Help Kiwi Kids Get Ahead

Alison England and Chelsea Lyons: ‘We’d absolutely do it all over again’

NumberWorks’nWords is the perfect business for passionate mother and daughter team

Alison England found NumberWorks’nWords when, as a frustrated schoolteacher, she was looking for external support for her students. ‘Unfortunately, our education system isn’t able to keep up with resourcing for students who need a little extra help to get ahead,’ she says.

NumberWorks’nWords after-school maths and English extension and remediation lessons provide individual, tailored support for students. Alison loved teaching but realised that if she was ever going to leave and build something of her own, the franchise offered the ideal opportunity. After working alongside the NumberWorks’nWords team for a few months, she decided to open her own centre in Henderson in 2008.

Alison’s daughter Chelsea discovered her own passion for children and learning while working in her mum’s centre as a university student. In 2020, they sold that first business and opened a new centre together as equal partners. ‘It started as succession planning,’ Alison explains. ‘Once Chelsea decided she loved the work, she started to get more involved in the business.’

The mother-and-daughter team have been so successful, they were recognised as finalists for Franchisee of the Year in the Home & Lifestyle category at the 2022 Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards.

Perfect partnership

Job-sharing works well for the pair: Chelsea has two young children and is able to keep momentum in her career without sacrificing family time, while Alison can start reducing her commitments as she looks towards retirement. ‘I love knowing Chelsea is set up in her own business with plenty of opportunity for growth and good support.’

Their Northwest centre is the largest in New Zealand, with 27 well-trained part-time tutors and over 400 lessons delivered every week. How have they grown so big? ‘We’re not marketing specialists, but we don’t have to be because the franchise handles a lot of that for us. Instead, we focus on building relationships and being a part of our community, which leads to a lot of word-of-mouth referrals.

‘No matter where they live, people want better opportunities for their kids, and will spend their hard-earned money to give them the best chance to learn. They trust us to help. We’re always communicating, reassessing students and checking in with their progress at school. Even during lockdown, we provided online tuition and kept students engaged. Our parents were really grateful to have someone else to supervise their kids’ learning for a few hours a week.’

Everything you need

Alison and Chelsea firmly believe in the value of a good franchise system and NumberWorks’nWords has been recognised as one of the country’s best, being a finalist for Home & Lifestyle Franchise System of the Year.

‘Being part of the franchise is gold,’ Alison says. ‘If you’ve done your research and chosen to go into a franchise, you have to trust the model. The system is what we pay for, and it works really well – why would we try to change it?

‘One of the most frustrating things about teaching can be keeping up with curriculum changes. NumberWorks’nWords keeps everything updated for us so we have the time and energy to invest in individual programme planning to help each child reach their true potential. There’s lots of other support too, in everything from software development and training tutors to business management. We love what we do and we’d absolutely do it all over again.

‘Sometimes, as a teacher, you look back and wonder how many kids you really made a difference for. This closer work is so fulfilling – you get to watch the breakthroughs and see kids’ lives change. There’s a real need for the service we provide, and the franchise provides everything you need to be successful.’ alison england and chelsea lyons: ‘we’d absolutely do it all over again’

Not just for teachers

NumberWorks’nWords is looking to open new centres throughout New Zealand. The investment of around $100,000 +gst includes full training, as well as teaching and business software, furniture, fitting-out premises and computers.

CEO Sarah Simons says, ‘New franchisees don’t necessarily need a teaching background – we have successful franchisees from all walks of life. What we look for is strength in relationship building, being open to learning, having business acumen and passion for helping Kiwi kids reach their potential. If that’s you, contact us now.’

Advertiser Info

NumberWorks’nWords

www.numberworksnwords.com

Contact Jo Powell

P 022 519 7632

franchising@numberworks.com