How women from all walks of life have started their entrepreneurship journey, thanks to EuroKids franchises

Over the past few years, India has recorded a steady growth in women entrepreneurship. According to a report on women entrepreneurship in urban India by Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and Facebook, India can likely have around nine lakh new women entrepreneurs by 2025 in food and education sectors combined, where women are present in larger numbers as employees as well as entrepreneurs. This is largely due to key interventions by the government and several established organisations to instill entrepreneurial skills and mindset, provide financial support and market linkages. While this seems like a recent discovery, EuroKids, a brand synonymous with early childhood education, has been at the forefront of driving women entrepreneurship in the country for the last two decades through their franchise preschools. Building a franchise landscape for women edupreneurs Established in 2001, EuroKids has been focused on redefining early child care education by providing a fun-based and engaging learning environment. In line with this objective, they are successfully building an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in the country to begin their journey as ‘edupreneurs’. Since the very beginning, it was a mandate that their franchise preschools must be run by women entrepreneurs. About 90 percent of EuroKids franchise partners are women from different walks of life and different parts of the country - working professionals, homemakers, women returning after maternity break, retired academicians, preschool teachers and so on. EuroKids not only provides entrepreneurship opportunities, but also employment opportunities at their preschools in roles such as teaching, housekeeping, administration, etc. “I've been working in the preschool industry for 9 years. I decided to join EuroKids 6 years back and I've had a good experience. I help transport kids to and from the preschool, ensure they are taken care of and at times, sing to keep them happy. Although I've worked as a van caretaker earlier, engaging with younger kids is more satisfactory. I love my job and my journey at EuroKids has made me self-sufficient," says Rajni Golatkar, Van Caretaker, EuroKids Franchise, Chembur, Mumbai. A perfect launch pad to start up EuroKids now has 1000+ women entrepreneurs running around 1,100 franchises across the country. What makes it an ideal platform for women who have never experienced running a business is the hand-held approach it offers. EuroKids walks alongside their franchises in the initial years of their business set up. They help them operate a pre-school franchise through a formal induction to understand finer aspects of the business like product, pedagogy, enquiry handling and parent-relationship management. Dr. Santoshi Singh who runs a EuroKids Franchise in Bengaluru says, "Being the daughter of a school principal, I inherited a passion for education. However, I had no sense of running a business. EuroKids filled in the gaps and empowered me with the skills required to kickstart and grow my own franchise. Today, I have translated the EuroKids culture into my centre and it has helped me boost parent communication, collaboration and business performance." Reena Parikh, another franchise partner from Baroda, transitioned from a career in microbiology to microteaching when she started EuroKids 13 years ago. "The main reason I chose EuroKids is because of its innovative ideology that involved a systematic and structured curriculum. It set a new benchmark in the quality of preschool education,” she says. Dr. Santoshi and Reena are just a few among the hundreds of women who have benefited from EuroKids’ Edge 360 franchise support program that provides infrastructure and ambience design, equipment and teaching aids, researched curriculum, teacher training and assessment, marketing and operational support, collateral-free financing, lead management support, awards and recognition, to help you launch your preschool. Future plans for womenpreneurs With 1,100 preschools in 350 plus cities, nurturing the lives of 300000+ children and having won more than 25 awards, EuroKids is one of the preferred preschool franchise partners across the country. If you're someone who loves working with children and has an entrepreneurial mindset, come partner with EuroKids today to start your own preschool in your city. Know more here.