The franchise's success during the pandemic can be owed to its swiftness in pivoting its business model to go online with a complete rewrite of its operations manual
The performing arts sector has been one of the hardest hit during this pandemic but that hasn’t stopped Razzamataz Theatre Schools from achieving awards success and celebrating the strength and resilience of its students in its first virtual conference.
The multi-award-winning theatre arts franchise has seen thousands of children across the UK engage with interactive online performing arts classes, plus, hundreds of guest workshops from industry professionals. When the pandemic forced schools to close and classes to go online, Razzamataz provided each franchisee with a huge amount of support in order for them to run live lessons via Zoom, keep their teams motivated, engage children and remain positive as well as get to grips with all the technical elements.
One of the most significant changes that allowed franchisees to successfully pivot their business model to go online in just a couple of weeks was to completely rewrite the operations manual, much of which came from researching different countries’ policies. This was on top of regular one to one support calls, closed Facebook groups that gave weekly tips and challenges and regular PR and communications templates. All of this and more has been recognised with a number of award nominations.
Razzamataz was a finalist in the ‘Best Franchisee Support’ category and won Silver in the ‘Best Franchisor’ category by the QFA (Qualified Franchise Association). It has also been shortlisted as a finalist in the Best Franchise Award, where it was invited to present to a judging panel of industry experts.
“It goes without saying how challenging last year has been but the support and hard work from our head office team and inspiring franchisees has enabled us to emerge stronger and more resilient than ever before,” said Denise Hutton Gosney, MD and founder of Razzamataz. “The most satisfactory result from 2020 has been the feedback from our families. We have seen an average of 80 per cent sign up for our online virtual Razzamataz classes and have received numerous testimonials about how they have brought structure, joy and improvement in mental health to thousands of children. This has been down to the sheer dedication of everyone involved with Razzamataz so the award success must be shared with our entire team.”
Even through the pandemic, Razzamataz has recruited 10 new franchisees and successfully opened new schools. For current franchisees, they have seen their business still be able to run at a profit, which has given them the confidence to take on multiple territories and expand their regions. Much of this was celebrated in the annual Razzamataz conference, which was taken online to keep within government guidelines.
“Our franchisees took on the task of supporting their teams and customers, resulting in some overwhelmingly positive testimonials,” added Denise. “However, as a franchisor, we recognised the toll that it could take on them so we provided resources to help them take care of their own mental health.
“We launched our own wellness service, in which franchisees could request additional emotional support with a coach that we have been working with.”
The first virtual conference gave franchisees the chance to look back on 2020 and also look to the future with an exciting new vision.
There is also an exciting opportunity for current franchisees to be identified as a regional developer franchisee, as opposed to single outlet owners as well as working with new technology and experts to streamline the admin and operations of each individual school.