TL;DR
Sisters SangSang, Thi Thi, and Honghong Ma, immigrants from Vietnam, own a Best in Class Education Center in Los Angeles, offering tutoring services to K-12 students. The sisters plan to expand their franchise business to Dallas, Texas, after establishing a successful operation in Los Angeles.
Sisters SangSang, Thi Thi and Honghong Ma emigrated from Vietnam to the United States in 1987 and each embarked on diverse education and career paths. SangSang has been a pharmacist for 15 years, Thi Thi has been teaching English as a second language and linguistics for 16 years and recently started teaching full time at Los Angeles City College. Her experience and passion for serving students with diverse backgrounds struggling with basic skills has motivated her to help K-12 students in economically challenged communities become ready for college.
Honghong began her Ph.D. at UCLA before moving to Texas with her husband to complete her degree.
Owning a business together had not been on the sisters’ radar until they came into contact with the Best in Class Education Center. SangSang’s two children enrolled there. Thi Thi, who is the primary operator of the sisters’ new Los Angeles location, said: “The results were remarkable and SangSang came to us explaining that the customizable curriculum was really one of a kind and that she had learned Best in Class was a franchise.”
In January, Sang Sang led her sisters in researching Best in Class, and by March they were signing a franchise agreement.“My sisters and I have all been given wonderful opportunities to further our education here in the U.S.
and we really believe in giving our future generations the best tools possible so they can do the same,” said Thi Thi. “The customizable approach to curriculum and focus on students’ individual needs are really important for kids to learn, and we saw first-hand how well Best in Class does this with SangSang’s children. We immediately saw an opportunity to bestow this same gift of education onto other children in L.
A.’s Koreatown.”The Mas opened their Koreatown location in August and have been focused on getting students enrolled for the school year.
“The response already has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Thi Thi. “Best in Class has 10 other locations in California and it’s been great to have the support of the other franchisees, who we can lean on for advice, along with the already positive reputation the brand has in the state.”With Honghong living in Texas and helping with the business remotely, the Mas have already talked about further expanding their franchise business in Dallas, as they’ve seen the impact the brand can have on their local community.
“We’ll focus on getting this first location to a successful point where the day-to-day operation is running smoothly and we’ve learned more of the ins and outs, and then we’ll begin taking a look at our options in Dallas,” said Thi Thi.
In this story
This story was originally published in 1851 Franchise on October 7, 2015. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
Read the full story at 1851 FranchiseLiked this? Get the week's franchise news, explained
- Sunday 8 AM ET weekly + a monthly deep dive
- Sections picked for the industries you follow
- Every claim linked to its source. Free.
