The swim school franchise’s proprietary enterprise system puts the entire management platform in the cloud so owners can operate successful pools without needing a daily presence and parents can easily schedule lessons.

Since launching in 2009, Big Blue Swim School’s mission-driven business model has leveraged its proprietary technology to help create big, life-changing moments for kids and families. The  brand’s proprietary enterprise system, LessonBuddy™ offers both franchise partners and families access to a platform that is technologically superior to that of the competition. Their unique platform is one of the reasons Big Blue Swim School has become a market leader in an underserved and fragmented swim school industry valued at $3 billion annually. 

“Big Blue is disrupting the swim school space with its cloud-based enterprise system that is designed to deliver a best-in-class swim lesson experience for our families while also providing real-time information for our associates and franchise partners,” said Chief Technology Officer Casey Morford. “We’re able to unite the most important functions of our business model into one in-house technology system, which is impossible to find with a third-party platform.”

LessonBuddy allows franchise partners to manage their day-to-day business through dashboards and KPIs, for total transparency in terms of ROI and the overall health of the business.

“Our proprietary, cloud-based ERP allows us to run a high-scale, high-margin model at a market price point,” said CEO Chris Kenny. “There are also components available to facilitate the day-to-day operations, such as staff and resource scheduling, reporting and CRM optimization.”

Streamlining operations is just one of LessonBuddy’s many benefits. “The power of Big Blue’s enterprise system is securely available anywhere there is an internet connection,” said Morford. “The beauty of having a cloud-based platform is that our consumer data and analytics are centrally stored and analyzed, which gives our franchise partners intelligence to help them make important business decisions on the spot.” 

In turn, as a franchisor, Big Blue also receives a birds-eye view into the data, allowing the team to identify trends and spot patterns that can be relayed across the entire system for the brand’s greater success.

“Every 30 minutes, we receive progression data about students and how they are performing in the pool,” said Justin Waltz, Vice President of Franchise Operations. “Big Blue uses that data to modify staffing levels to make sure we are hitting our goals every day of the week and that kids are also hitting their swim goals.”

The cloud-based technology of LessonBuddy is one of the many reasons the Big Blue investment opportunity is ideal for multi-unit and semi-absentee franchise partners looking to maximize their time and their capital. “LessonBuddy helps semi-absentee owners operate successful pools without being on-site every day,” said Kenny.

Big Blue’s LessonBuddy platform also includes easy integration with other cloud-based applications. This integration-forward approach ensures the brand is able to adapt and scale the technology platform to accommodate future market trends and the needs of franchise partners as they grow. 

“We are a software company as well as a swim lesson company,” said Kenny. “Franchise owners can be intimidated by the need to build a tech stack, but unlike other franchisors, Big Blue supplies a proven, turnkey solution with LessonBuddy. We cover two percent of the tech fees, while the franchise partner covers the other two percent, allowing us to dominate with a combined investment to maximize profitability.”

While other franchisors use a third-party vendor to manage technology platforms, Big Blue’s in-house proprietary enterprise system gives franchise partners access to an unprecedented depth of consumer data and analytics. “If a brand’s quality of operations and customer experience is dependent on a third-party provider’s roadmap, it is much harder to execute an effective technology strategy or differentiate from the competition,” said Kenny.

On the consumer-facing side, LessonBuddy allows families to schedule and reschedule lessons easily with the touch of a button on their smartphone or tablet.

“Scheduling can be a complicated and stressful process for parents, especially if they’re trying to schedule lessons for multiple children at the same time,” said Morford. “In addition to our optimized pool capacity planning, LessonBuddy helps overcome these challenges by creating the ability to schedule any number of students at the same time in just a few clicks, without complicated spreadsheets or calendars.”

A cloud-based technology platform means that Big Blue’s base features are uniform across each type of user and customer. “While we may tailor the user experience for a family or an internal user, a uniform, cloud-based process makes the experience better whether they’re at the pool, on the phone or on our website using our self-service portal,” said Morford.

This focus on technology, which is rare in the swim school segment, combined with a best-in-class program, strong board of directors, a targeted growth model, and data-driven real estate selection, explains why Big Blue is well on its way to meeting its goal of growing to 150 units sold by 2021. 

Multi-unit opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big opportunity, and veterans can receive a 10 percent discount on the $75,000 franchise fee. The total investment for one Big Blue Swim School ranges from $1,825,500 to $3,687,000 (refer to item 7 in FDD). To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.