Living Her Best Life

From student to tutor to franchise opportunity – all with NumberWorks’nWords

Brittany Yeo (above) has been involved with NumberWorks’nWords since she was a child – and she’s only 38 now. It’s hard to imagine a better example of the value that the franchise brings to people’s lives at all levels.

After 20 years in the classroom, Brittany’s dad Arthur felt he had done his dues and it was time to get out with his passion for education still intact. He looked round for new opportunities and, at the age of 11, Brittany found herself sitting next to him on the bus to Auckland to meet the team at NumberWorks’nWords.

‘I was struggling with arithmetic at the time, so while Dad talked business, I enjoyed myself with number games on the computer and doing an assessment,’ Brittany remembers. ‘I think seeing me so engaged was a further incentive for dad to buy the NumberWorks’nWords franchise for Palmerston North. I was his guinea pig!’

Arthur opened his first business, employing local university students as tutors, and Brittany became one of the first students. ‘As teachers themselves, Mum and Dad were very impressed at my progress – they have no doubts that I would never have got 75 percent in School Cert maths had it not been for my grounding at NumberWorks’nWords.’

The start of something big

Founded in New Zealand in 1984, NumberWorks’nWords tutoring centres deliver after-school maths and English extension and remediation lessons. With a strong record of delivering excellent results both for students and franchisees, the company has expanded to Australia and the UK. Franchisees run local centres, employing tutors (often university students) with a ratio of not more than four pupils to one teacher.

With the Palmerston North franchise going well, Arthur was so enthusiastic about what the kids were achieving that he’d often pack up Brittany and the computers and drive to Whanganui to run holiday courses. It led to the former teacher becoming the owner of multiple successful NumberWorks’nWords businesses across New Zealand.

Brittany grew with the business. ‘Most NumberWorks’nWords tutors are university students doing literacy or maths degrees who have the ability to relate to children while delivering programmes aligned to the New Zealand curriculum. But I began part-time tutoring as a teenager, and continued for five or six years during which I earned a Bachelor of Education degree at Massey University. Since then I’ve completed a Master of Counselling, as well.

‘Having tutors who may not be much older than the children they are working with is a real plus – kids really look up to them and, because the individualised programmes have lots of fun elements, they bond in ways that have them looking forward to their one-hour, one-on-one sessions.’

Back to the future

Perhaps not surprisingly, given her background, after university Brittany went into full-time teaching. ‘After two years, I left because I was so frustrated that I couldn’t give my pupils the individual attention they deserved. That was the incentive I needed to go on my OE to the UK for three years. In London, I mainly worked as a relief teacher until dad’s powers of persuasion had me returning to New Zealand first to manage and then eventually have the opportunity to become franchisee in Hamilton, a city I enjoy immensely.

‘Between Hamilton and Palmerston North we now have around 30 tutors and 527 five-to-fifteen year olds on our rolls. Interestingly, more than a few tutors do as I did and go on to become managers and even franchisees.’

Brittany is the first to agree that a NumberWorks’nWords franchise provides the opportunity for a financially-rewarding future but says that, for her dad, he was primarily motivated by his passion for educating young people in ways that recognise, respect and value them as individuals.

‘At NumberWorks’nWords, we can meet a child at whatever level they are at, and help them to reach their learning potential – and they can have fun doing it. This is nothing short of life-changing, and is a perfect match for dad’s ideals.’ F

or people passionate about education – not only teachers

While the Yeo family all have education backgrounds, the business model means that teaching experience is not necessary to become a NumberWorks’nWords franchisee, says CEO Sarah Simons. ‘If you have a passion for making a real difference to children’s lives and future career paths, this could be for you.

‘NumberWorks’nWords has both new and existing franchise opportunities throughout the country. An investment of around $100,000 +gst to set up a brand new centre includes teaching and business software, furniture, fitting out premises and computers, together with an exclusive territory. You need to be a people person and have the ability to run a young, enthusiastic team.

‘New franchisees receive extensive training in everything from business management to programme delivery, with assistance in tutor recruitment and opening marketing,’ Sarah continues. ‘There’s individual support, ongoing training, workshops, e-learning modules and a library of resources. To find out more, give us a call.’

Advertiser Info

NumberWorks'nWords

www.numberworksnwords.com

Contact Jo Powell

P 022 519 7632

franchising@numberworks.com

Kids have fun while learning with help from their tutor