Values are Important!
As you are planning to setup your school on your own or join hands with a reputed brand – you must be comparing the various terms and conditions of different organizations. Most people tend to take the decision based on rational factors – such as initial franchise fee, ongoing royalties, term of the agreement, renewal charges (if any) and the support levels offered. Of course, that is the way to decide -but there is one more factor that most people tend to ignore, which is VERY important – and that is the values of the organization.
Values Create the Brand
Every organization has its own ethics and by joining any brand your school will also follow the same values in your school. For example, while choosing a bank for all your banking purposes, apart from the interest rates offered, you also look at your past experiences with the bank and values and ethics they follow to serve their customers – How quickly were your issues resolved? Did people go out of the way to accommodate special requests? Were there any hidden charges? Something similar happens when you set out to choose a brand to work with.
Short Term vs Long Term Gains
When you choose a franchise, the values of the Franchisor (brand) are very important for the durability of gains and profits. If the company is driven by short-term profitability, it will try and rip off you for every rupee through a number of “side” incomes and you would be asked to do the same with the parents, who enroll with you. An ethical franchisor on the other hand, would not try and extract every rupee from the franchisee and the parents. Being Ethical is not the same as “bad business” – it just means that the franchisor is willing to let go of short term profits as by leaving more money for the franchisee and giving parents “value for money”. This results in higher satisfaction levels among the franchisees and the parents resulting in robust long term growth.
Match your Values!
If you sign up with a brand whose values don’t match yours, you may get short-term profits but you will not get a guaranteed sound sleep. For example, you can be asked to overcharge parents for uniforms, books, annual functions, picnics, birthday celebrations, sports days. All this will result in short term profits but parents would grumble while paying. Similarly, you may be forced to pay for trainings, workshops, software, and be overcharged for uniforms, books, supplies, school setup vendors & equipment, furniture, renewal of the agreement and other types of support.
Our Values – A Long Term Vision
We, at SHEMROCK & SHEMFORD, take values very seriously, both for our children and ourselves. We believe that values are mostly ‘caught’ but can also be taught. Schools can play a big role in shaping the child’s character. We have designed and developed an intensive value-based programme for promoting core values such as — compassion, forgiveness, truthfulness, patience and cooperation, among our children. No parent asks for it; they ask for marks, all round development, confidence in speaking in public, English conversation skills. We do provide all these but all these are taught in a framework of Value- education.
Mr. Amol Arora, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, SHEMROCK & SHEMFORD Group of Schools says “Values are guiding principles that shape thoughts, attitudes and conduct of an individual for life. This moral compass helps us all distinguish between right and wrong in decision-making.”
School chains come and go because they make promises which they cannot live up to. But we, the SHEMROCK & SHEMFORD family, are willing to be patient and do the right things. Our first franchisee, we signed 22 years ago, knows how to run a school quite well. It is just the values we give for the ongoing royalties that makes them believe that they should stick with us.
The franchisees, whose values call for short term gains, get disappointed when we take action on hidden charges they try and extract from parents. If you are one of them, then we would definitely not be the right choice for you. But if you are looking for getting a decent return on your capital & time invested, while earning “social profit” for the good work you have done, then be assured that we (along with the brand power of Chhota Bheem!) are miles ahead of everything else you may be considering!
So, we hope you make the right decision and choose the right brand for your school, the one that matches your own Ethics & Values.