Q&A: Mathnasium Moving into Romania

Name: Dana Bănică

Title: Managing Director and Master Franchisee

Brands: Logiscool, Mathnasium

Units: 60 Logiscool

Countries: Romania

Years in franchising: 6

Why did you decide to acquire a master franchise for your country? I believe in both education and franchising, so choosing a master franchise in the field of children's education was a natural option for me. I had great success with the initial expansion of Logiscool in Romania, which offered digital education to kids, from 2018 to 2020. We had already opened more than 30 locations and reached almost 10,000 students nationwide. Mathnasium is the best international franchise available for teaching mathematics to kids in my opinion, and I am very much looking forward to the challenge.

Becoming a master franchisor with Mathnasium will allow me to grow the Mathnasium brand, helping entrepreneurs like myself open Mathnasium locations across the country. I know I will be receiving all the training and marketing support I need to provide comprehensive support to my future franchise owners. Not only does Mathnasium's proven business model, which is based on multiple recurring revenue streams, offer a wonderful opportunity for success and growth potential, it also has the ability to make a difference in children's lives across Romania.

With more than 1,100 locations around the world, Mathnasium's reputation and pedigree will help me without a doubt to recruit entrepreneurs throughout the country. As an affordable concept with a low initial investment and tremendous unit-level economics, I plan to ramp up quickly and grow Mathnasium in Romania.

What makes Romania a prime location for an education franchise? Romania's economy has experienced a continuous and steady development—it's one of the fastest growing economies in the EU—and, culturally, the education of our children has always been paramount. When it comes to getting targeted math instruction, Mathnasium and the Mathnasium Method stand apart from private tutoring in the quality of the curriculum and personalized approach.

What benefits do you see in being the master franchisee for your country? I look forward to bringing the Mathnasium centers to all the big cities in Romania, starting with Bucharest, January 2025. Introducing an established brand to a new market is not only a good business opportunity, but also brings value to the community. The Mathnasium mission will allow me and future franchisees around the country to create powerful experiences for Romanian kids. By helping a struggling student who is falling behind in math or empowering an advanced student to dream even bigger, I am confident that we will make a big difference for kids, parents, teachers, and the communities we will serve.

As an international investor, what was the process of finding and acquiring the rights for this franchise? Mathnasium actually approached me. They had noticed Logiscool's growth in Romania and, by default, the opportunity of this market. I got curious, and as it was also time for me to start thinking of additional products and projects, I welcomed Mathnasium information and interest. Mathnasium's team was a very open book and organized with the information they shared. As I love math, I saw that Mathnasium's methodology and its industry-leading franchise model were a good match for me. I guess with my experience and team in place, I was the right profile for Mathnasium too. Mathnasium's recruiting process was very structured and an effective two-way information exchange. They anticipated and responded to all my questions. Throughout the recruiting journey, I got to speak with each corporate department, interviewed existing international master franchisees, visited some centers (London, UK), met the franchise team at the Franchise Expo Paris, and finished the process by presenting my business plan to the executive team at Mathnasium home office in Los Angeles. It was very thorough, and I cannot wait to get started.

Describe the type and level of support you are receiving from your franchisor in establishing this franchise in your country. For the past couple of months, we have started working on localizing the curriculum to the country's syllabus and translating the education materials as the kids will learn in Romanian. It is a very big project as we are going through thousands of pages, and the support of the Mathnasium international educational department in the process is excellent. You can see their experience and attention to details. The operations manual is excellent and well structured. The sharing of best practices, training paths, and videos is very helpful.

How do you plan to expand across your country? The first centers will be opened in Bucharest in order to establish the localized methodologies and start building up the operations base. By introducing the brand locally and finding the best channels to communicate with our clients, we will then be in a good position to move toward franchising and finding the right partners to build and operate their own centers in all the cities with populations of more than 100,000.