Great experience so far, you get to affect so many lives in a positive way. There are definitely things I wish I knew before opening, I would have done a LOT of things differently, but I would still choose to open a location if given the choice today.
It's very rewarding to be involved in helping people achieve their dreams. A lot of people, young and old, want to learn to play an instrument and we get to help them. The vibes are good, you can hire a great team and make it the best place you want to be. The corporate staff has been very helpful and have made a lot of meaningful changes. I feel like they listen to the the franchisees and work hard to provide opportunities for the brand and the individual.
It's not a massive brand compared to some others, but 450 locations in 19 countries, some things are going to be a compromise. Not all programs work in all locations. Not all ideology/concepts work in every market. There is a great deal of flexibility on some things, and I do feel corporate tries their best to accommodate, the reality is just that it is a growing brand and as such sometimes things fall through the cracks or don't always apply to every location. I also feel that profitability varies WIDLY depending on your location and what's available in your area. I think corporate does as good a job as they can researching each market, but ultimately no one can predict what concepts will catch on or not and I do feel like there is a really wide gap in profitability, even in locations within similar markets. This isn't something that can be "fixed" necessarily, and again corporate really tires, but it is just something to be aware of. Franchisors will always promote the best numbers when selling the idea, it's not a "lie", but it does paint a picture of an "easy money" type situation and that's not true at all, and some locations really struggle. This is true of everything, everywhere, that good things require a lot of work and determination, but again just something to be aware of that doing your own research and not relying entirely on corporate's opinion will probably serve you well if you want to open a location.
I think they're doing great overall! A lot of the things I would suggest to improve aren't really under corporate's responsibility to tackle. I wish I could have talked to more long-term owners before opening. They separate you into a category called NSO, new school opening, and you're not really "allowed" to talk to other franchisees. It's not strict like that, there's no rule that you can't, but there's also no specific opportunities for you to meet with people who have done it before and made a lot of mistakes that you can learn from