness and market penetration unlike most franchise systems that have an adversarial relationship that prevails between the franchisees because each feels that the other may be encroaching on their customer base.
Q. What is the territory?
A. The territory for an individual school will generally be identified by a radius of 10 miles in urban areas or 5 miles in metropolitan areas. Territories for multi-school programs will be much larger. Exact territory definitions may be defined in terms of zip codes, street boundaries or other appropriate measurements.
Q. Will Swimtastic award more than one territory to a franchisee?
A. Yes. In fact, we will give favorable consideration to any enterprising franchisee that is in compliance with their existing franchise agreement that wishes to further his/her entrepreneurial goals by purchasing additional franchises.
Q. What training does Swimtastic provide?
A. New franchisee owner orientation and training is 14 days long and is held at Swimtastic Corporation in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The comprehensive training you will receive as a Swimtastic Franchisee will completely prepare you for all you'll need to know to operate your business. We not only train you on our learn to swim program and the operational aspects of running a swim school, but also on how to maintain a healthy P&L and to understand the power of marketing your new school.
Q. Can I have a partner?
A. Yes. A partner can be a significant asset to you if he or she has the right background and experience and is willing to be an active participant in your business. Be sure to understand each other's goals and outline the responsibilities carefully.
Q. Can I open a school as an investor and hire staff to run the business?
A. You are not obligated to participate personally in the direct operation of your School as long as you have a designated Operating Principal. The Operating Principal must be a shareholder or owner of the School and must personally devote his or her full time and best efforts of 40 hours per week or more to management and operation of the School.
Q. Can I obtain financing to become a franchisee with Swimtastic?
A. We do everything possible to assist qualified applicants in obtaining financing. There are a variety of approved lenders we can introduce to you. You may also wish to use lenders you have had previous banking relations. As a first time business owner you should expect to have 20% of your total projected costs available as equity to qualify for financing.
Q. How soon can I begin business?
A. A normal time frame is approximately four to six months to open after the franchise agreement and a land purchase or building lease has been signed. This may vary based on local conditions. Marketing, office operations and registration starts three months before your projected opening.
Q. How do I find out more about Swimtastic franchise opportunity?
A. Once we have had an initial conversation, we will provide you a password to access our protected web site. This web site contains detailed information about our business model. In this section is a Request for Consideration form. Once we receive and review this information, you will be invited to our Discovery Day Presentation. Attending this presentation does not obligate you or Swimtastic in any fashion. You will not be asked to sign or commit to anything at this meeting. These meetings are designed to address most of your questions in an informal atmosphere. You will meet corporate executives and have an opportunity to ask them questions as well.
Discovery Day Presentations are designed to provide you with information that will allow you to make an informed business decision. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you.
Swimtastic is actively seeking individuals who possess the desire, determination and enthusiasm to follow a proven business system. If you feel that you are able to commit the personal and financial resources that this opportunity requires, take the next step and complete the Learn More form. After we have had an opportunity to review the information, we will contact you by telephone to continue the Discovery Process. We will address your questions and provide you with additional information to assist you in your decision making process.
