Snapology: Learning Made Fun with the "Snap" of a LEGO

by Johanna Selmeczy, Staff Writer

Excited young voices bounce and bubble over each other, offering ideas for solving engineering problems while the ambient sound of plastic bricks clicking into place permeates the air. Learning, social development, and fun collide into educational play for children of all abilities using LEGO® bricks, K’Nex and other interactive mediums. This is the heart of Snapology, a franchise that has experienced tremendous growth ever since Laura Coe and her sister Lisa co-founded the company in 2010.

Humble beginnings:

Snapology began with a simple dilemma: Laura Coe’s eldest son, Sebastian, loved building with LEGO® bricks but was having trouble socializing with his peers. Coe wanted to find something that could help him build leadership skills and teamwork alongside his plastic-brick creations. She was also searching for a franchise to make her own, but was having trouble finding something that “fit.”

“It just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks, no pun intended,” Coe said. “I went to my sister, which was easy to do since we’re best friends… (then) we launched with a LEGO® robotics program in our local rec-center and I clearly wasn’t the only parent looking for this. It just took off and we’ve basically grown exponentially.”

Working in tandem, Coe and her sister each played to their strengths while shaping Snapology. While Coe handled the finance and operations side of the business, her sister took on marketing and sales. Together, they built a successful franchise centered on providing coding, robotics and S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art and math) programs to children of all abilities, ranging from gifted children to those with special needs.

“The foundation is that a lot of the kids that naturally gravitate towards lego bricks and those types of engineering toys are more introverted kids,” Coe explained. “So what we can do is we can give them that confidence because they built a really cool Star Wars ship or a lightsaber that stayed together because they engineered it properly. So you can give them this confidence that really extends through their lifetime.

“And that’s what I find for me, that’s why I’m in it, I just love to see the kids and hear the stories about how they’ve overcome a challenge or they’ve found their inner greatness or whatever. We can celebrate their differences and their challenges and give them something to really hang onto in terms of success.”

Two models:

As a previous franchisee, Coe knew franchising was a viable and lucrative option for Snapology as it continued to grow. In 2015, she decided to franchise and Snapology has since grown to 188 locations, 160 of which are currently open, across the United States.

Snapology features two potential business models for prospective franchisees to consider. The first is a “community-based” model, focused on bringing Snapology’s programs to schools, libraries, churches, rec-centers and community colleges. Without a brick and mortar establishment to maintain, this model is a more affordable investment.

On the other hand, prospective franchisees could pursue adding a physical discovery center to the mix, which opens the door for more programs, but requires a greater initial investment.

“We’ve got a phenomenal new membership program where kids are able to earn…stamps and they get all these rewards for getting different leadership skills and engineering skills and 3D design skills.” Coe said. “If you’ve got that brick and mortar you can bring the kids in and so obviously (there is) that financial opportunity. It’s a greater investment but the financial opportunity is greater as well, so we’ve got those two levels depending on the type of investor or the amount of risk that a particular person wants to take.”

The ideal Snapology franchisee:

Coe’s inspiration for Snapology stemmed from her children, and she finds that many parents make excellent franchisees. “We do find that parents kind of naturally have that passion, they naturally want to see their kids succeed and particularly if you have a child that’s like my children… you struggle a little bit more to sort of find their greatness and help them be comfortable in their own skin,” Coe elaborated. “And so we do find that a lot of our franchisees are moms and dads or even grandparents that really just want these programs in their area for their kids.”

It just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks, no pun intended.

However, non-parents can make stellar Snapology owners as well. “We do have owners that don’t necessarily have kids. They just get it.” Coe said. “They just understand the power in LEGO bricks, the power in educational play, and that we’re really making a difference in what these kids ultimately grow up (into).

“It’s really that passion and understanding, sort of the fundamentals of what we’re doing and how we’re trying to make great kids that really drives a great franchisee.”

Snapology has recently celebrated their one year anniversary with Unleashed Brands, a portfolio company that also features Urban Air, XP League, Class 101, Premier Martial Arts, and The Little Gym International. To learn more about Snapology, visit snapology.com or snapologyfranchising.com.

If you are interested in connecting with Snapology or other franchisors, contact us at yourdream@pillarsoffranchising. com.

Benefits of an emerging brand being bought out by a larger conglomerate.

• Access to executives and their teams

• Backup resources to aid when the smaller team is unable to handle demands

• More exposure to the franchisor as a larger brand can be focused on growing the overall franchise, while the franchisor has time to help individual franchisees grow their businesses

• Support from parent company’s CFO and accounting team on monthly financials

• Increased franchise development

• Access to better technology and systems

• Buying power due to being associated with the parent company

• Opportunities to work with other brands under the same umbrella organization

• Marketing dollars going further

• Cross-promotional opportunities

• Added level of comfort from the financial backing of larger company