Entrepreneur Magazine: Your Business Has Two Options: Adapt or Die

In the rapidly changing business landscape, it’s often a case of adapt or die – as failed legacy brands such as Blockbuster, RadioShack, and Kodak, can certainly attest to.

In the June issue of Entrepreneur’s Startups, a variety of franchise executives discussed the changes they had to make in order to continue their growth and to spur even more success in an increasingly competitive franchise industry – while navigating the tricky waters of gaining buy-in from established franchisees in their systems. In 2011, noticing the shift toward more digital learning platforms in the classroom, Sylvan Learning decided to roll out the Sylvan Sync program to modernize operations across one of the oldest tutoring franchises in the U.S.

The shift was a huge success, providing parents with a more convenient method of tutoring for their children, but more importantly supporting franchisees and offering them an alternative to expand their business without needing a brick-and-mortar location.

“Going from an analog platform to a digital one has put us far ahead of the competition,” Sylvan Learning Chief Marketing Officer Julia Fitzgerald told Entrepreneur’s Startups. “The tablets enable the franchisee to expand their business model, and all of this data helps corporate and our franchisees adapt our products for greater student outcomes.” Another offshoot of going digital was the launch of the highly successful Sylvan Edge product focused on the STEM subjects, which has proven to be another lucrative revenue stream for Sylvan’s franchisees.