Page 98 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)
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THE FRANCHISE
Strategy #5 But while the company’s progress appeared modest from the out-
Strengthen your core before expanding your units side, under the hood Snapology was building a massive engine. Coe
Company hired a team of writers, robotics experts, engineers, architects, and
Snapology a “master builder” to design LEGO builds. Over time, they created
a curriculum of more than 40 birthday party guides and 70 educa-
Franchise 500 Placement
tional programs, each with a unique lesson plan, ranging from six
Unranked last year; #230 this year
to 15 hours. “Whoever has the best curriculum at the end of the day
wins in this industry,” says Coe.
By 2017, the pieces had come together, and Coe decided that
know exactly what it’s like to be a franchisee,” says Laura Coe, Snapology’s infrastructure was finally sound enough to support
co-owner of Snapology. Before she launched the company, faster growth. So she stomped on the accelerator. She sold a mas-
I which offers STEAM and robotics courses, Coe ran both a ter unit in China (and later one in Australia), while domestically, she
residential cleaning franchise and a senior-care franchise. The hired a new franchise developer to onboard more franchisees. At
experiences left her burned out. “With one, if I had a question, there the same time, Snapology began boosting its profile with heavy SEO
was no one to call,” she says. “There was no support with marketing investments, which ultimately led to a boost in organic leads.
and sales, and no real guidance on hiring people. Essentially, I had a In 2018, Snapology opened a record 19 franchise units, and in
few days of training, and then I was on my own.” addition to a handful of international units, it opened 26 more in
So when Coe launched Snapology with her sister in 2010, she vowed 2019. To make sure new franchisees are properly supported, Coe
to always support her franchisees. Before franchising, the company assigns them a digital marketing director and a marketing analyst,
spent five years building its core product: a robust curriculum. And who spend six months helping build out a tailored social media cam-
when it finally did franchise, it moved at a careful pace of 10 to 12 units paign with videos, blogs, and optimized SEO. “We’re proud of the
per year. “We grew slowly the first few years to make sure we had the support we give our franchisees,” says Coe. “I believe it shows our
infrastructure in place to support our franchisees fully,” says Coe. dedication to their success.” And when they win, so does Snapology.
