Kindergarten Meets Big Business

连锁幼儿园

Anchor
The growing demand for quality pre-school and daycare is creating new business opportunities. Enter Primrose, a pre-school franchise, which expects to double the number of centers in the next five years.

主播
人们对优质学龄前教育和日托的日益增长的需求，给这个行业带来新的商机。预计在今后五年中，参加到Primrose（迎春花）学龄前学校连锁中心的数目将增加一倍。

Reporter
It’s 7 am at the Primrose school in Suwanee, Georgia. Busy parents bustle in to drop off their children. Sabrina, the director, greets her pint-sized customers at the door. Inside, kids settle in and get ready for their own busy day. Here the business of marching, eating, singing, painting and guessing the animals is pre-planned and structured. Primrose is a pre-school slash childcare franchise serving children from 6 weeks to 5 years old. There’s an after-school program for kids in grade school and s summer camps as well. Every detail of running the school, from the building, to the staffing, to the songs and games is written into a business operating system, a model similar to Jiffy Lube of McDonald’s.

记者
早上7点钟，在佐治亚州苏莞尼的迎春花学校，行色匆匆的父母们急急忙忙来学校送孩子。校长塞布丽娜正在大门口迎接小客人们。孩子们在校内安顿下来，准备开始自己忙碌的一天。这儿所做的齐步走、饮食、唱歌、绘画和猜动物名等事情都是事先计划好的，并且井井有条。迎春花是一所一举成名的学前教育连锁学校，招收从6周到5岁的孩子。这儿还有为小学生服务的课后项目和一个暑假夏令营。学校管理的所有细节，从校舍到员工雇用，到歌曲和游戏都纳入了经营管理系统，如同Jiffy Lube（吉飞润滑油）和麦当劳的模式。

Jo Kirchner, CEO, Primrose School Franchising Co.
We are cautious about using McDonald’s as a reference, because we are talking about children, not hamburgers and pickles and onions. But yes, it’s a proven business operating model, with a system in place, a curriculum in place, marketing in place. Every aspect of the business is packaged for the franchisee. It’s like a recipe.
乔·基尔希纳，迎春花学校连锁公司CEO
我们在参照麦当劳的模式的时候很注意，因为我们现在谈论的是孩子，而不是汉堡包、泡菜和洋葱。但是，是的，它已经被证明是成功的商业经营模式，有一套系统、课程和市场推广的办法。对于连锁经营商来说，这项事业的各个方面很完整。它就像是一张处方。

Reporter
Primrose, an 85-million-dollar company, has opened 100 schools so far, each exactly like the other. Franchisees buy the business and real estate with about 200,000 dollars down, a total investment of 2 million dollars. They are primarily business people, who manage the schools according to a detailed curriculum and business plan. Each franchisee hires an educator to run the programs, but lesson plans, craft ideas, and menus are all available online.
迎春花公司的价值8500万美元，目前已经有100所分校开张，所有的分校都一样。参与投资经营的投资商花不到20万美元的首期款购买经营权和房产，总投资达200万美元。他们基本上是生意人，主要根据周密的课程设置和经营计划来管理学校。每个分校聘请一位教育专家来负责经营学校，而课程计划、手工活课程和配餐菜单通过互联网获取。

Don Nelson, Franchisee, Primrose School
I feel more comfortable with that than anything else, because questions may come up, that if you need an answer, you can go and research it in there, and help find any answer to help you operate the schools.
唐·纳尔逊，迎春花分校经营商
我觉得它比其他任何东西都方便，因为会出现各种问题，如果你需要答案，你就能在网上找到，它帮助你找到管理学校的答案。

Reporter
Don Nelson has a background in corporate retails. Since 1995, he and his wife Helen have acquired 3 schools, and are about to open a fourth.

记者
唐·纳尔逊有经营零售公司方面的经验。自1995年，他和夫人海伦已经开办了三所学校，而且第四所学校也准备开张了。

Jo Kirchner
Sixty percent of our franchisees own two or more schools. But in order to be successful, they have to follow the system as in any franchise. The franchisee can expect on that typical operating model to have approximately a 10% return. But we have many schools that will do more than that, even in the range of 15%. We are not the richest people in the world, but on the other hand, we make a comfortable living.
乔·基尔希纳
我们60%的特许经营商拥有两个以上的学校。但是要成功，他们就得遵循连锁经营的模式。特许经营商期望典型的经营模式能够还来大约10%的收益。但是我们有许多学校大大超过了10%，甚至达到了15%。我们不是世界上的最富有的人，但是我们生活舒适。

Reporter
The Primrose curriculum was developed by founders Paul and Maxim Erwin after 20 years of trying and error. They arrived at what they call a balanced approach, a highly structured mix of learning and play.

记者
迎春花的主要课程由创始人保罗和马克西姆·欧文经过20多年的摸索和失败而设置的。他们总结的所谓平衡理念，是一个教学与娱乐高度结合的体系。

Jo Kirchner
Children strive in structure. They love structure. They like to know what’s gonna happen next. And they like repetition. Children’s self-esteem flourishes when they repeat and repeat and repeat something and they get better and better and better at it.
乔·基尔希纳
孩子们在这个体系中奋斗。他们喜欢这种体系，他们想知道下面将发生的事情，他们喜欢重复。当孩子们不断重复干某个事情，而且越干越好的时候，他们的自尊心就会大大提升。