Who Makes a Great Bach to Rock Franchisee?
We’re looking for passionate and experienced music store franchise partners
Since we opened our first Bach to Rock school in Bethesda, MD, in 2007, we’ve been growing so quickly we’ve won awards — combined gross sales were more than $3 million by 2010, the year we started franchising, proving that the model is both profitable and scalable. By the end of 2020, Bach to Rock generated over $20 million in revenue.
Our franchises are typically run by leaders with strong backgrounds in management or business, who may also have a passion for music or childhood education. The investor-owner need not be a musician, but he or she does need the ability to build a team of energetic, dependable and committed musicians. The franchisee will play an important role in promoting the school to the community, which is the most important aspect of marketing a Bach to Rock school. That connection to the community will drive your business.
The day-to-day heavy lifting of the business will be done by a full-time school director, leaving the franchisee the ability to focus on more of the activities that generate sales and profitability. Because each school has a manager, franchisees are not shackled to a single location. The model was built from day one for franchisees who want to start with one school and eventually grow a chain, multiplying their income with each school they open.
“If you are passionate about music, this is a great fit,” says Wayne and Sue Chattaway, a husband and wife team who own a Bach to Rock school in Florida. “There are just so many other things you could do. We think that you will find the folks who do this, whether it be multi-unit or even single-unit operators, have a certain love for music and a certain love for kids.”
The Bach to Rock business model begins with a full-time director who runs the day-to-day operations of your school, including the hiring of professional musicians as part-time music instructors. As your school’s enrollment grows toward our target of 500 students or more, you will add more full-time support staff and hourly instructors. It’s important for a franchisee to have the ability to sell and promote, as well as a knack for managing people.
We look for franchisees who are outgoing and want to feel a more meaningful connection to their communities. Our franchisees need not be musicians themselves, but having a passion for music and for educating children will help you better relate to why Bach to Rock employees work as hard as they do.
“The ideal candidate is going to be an involved member of their community, and they’ll know people in the community — whether it’s civic, political or otherwise, because that really helps with business,” says Bach to Rock President Brian Gross. “They’ll have demonstrated success in managing something, whether that’s as vice president or president within a company or whether it’s their own business. They’ll have that whole understanding of P&Ls, plus staff management and those types of issues. They are going to be entrepreneurial but still want the guidance and advice and recommendations of a franchisor.”
Music store franchises: getting into the numbers
The typical investment necessary to open a Bach to Rock franchise is $241,500 – $440,000 and our franchise fee is $40,000.
Franchisees should have a net worth of at least $500,000 and a minimum liquidity of $100,000. A college education or business experience of at least five years is a must, and a background in finance or marketing is especially helpful. Of course, we’re still looking for that music-lover at heart.
“We’ve had businesspeople come to us who have been closet guitar players for 20 years,” says Ralph Rillon, Vice President of Franchise Development and Sales.
Sameer Patel, who built a school from the ground up in Bristow, VA & Fulton, MD, came to Bach to Rock as a Bach to Rock customer and the owner and administrator of a successful Montessori school. Sameer loved music as a child but has unpleasant memories of suffering through music lessons with an out-of-touch music teacher. He decided to invest in a Bach to Rock franchise after seeing his own children respond enthusiastically to the Bach to Rock approach to music.
“My positive impression of Bach to Rock comes from my personal experience as a parent and also from my professional experience as an early childhood educator,” Sameer says. “It also comes from my personal experience with being a musician. Bach to Rock brings me back to something that I really love — music. I also like the fact that Bach to Rock is a sustainable business. It’s rooted in an amenity for a specific community.”
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