After consolidation and leadership in leading metros of the country, Career Launcher (CL) is now all set to expand its operations in Tier-II and Tier-III cities across India. In this quarter itself, CL has signed 8 franchisee centers: at Patna, Jalpaiguri, Sagar, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Raigarh, Moradabad,etc
"The growth story is clearly visible in enrolments and revenue from existing franchisees in the H1 of the current FY. The Y-O-Y revenue growth is currently at 40%; and expected to reach anywhere between 45-50% in the first two quarters of FY’22. The franchisees are reporting increase in walk-ins, leads, enquiries, etc., and the enrolment and revenue figures are comparable to that of 2019(pre-Covid era)”, explained Mr Himanshu Jain, President and COO, who heads the franchisee business of CL Educate Limited.
Currently, CL has 150+ test-preparation centers run by franchisee partners across the nation. Mr Jain is bullish about the current growth rally in business over the past few months; and is confident about achieving the ambitious goals that he has set for himself and his team.
"Our product range and success story are our differentiators; and we expect to be present in every district in the country in the next few years", he expressed. "We plan to add at least 200+ business partners across the country over the next 18 months, taking the total number of franchisee partners to 350+ by March of FY'23" Mr Jain added.
This will lead to addition of revenues amounting to anywhere between INR 75-100 crore to the existing revenues of an estimated INR 200 crore of test-prep business of CL Educate, with about 17%EBITDA margins.
Career Launcher's support to its franchisees includes R&D, tech-backbone, business platform, study material, time-tested training, and GTM know-how, ably complemented by franchisee-friendly policies. CL’s Franchise Partners, who are alumni of leading engineering and management colleges and universities (IITs, NITs, IIMs, etc.) and are seasoned professionals with rich industry experience have stayed and grown with the brand for almost two decades. They believe that focus on quality academic delivery driven by technology-based systems and processes ensures uniform experience yet personalization for each student.
Speaking about the future of test-preparation, Mr Jain said, "In my opinion, blended learning will be the way to go, wherein about 30% of the course will be delivered face-to-face; and the remaining 70% will be online. This combination blends the inspiration that comes with learning in a physical classroom with the cost and convenience benefits of online."
Further, there are two aspects that Mr Himanshu Jain pointed out: (i) post-Covid era will be a new normal, and technology has changed how education will be consumed; and (ii) teachers will have to evolve from being a ‘sage on the stage’ to become mentors and coaches.
"However, we must not become over-confident that we know the future. We must stay on the ball every single day", concluded Mr Jain.