Online education startup EduKart opens 25 franchisees to accelerate growth
EduKart.com is a venture of Education Valley, a talent development company headed by Ishan Gupta, the CEO and Mayank Gupta, the COO. In a recent development, EduKart decided to go the franchisee way and has now opened 25 offline franchises across the country in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Hubli, Lucknow, Varanasi, Mysore, Chiplun, Chandigarh and Kohima. Ishan says he decided to go the franchise way because in India, the purchasing decision is still made offline; though the product is online. So although students are ready to consume the product online, a physical presence gives them a feeling of reassurance.
EduKart.com helps students get degrees through online programs in MBA, MCA and BBA and certificate courses in areas of retail, finance, digital marketing, programming languages and project management. EduKart had marketed their franchising plans across India and that way attracted onboard 25 teams who were willing to take the brand to the next level. Anyone who wants to take an EduKart franchise needs to make an upfront investment to buy a franchise, the cost for which varies depending on location and situations. EduKart provides support in terms of branding for the store and material as to how to go about with operations. The franchise basically counsels students and provides information to potential students to enroll for courses.
One of the biggest challenges with a franchisee chain is to maintain uniformity, but being an online product this would not be much of a challenge for EduKart. The company will also be training the partners in order to ensure the franchises speak the same language as the mother brand. “Training is very important to make the model work,” says Ishan. EduKart is supported by a group of early stage investors and has a 20+ member team based in Delhi.
