Australia is a prime market for the Tutor Doctor franchise with incredible growth potential. To expand awareness about the Australia market, this month we’re shifting the spotlight to Australian Franchisee, Alison Hope, and Greg Sweeney, Tutor Doctor’s Franchise Development Director for Australia. Read on as they explain why the Tutor Doctor educational franchise opportunity is not like other concepts!

Meet Alison Hope, a busy mum of three and successful Tutor Doctor franchisee. Alison is located in Penrith, NSW. Before Tutor Doctor, Alison was a franchisee in another industry, renting out household goods. She successfully ran her franchise for 15 years, being a franchisee as well as having a master franchise. She was also a part of the training team for new and established franchisees.

“I loved everything about franchising, and while it was a great business, it wasn’t as rewarding for me as now being involved in education, and playing a part in making such a positive difference to so many students’ futures,” says Alison.

One day, Alison decided she wanted to buy into another franchise because she had such a positive experience in the industry, but she was looking for something that was home-based to fit in with her family. Something that would give her flexibility around her three children. “When I started [Tutor Doctor], my youngest was not at school yet.”

Making a Difference in Education

Alison says she is motivated every day by making a difference in children’s and in some cases, adults’ education. Hearing the positive feedback about the amazing things her team of tutors is doing during sessions is very rewarding for her. “I also take pride in setting an example to my three daughters of what women in business can achieve.”

As far as challenges...there have been some. “It has been challenging balancing a busy family life with a business that grew quicker than anticipated. I couldn’t be happier, but it’s a constant balancing act which I am continually fine-tuning.”

The Most Rewarding Part

While keeping up with her tutoring business’ growth has been a balancing act, the rewards definitely outweigh the growing pains. “I have felt very proud of achieving Tutor Doctor's benchmarks ahead of time and then achieving my own higher goals ahead of time, which allowed me to set more ambitious goals to strive for.

“I have also found great pleasure seeing how many amazing young people have joined my team of tutors. The dedication and passion my tutors have for helping others succeed and achieve their goals is inspiring,” she says.

What it Takes to Succeed with Tutor Doctor

Alison says you need to be self-motivated and willing to follow a system to succeed with Tutor Doctor. She explains how Tutor Doctor has an “amazing system that has proven to work in so many countries around the world.” The franchisees will provide the training and support, but franchisees need to follow that training and accept the support, she says.

“Ultimately, all the training and support will not mean a thing if you don't push yourself out of your comfort zone and put in the work in each area of the business,” she says. “Family support has been huge for me too. An understanding and supportive husband and children has allowed me to put the time in to get my business off the ground.”

Australia Has Incredible Growth Potential

According to Greg Sweeney, the Franchise Development Director for Australia, there are a number of reasons why the country has so much growth potential for the Tutor Doctor franchise. For starters, a very large percentage of Australia’s population is middle class and with the Tutor Doctor’s reasonable start up costs it means the franchise is within budget for many people.

Greg went on to explain how the rent and staff costs are quite high in Australia, and since  Tutor Doctor is a home-based business, franchisees don’t have to worry about paying rent, and Tutoring packages are pre-purchased by clients. As a result, up-front staff/Tutor costs are minimal – those are big draws. “The Tutor Doctor  model works well in Australia because your overhead is reasonable.”

According to Greg, the tutoring market in Australia is exploding. There’s a lot of demand for tutoring, but people don’t know where to go. There’s quite a number of learning centers where people take their kids into a group situation, but home tutoring is different.  While there is competition, there’s nobody like Tutor Doctor.

Australia is a Huge Market for Tutor Doctor

Greg pointed out how Australia is affluent and multi-cultural; therefore, many immigrants are drawn to the country. “There’s a lot of people desiring to live here, especially from Asia, and the Asian people really believe in tutoring – that’s a huge market for us. They really believe in investing in their kids.”

“We only have 14 territories sold in Australia, and we should be about a similar size as Canada – about 100. So, there are a lot of opportunities,” he says.