What training and support have you received to establish your franchise?
All the sessions are pre-planned with resources provided, which is an amazing load off my mind. The head office mentoring calls are also great.

What do you enjoy most about running your own Lingotot business?
It's like a game, trying to find ways in to as many new markets as possible.

What advice would you give to someone considering buying a franchise?
You won't get anywhere unless you put the spadework in-but if you're ok with that, go for it!

Finally, what is your favourite Lingotot song or game?
Gotta be the Boogie-Woogie!

What attracted you to Lingotot? 
I have always wanted to teach languages and work with young children so Lingotot seemed to be the perfect solution! I was very attracted by the idea of running my own business because I hated working full time when my daughter was little, and I wanted to do something that would fit in better with our family life and also give me the chance to put my language skills and business experience into practice. When I took my daughter along to a Lingotot class I fell in love with the whole idea of teaching languages to babies, toddlers and pre-school children because it was great fun and they loved the session – I was amazed by their ability to pick up the language so quickly!  
  
What territory do you cover?
I run Lingotot Gateshead & Washington which also covers Chester-le-Street and Houghton-le-Spring, so it’s a big area!

What training and support have you received to establish your franchise? 
From the outset I received intensive training in teaching the Lingotot programmes, setting up your own business, sales & marketing, PR, Accounting etc. Followed by regular mentoring sessions with an experienced Lingotot franchisee. We have continuous support and training from Lingotot HQ with monthly webinars relating to Business Development, Sales & Marketing, PR, teaching methods and lots of other topics to help us run our business successfully. We all have access to a dedicated Franchisee Management System which contains everything we could possibly need plus a forum where we can ask each other for advice. The level of support I’ve received from the ‘Lingotot family’ since starting my Franchise in January 2013 has been phenomenal! 

What do you enjoy most about running your own Lingotot business? 
I really enjoy meeting new children at my classes, watching them grow in confidence and speaking French or Spanish after just a few sessions – it always amazes me! I also love the flexibility of working hours that suit my family life – I can take baby Thomas with me to my community classes and still get home in time to pick Sian up from school. I tend to do my admin work in the evenings when they are in bed, so it works really well.

What advice would you give to someone considering buying a franchise? 
Do lots of research about your target market in your territory area and other competitors, and speak to other franchisees about their experiences to get a ‘realistic’ view of running your own Lingotot business. Also take advantage of their knowledge and expertise when you do start – they can offer a lot of support and advice!

Finally, what is your favourite Lingotot song or game?
My favourite French song at the moment is “La Chasse à l’Ours” (The Bear Hunt) because the children love doing the actions and they get really excited when we find the bear (so do their parents)!

Do you know someone who would like to come and work for Lingotot? We're looking for tutors and franchisees all the time. Please click here for more information on franchising or here to apply for a part time job.

BABIES, toddlers and schoolchildren in Glasgow and Stirlingshire will be able to learn new languages to help them become fluent more quickly – thanks to our newest member of the team, Janet.

Youngsters will be able to speak in French and Spanish as they learn English to help them get to grips with languages more easily.

Janet Phillips is setting up the lessons after buying a franchise from UK-wide company Lingotot earlier this year.

She hopes the lessons will help broaden opportunities for Scottish children, and has seen how easily younger children learn languages.

“I was looking after my four-year-old grandson, Archie, and he was watching a CBBC programme called The Lingo Show,” said the mum-of-two.

“I know that the earlier children learn new languages the easier they pick it up, so watching Archie made me think about setting up a business to teach children languages.”

Janet, a self-employed HR consultant since 1993, gained a masters degree in translating and interpretation and was only too aware of how being able to speak other languages opened doors of opportunity.

After 20 years being a consultant, Janet wanted to a new opportunity herself, so started looking into establishing her own business.

She said: “I worked a lot at home and it is a lonely job. I wanted to do something where I got to meet new people and when I started researching, I found the Lingotot website.

“The branding is so good and the more I looked at the product the more I saw just how well thought out it was. So, I decided to make a call to find out more, because it would be much quicker than having to set everything up from scratch yourself.”

Within a couple of months, Janet had bought the franchise covering Glasgow West and North Helensbrough.

She is now setting up local sessions and will also be offering Lingotot lessons to schools as they gear up for introducing languages to lessons.

Janet said: “The Scottish Government has set up a working group actively looking into foreign modern languages and want to young children to be introduced to two languages by 2020.

“Many schools may not have teachers who will be able to provide the lessons, which is where they can bring Lingotot into school to do that for them.”

Lingotot already links with Key Stages 1 and 2 in England, and its sessions are already being used in schools there.

The business was set up by mum-of-two Angela Sterling, who was taking time out from teaching after the birth of her first daughter.

Teachers and parents were so impressed with the sessions they asked her to introduce books and CDs so that lessons could continue at home.

Angela said: “We are delighted to welcome Janet to Lingotot, especially as she is the first franchisee in Scotland. The sessions she will manage will help toddlers get to grips with language earlier and help improve their future prospects.”

For more details about Lingotot sessions, contact Janet by emailing janet@lingotot.com or telephoning 0845 680 8148.

Here at Lingotot we're delighted to announce that our very own Davina Hamilton has been nominated for the New Business BizMums Award.

Davina Hamilton runs Lingotot sessions in community centres, nurseries and schools in Shrewsbury and Telford. What makes her success even more remarkable is that she has only recently given birth to her second son alongside running the business alongside her job as a vet AND she doesn't even speak any languages! Instead she recruits highly-qualified tutors to teach the sessions.

Davina says, “I think it’s a fantastic idea to teach children while they are so young as they learn much more quickly. The Government announced last year that children as young as five will be taught a language, but there is a lot of research that shows they learn a language even better from a younger age.”

She adds, “Lingotot is already successful and has been growing rapidly in the past couple of years. Sessions are offered to nurseries and schools and there are also a number of community sessions too. When I heard about Lingotot from a friend and was told about the franchises I thought it would be a great opportunity."

For more information on Davina's classes, you can email her at davina@lingotot.com or call 0845 680 8148. She also has a facebook page.

The awards take place on Saturday 14th September 2013, Lord Hill Hotel in Shrewsbury from 10am – 5pm.