TESTIMONIALS

“The Reasons Why I Expanded to 4 Locations!”

I am very honored to receive Eye Level Franchisee Excellence Award 2 years in a row considering that we have been in business for only 2 years. Every time I visit Korea, I am amazed and excited to see how Korea is changing and improving year over year. With the same token, I am very happy to see Daekyo doing the same, actively listening to the needs of the franchisees and dynamically improving the offerings and services year over year. Re-branding to Eye Level, standardization of learning centers and the launch of Play Math, just to name a few.As a franchisee myself, I am seeing tremendous business opportunity in the enrichment and early education industry in the US. And now, more than ever before, we are very well positioned to take market share provided we continue executing on our strategy of offering a highly differentiated learning program, creating a profitable business model for the franchisee and delivering high customer satisfaction.

I firmly believe the future of Eye Level is very bright and that is why I have expanded my centers quickly to 4 locations to capture this opportunity.

Again, I extend my sincere appreciation for the award and your warm hospitality, and truly wish to visit Korea again in 2014.

Luke Lee

Eye Level Bridgewater

New Jersey, USA

“Eight Key Points to Owning an Eye Level Center.”

Jayashri Yamunan’s extensive research on educational franchises ended up being a valuable investment that paid huge dividends to her long-term success.

“Prior to making my decision to franchising with Eye Level, I researched a number of different after-school programs for almost two years,” said Yamunan. “Eye Level provided a customizable curriculum and also developed critical thinking abilities which are much needed for a comprehensive learning program. These factors, along with the various tools, techniques in testing, and active listening program convinced me to choose Eye Level.”

Yamunan owns two centers in New Jersey (Piscataway South and Edison North) and attributes her continued success to the environment she creates. Both centers positively emphasize performance and encourage development of greater study skills by making sure every child efficiently uses the time in the center. Yamunan also mentions the support received from the corporate office has always been positive and responsive.

There are eight key points that Yamunan believes directly influences her center’s successes:

1. We always focus on the quality, never on the results, with the firm belief that quality will yield success.
2. We take time to talk to parents, since their views on the Center and the program are very important to us.
3. Parent orientation meetings and the diagnostic tests at our Center are comprehensive and productive.
4. We use all the supplemental materials of Eye Level.
5. We ensure that the students master the levels proficiently and the results and improvements are recorded in the progress charts for sharing with parents.
6. We keep the motivational level of the students high with performance award prizes. We maintain a balanced instructor to student ratio.
7. We believe in an open door policy and encourage parent instructor interaction.

Piscataway – South

Address : 1258 Stelton Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854

Homepage : www.eyelevelpiscatawaysouth.com

Tel : 848-202-9111

Center hours : Monday – Friday 5:00pm – 8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am – 2:00pm

Edison North - Coming Soon!

“Kids Like Critical Thinking Math Sessions the Most!”

Eye Level Frisco East learning center has been running successfully from the beginning since I opened it in July 2012. Most of the parents are highly satisfied with Eye Level program. Kids like Critical thinking math sessions the most and parents have testified that the sessions helped enhance their children’s thinking ability beyond their grade level. Overall, we are very satisfied and would recommend Eye Level to new franchisees so that children across the nation can benefit from Eye Level program.

Vinotha Srinivas
Dallas, Texas, USA

Wong Foong Mang

Eye Level Sri Gombak (2013)

“Best of all, it can be as rewarding as corporate world if not more.”

My partnership was introduced to Eye Level by one of our ex-colleagues who bought over an Eye Level center in PJ. I was particularly attracted to Eye Level's emphasis on self-directed learning and critical thinking which I found lacking in the staff that I had recruited in my 16 years in corporate world, most of whom expected spoon-feeding and excessive guidance even when they were in managerial capacity. Knowing that it's hard to change adults, I decided to turn my attention to kids and found my match in Eye Level ie a foundation building program with strong emphasis on self-directed learning and critical thinking.

I enjoy the working hours most. My partnership owns 3 centers but we work only 21 hours a week, starting our week on Thursday evening & ending on Sunday evening which means I'm free from Monday to Thursday morning to pursue my other interests in life. Best of all, it can be as rewarding as corporate world if not more, once you build a good student base despite the limited time spent at work, and this is all without the usual stress that comes with climbing the corporate ladder.

Sri Gombak is my partnership's third center set up last year in 2013 and by far, the most successful as it copied all proven formula from our earlier two centers and avoided all the pitfalls. Our choice of location and premises despite its relatively high rental would not have been the same without the rather costly lessons that we learnt from such choices made for our earlier two centers.

The management was generous with business incentive. Sri Gombak center managed to fund a lot of its business expenses from the incentives awarded by Daekyo Malaysia for its steep growth. We have continuously helped in our small way to expand brand awareness in our area of business, namely through truck roadshows - thanks to the rather impressive truck that Daekyo Malaysia has invested in.

With continuous branding awareness and improvement in quality of learning, I hope our centers will become the first choice education provider for almost all households in our areas of business.

Jolene Chan

Eye Level Kuchai Entrepreneur’s Park (2014)

“What I like most about being an Eye Level franchisee……Kids and flexible hours!”

My nieces and nephews attended Eye Level programme when they were young. I was attracted by the colourful workbooks and those fun comic pages from the booklets since years back. Critical Thinking Math also caught my attention. My passion of teaching young children grew after I spoke to one of my friends who started her Eye Level Learning Centre four years ago. Seeing the tremendous progress and the big improvement that my nieces and nephews have, it prompted me to speak to Daekyo Malaysia and here I am, I started my very own Eye Level Learning Centre at Kuchai Entrepreneurs' Park!

What I like most about being an Eye Level franchisee are kids and flexible hours!Seeing kids daily makes me feel younger and cheerful. Previously in my years in the hotel industry, I worked 10 hours a day! Being an Eye Level franchisee, there’s flexibility to operate only four days in a week with minimum of four hours a day. Apart from this, I also enjoy attending the various trainings which I personally find very useful and practical.

Lack of teaching experience is one of my challenges when I had my first few students initially. I must express my appreciation to the training team of Daekyo Malaysiaand my Area Manager whohave given me "tips" in handling difficult students, supporting me by visiting my centre every now and then to ensure my smooth operation. I also faced challenges in getting new students but marketing efforts such as flyers distribution to schools, collaborating with kindergartens as well as making use of our Eye Level mobile truck to promote my centre have proven fruitful.

I am proud and glad to have Daekyo Malaysia as my management. They have given me support in various dimensions through trainings, IT support, marketing ideas and launching different kinds of promotions in order to entice new parents. From my end, I strongly believe that fostering a strong instructor/parents relationships is vital to sustain our business. I also work very closely with art and music centers as well as day care centersto further promote Eye Level programmes.

For the upcoming years, my aim is to transform my centre to be the preferred learning centre among all the other child enrichment centres in my area. I believe that my constant enforcement in self-directed learning method would definitely help in achieving positive and independent attitude to my students.

Coming from the hotel service industry, I have always equipped myself with warm hospitality, close follow up with parents as well as providing them constant feedback on students' performance throughout the year. Strong and close parents-instructor rapport which I have built is the main contributor to my steady and realistic growth in terms of subject count in the past 12 months. With this, I am proud to set my centre aside from the rest by not only having a steady enrolment throughout the year but also a centre that have very minimal dropped ratio. It is my hope that my centre could continue to maintain the current retention rate and continue to have a steady growth for the next couple of years.

Satine Lim

Eye Level Subang Bestari (2014)

“What I like most about being an Eye Level franchisee is the simple, easy and effective business system.”

When I was younger, I wanted to become my own boss or a business owner. I wished to be involved in something that can bring goodwill to our society. With that aim, I ventured in financial consulting for the past 10 years. As I grew older, I became interested in children related business. My cousins who have been with Eye Level since 2006 have improved in their math skills. They also possess a very positive attitude in problem solving. Eye Level then came into my mind as I started exploring business ventures. I love children and I believe every child deserve a bright future. Education is the main key for children to achieve their goals and to be able to contribute back to the society. With Eye Level’s proven education system and market experience, I believe I could obtain guidance to run my own business although I didn’t have any experience in running a children enrichment center.

What I like most about being an Eye Level franchisee is the simple, easy and effective business system. I have no doubt on the effectiveness of Eye Level programs. After I attended the Eye Level Business Orientation, I was amazed with the successful franchisees in Malaysia. They have been proven role models to me.

The possibility of having 300, 200 or even 100 students is possible. Eye Level provides professional advice from setting up the center to center marketing and operations. Trainings are ongoing and they have been useful in equipping new franchisee as a successful entrepreneur as well as a center instructor.

In first few months, I think the major challenges were how to promote my center to my area and how to spread the word that a good learning system is available in my area. I hung banner and distributed flyers. As a result, I received positive response from the parents of my area.

I am touched with the support that HQ has shown to me. We have our own assigned Area Manager, routine meetings and the eyelevelfamily web portal to stay in touch with one another.

I am the key to making my center successful and to ensure more children are reaping the benefits of Eye Level programs. With the company’s direction towards the Self-Directed Learning concept and Blended Learning system, I strongly believe that my center will be the first choice for parents in my area.

What sets me apart from other franchisees is that my center’s constant monitoring on our students’ progress and ongoing consultation with parents.

Anyone can be a franchise business owner. I always put myself in a child’s shoes when I am in class with my students. Think like them, feel like them. Be fun, friendly and energetic to the students. When it comes to parents, I will be the key person to communicate with them on their children’s behaviour in class and learning progress.

To those who are interested to take up the Eye Level franchise business, do not say Yes or No until you have attended the Business Orientation conducted by Daekyo Malaysia. Be open-minded and obtain a full understanding on the business.

An interview with our newest Franchisee
Tricia Chan of Jurong West Learning Centre

DSG was glad that Tricia managed to take some time off from her busy schedule to give us an interview. Being someone who is astute and a mother of two, juggling between work and home is by no means an easy task.

Read on to find out more about about the goings on from the inception stage of DSG’s newest Learning Centre – Jurong West.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a mother of 2 lovely kids, one 3 and other 6, and used to work as an engineer / sales engineer for more than 10 years. As my job was rather demanding, I had to plan and find time to juggle between work and family.

I can say that I performed very well in my career (top sales, top success rate etc) but I feel I could `perform better’ as a mother. There was always some form of guilt in me that I had not played my role as a mother well and that was why I decided it was time for me to do something.

I wanted to have more quality time with my family, to play with my kids, to learn with them and to nurture and guide them in achieving their life targets and be a successful people in life.

With the support of my husband, I decided to give up climbing the corporate ladder and do something I enjoy and able to spend more time with my kids and family and beneficial for my kids as well.

Amongst so many franchises out there to choose from, why Eye Level?

Well, franchising a business was our initial plan because it was easier to start up compared to setting up a business of our own. Our target was for me to have something to do but still have time with my kids and family.

Franchising a F&B business, which my husband (the investor) initially wanted was not easy and not my cup of tea.

I suggested the idea to franchise an enrichment centre as I have had experience in teaching children and it is something I enjoy and it would benefit our own children as well. More importantly, I would be able to teach and nurture them myself in my very own centre!! That was when we started searching for franchise opportunities for enrichment centres.

Why Eye Level? There are few reasons:

The first is the business model. Its business model suited what we were looking for. During the Business Orientation, I came to know that I did not have to operate full time/daily basis. I could actually plan out a timetable of my own and work out a time that fitted my personal lifestyle.

The 2nd reason was the teaching tools and program Eye Level has. Comparing to a few top tuition / enrichment programs which I have sent my son to and the few franchise workshops I attended, Eye Level’s program is the program that was what I am looked for. Its philosophy in letting the child learn at their own pace and own comfort level is exactly what I wanted my son & daughter to have.

So as a parent myself, I saw no reason why I should go around searching for other enrichment schools to franchise when I was convinced that Eye Level’s program would definitely benefit the child in better ways.

It is the ground rule that one should believe in his/her own business in order to succeed.

Lastly, the support we felt from DSG HQ. They have done promotional events and are still doing for the branding of Eye Level. If the brand starts to sell by itself, it will definitely benefit every franchisee like us.

You are at your renovation stage now, what hurdles have you faced so far?

Haha! It is all about timing! We are rushing as we have only three weeks for renovation works so we can have our Opening Ceremony in mid‐September and starting operations in October.

It took us more than 6 weeks to apply for a change of use (of the premises) and approval from the Fire Safety Board.

Amongst the four subjects offered (English, Math, Play Math, Chinese Jr), why is your favourite? Why?

Play Math, definitely! The books are so colourful and fun. I even enjoyed doing them myself! Most importantly, I enjoy the company of young children!

Where do you see your Centre in a year's time?

We envision in providing a warm and cozy environment for students and thus they would look forward to every lessons. We strongly believe that it is every parent’s wish that their child enjoy the process of learning and not see learning as a phase to get through the high standard educational system in Singapore. We believe that our centre will be able to garner support from parents who share the same vision in a year’s time.

Linda Ng

As an educator, I strongly believe that quality, relevance and presentation of instructional materials play an important part in effective learning. Having studied the Eye Level curriculum and materials, I am convinced that Eye Level programs are well-developed and very structured.

In addition, I find the approach of “learning and progressing at each individual’s pace” very apt for our children today, each with different learning needs and ability. Whether for those who need more time in grasping mathematical concepts and honing mathematical skills or for those who are well ahead of their peers in their mathematical ability, Eye Level Math enables them to progress confidently.

I am pleased with the support the Head Office has shown to the Centre owners. I can recall the high level of involvement, guidance and support the Head Office rendered to me when I started my centre in 2011. All these years, the management has always been open to sharing of ideas and concerns. The regular communication between the Head Office and Centre owners establishes common goals and interests, thereby allowing us to take the Eye Level business to the next level together as one big family.

Ms Ita

Saya seorang ibu rumah tangga dengan 2 orang anak yang sudah duduk di bangku SMP dan SMA. Saya bergabung dengan PT. Daekyo Indonesia dan membuka franchisee Eye Level di daerah Pulomas, Jakarta, sejak Maret 2007. Saya seorang insinyur kimia lulusan ITB yang pernah bekerja di salah satu perusahaan Amerika yang bergerak di bidang perminyakan selama 7 tahun. Keinginan saya untuk mendidik anak-anak saya sendiri membuat saya memutuskan untuk keluar dari pekerjaan saya. Kepuasan saya dalam menemani anak-anak saya belajar menimbulkan keinginan untuk terjun di dunia pendidikan informal yang akhirnya terbuka saat saya menemukan Eye Level di sekolah anak-anak saya yang pada saat itu ada sebagai kegiatan ekstra kurikuler.

Filosofi pemberian fondasi matematika yang kuat dan sistematis baik dalam kemampuan berhitung maupun dalam mengasah kemampuan menganalisa problem matematika yang membuat saya jatuh cinta pada kurikulum Eye Level. Sudah seharusnya anak-anak mempunyai fondasi yang kuat dalam pelajaran matematika bukan hanya belajar sesaat untuk mengejar nilai ulangan. Fondasi yang kuat akan terpakai sepanjang hidup mereka. Sebagaimana kita ketahui matematika kita pakai dalam kehidupan sehari-hari baik kemampuan berhitung maupun kemampuan dalam menganalisa suatu masalah. Anak yang punya kemampuan menganalisa dengan baik akan mampu secara sistematis menyelesaikan masalah.

Kendala yang saya dapatkan pada waktu membuka usaha ini adalah kemampuan menghadapi anak-anak yang ternyata merupakan dinamika dari usaha ini. Materi dapat di pelajari dengan mudah tetapi bagaimana kita menyampaikannya kepada anak-anak itu merupakan tantangan tersendiri. Pada awalnya saya melakukan semuanya sendiri dibantu oleh seorang guru part time. Saya kenali seluk beluk mengajar anak-anak yang berbeda2 kemampuan dan karakter untuk dapat membuat anak belajar dengan senang hati. Puji syukur usaha ini berkembang dengan baik dan jumlah murid bertambah karena kepuasan para orang tua yang senang anaknya belajar Eye Level di tempat kami dan menyampaikannya kepada kerabat. Dalam 6 bulan murid Pulomas mencapai BEP nya, guru2 baru pun perlu di rekruit untuk membantu kelancaran. Dengan pengalaman saya yang terjun sendiri pada awalnya, membuat saya dengan mudah mengarahkan tenaga kerja guru untuk melakukan yang terbaik dalam menstimulasi murid-murid untuk belajar.

Motivasi saya dalam menjalankan usaha ini masih besar berorientasi pada kepuasan kami dalam proses mendidik anak-anak yang serius dalam belajar, membantu mereka untuk belajar menyenangi matematika, mempunyai rasa percaya diri yang dapat ditimbulkan apabila mereka punya fondasi matematika yang kuat. Saya sangat menikmati proses belajar mereka bukan hanya berorientasi pada hasil nilai ulangan semata. Kami percaya belajar adalah sebuah proses dan proses yang berjalan baik otomatis akan menghasilkan hasil yang baik pula.

Selama hampir 7 tahun berdiri, puji syukur jumlah murid kami selalu stabil dan banyak murid yang setia mengikuti proses belajar yang memang bukan instan ini. Tenaga guru saat ini full time 5 orang (termasuk admin) dan 2 orang part time. Saat ini yang kami coba terus pertahankan adalah suasana yang nyaman bagi murid-murid kami untuk belajar. Dan itu terjadi apabila keharmonisan terjalin antara sesama guru, antara murid dengan guru dan antara sesama murid. Kami senang jika murid-murid datang ke tempat kami dengan sukacita. Tidak dapat di pungkiri bahwa proses belajar bukan hal yang di sukai oleh anak-anak. Tapi kami percaya dengan suasana center yang nyaman, anak-anak akan senang dan betah untuk belajar di tempat kami. Dan berharap mereka menyampaikannya ke teman dan kerabat.