{"id":2749,"date":"2013-08-05T08:03:23","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T08:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/?p=2749"},"modified":"2013-08-05T08:03:54","modified_gmt":"2013-08-05T08:03:54","slug":"australian-sports-franchise-for-kids-gets-set-to-open-batting-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/australian-sports-franchise-for-kids-gets-set-to-open-batting-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian sports franchise for kids gets set to open batting in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An Australian exercise and sports class franchise system is expanding to India, opening its first location in Mumbai and the northern states.<\/p>\n

Ready Steady Go Kids has 130 locations in Australia, as well as franchises in Singapore, the UK and Indonesia. The program teaches toddlers through to pre-school aged children basic motor skills and 10 sports.<\/p>\n

Director Stuart Derbyshire told StartupSmart he was delighted to be exporting sports to the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia is a big step for us. When we first launched this, our goal for this was to be number one in Australia, but that was probably a bit short-sighted. We\u2019re now aiming to be number one globally,\u201d Derbyshire says.<\/p>\n

He adds that while there are no significant regulation issues, the negotiations with the master franchisers in India took a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with all things to do with India, it was a long, drawn-out negotiation. But he did his due diligence and saw that, globally, this was the best fit for India,\u201d Derbyshire says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a few commercial issues that were the points of contention. Ultimately it got down to a negotiation around a few key terms in the agreements about royalties, the tenure of the agreement and the dollars involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Indian master franchisees are occupational therapist Nighat Jan and sports journalist Faisal Shariff. The married couple say they plan to train 4000 children in their first year.<\/p>\n

Derbyshire says his team has already been in India to train the local teams, and they\u2019ll be providing ongoing support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a support mechanism and provide them with our IP, marketing and know-how, but it\u2019s up to them to drive it. I guess you\u2019d say we would be still involved but fairly hands off on the day to day side of things,\u201d Derbyshire says.<\/p>\n

But he says there will be little to no change to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing is our program is it\u2019s transferrable across countries and cultures,\u201d Derbyshire says, adding that Australian Rules football will still be one of the 10 sports taught.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the sport; it\u2019s about getting kids involved in a sporting activity and learning those motor skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ready Steady Go is currently in negotiations with potential master franchisees in Russia, Sweden, Malaysia and the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cTouch wood, by the end of this year we might be running in 10 countries,\u201d Derbyshire says. \u201cWhat this does for our brand here is further cement our place in Australia and globally.\u201d<\/p>\n