- Start Up Cost:
- Franchise Type:
- Sector Type:
- Investment Type:
- Market:
- £4,995+VAT
- Mobile
- Childcare & Education
- Start-up
- B2C
diddi dance started it’s journey back in 2003, launching preschool dance classes that covered a range of dance styles for all preschool children. Now, years later, Anne-Marie has created an award winning business and an engaging 2 year rotating syllabus that covers over 16 different dance styles, all to original music; with props, actions songs, dancing games and fun exercises. This content is delivered across a wide range of revenue streams, to ensure franchisees get the most from their business.
The 45 minute classes are designed to encourage a love of moving to music from a young age, and aim to use dance as a catalyst to be the first stepping stone in a healthy and developed lifestyle for all preschoolers.
Anne-Marie decided to start franchising diddi dance in 2006, pilots for this were run between 2006-2009 and now 12 years on, diddi dance has a network of over 40 franchisees covering more than 50 territories across the UK. Adding to this network is the head office team that provide ongoing daily support for these franchisees, not only for the benefit of their business but also to ensure their personal support needs are also met.
“I’m so thankful to be part of such a supportive network of ladies at diddi dance, from head office to all the franchisees, I’ve never felt alone being a diddi dance franchisee” – Nicola – Loughborough, Glenfield, Oadby & Surrounding.
Anne-Marie prides herself on providing a “business in a box” when buying a diddi dance franchise, and wants individuals to be in business for themselves but not by themselves.
At diddi dance we don’t require you to have previous dance training or qualifications, just a love for dance, working with children and the energy and enthusiasm to deliver our classes.
Class content has been created to compliment EYFS framework and has also approved by a leading child psychologist to ensure we are delivering content at the highest of standards.
The franchise package itself comprises of:
This investment means that you don’t have to pay out for websites, IT support, brand development, initial artwork design, marketing systems, music licence, etc, it’s all covered for you by us!
“During lockdown 1.0, I lost my job. Having worked for the same company for 13 years the thought of a new beginning daunted me. But I need not have been apprehensive of the future. From the initial conversation to the present day, I haven’t ever felt on my own at diddi dance. A super supportive head office team and network of “you’re not alone” ladies make up the diddi dance crew. I’m glad I took that leap of faith, and you will be too” Andrea – Southampton.
Our training system is designed to get you up and running and you are then given the freedom to decide how you use the knowledge that you have been given; you have the chance to create a flexible business in a highly profitable preschool market.
We support you in the set up of the business and continue to support you through the running of it too, and are here to provide knowledge in areas that you may be lacking confidence. We assist you to develop your business how you wish, through setting your own prices, managing your social media, managing your customer bookings, etc.
Our training programme includes:
On a daily basis, you will be teaching classes and/or delivering alternative sessions (nursery, school, parties, SEN), ensuring customer service is maintained and respond to any emails, queries, messages. Keep customers informed of any class changes, termly theme changes, and any other information that may be of relevance.
You will ensure your social media is constantly updated, and create engaging content to draw in customers and respond to any comments on your posts.
You will need to make sure that you contact any customers that came to classes as trials, and try to convert these into term bookings.
On a wider time scale, you would need to be contacting venues to secure time slots for delivering classes, contacting nurseries and schools to promote your sessions, offer trials to secure regular placement as an external activities provider. Monthly invoicing and payments also need to be kept up to date, as do monthly accounting reports. You may also want to take on teachers to help with the physical side of the business, in which case you would need to advertise for these, train the and ensure they are managed effectively.
“Having the freedom of running my own business with the support of head office and the network of franchisees provides me with a flexible career that works with my family life that I thoroughly enjoy in my local area. bringing diddi dance to so many little ones and their grown ups as well as being able to to create employment opportunities for teachers makes every moment of the highs and lows of running my own business completely worthwhile.” Jane – Bexley & Dartford
My name is Laura Hughes and I have recently taken over diddi dance South East Hampshire and Chichester. I grew up in South East London and decided to move to Chichester to study and train in Dance for 3 years, where I gained a BA Hons Degree in 2016. Upon graduating, I decided to stay in Chichester and now live here with my partner Josh. As a recent graduate, I had spent the past few years trying to build up as much teaching work as I could and gained experience working with children in school settings, in particular working 1:1 with primary school children who required help with their behaviour and academics. Whilst I worked in schools, I was teaching dance part time and after a couple of years of doing this, I started to feel like I wanted to move into working in dance full time. I began teaching diddi dance in 2018 and absolutely loved the balance it gave me alongside my other work and this allowed my to leave my job and work in dance full time. In 2019, the owner of the franchise I worked for decided to sell and asked if I would like to take over. I went on to then meet with head office and left really excited and certain that a Franchise was the right choice for me. I took over diddi dance SE Hampshire and Chichester early in 2020 and I am absolutely loving it. The takeover was very smooth and I receive weekly support from Head Office at an absolute minimum. I have also been particularly impressed with the network of other franchisees who are always at the other end of the phone if you need advice or even just someone to chat to. The support really is incredible, and I don’t believe that you’d get the same support elsewhere. I would say that I work for a couple of hours a day Monday-Friday alongside teaching, but I do try and give myself one full day off a week from teaching to focus on the admin side of things. I am also a fitness instructor and still do some other teaching for older children, so the flexibility of being able to work from home when I can is perfect. Some weeks are busier than others so I like to try and do little bits, every day. I do not have children yet, but I feel confident and comfort in knowing that I will be able to continue to work and run my business and still create an income for myself, whilst I’m not able to physically teach during that time. I received a weeks training at head office, which was absolutely brilliant. To be able to have so much time with them and really get to grips with every aspect of running a Franchise was great. They really get to know you and set out your goals.
What was it that attracted you to diddi dance and running your own franchise?
I always planned to go back to work part-time after taking a career break to raise my two young children. However, I quickly realised that finding financially viable, part-time work that I could fit around the care of my children was not going to be easy!
Like many mums, I take my children to various pre-school classes and sessions/ It was after one such class with my little boy that I came home and quipped to my husband that “I could have done a better job than the instructor!” initially a throw away comment, it got me thinking and I ended up sending that evening trawling the internet for pre-school activity franchises. When I came across diddi dance, I immediately know that I’d found something that could really work for me, and the more I read, the more sure I was that diddi dance was exactly what I was looking for at this stage in my life.
Although there are many pre-school activities out there, I believe that there is definitely a gap in the market for a dedicated pre-school dance class that explores several different dance styles. The classes are fast paced to keep the little ones fully engaged, yet there is enough routine and repetition to enable learning and development to take place. Not only is the diddi dance product itself sound, it is backed up by a strong brand identity and I’m impressed with the quality of the marketing materials.
I’ve always been keen on the idea of running my own business, but as a naturally cautious person, I consider franchising to be the ideal opportunity to realise my dream, whilst minimising the risks involved in starting up a business from scratch. diddi dance is a “tried and tested” product. The security of knowing that there is always help a the end of a telephone, or at the click of a mouse, is incredibly reassuring and the support network and shared experience of the other franchisees (who’ve already been there and done it”) is invaluable.
Having ultimate control over the growth of my business really appeals. As a diddi dance franchisee I have the ability to work my hours around what is best for my family at any given time. I feel very lucky and privileged that I am able to turn something that I love doing, and that is such great fun, into a business. Moreover, I get to do this whilst still being around to look after my children for as long as they need me.
Subscribe To Our Monthly Magazines To Keep Up To Date On Hot Topics Within The Franchise Industry
© 2020 The British Franchise Association
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. By continuing to browse this site, you give consent for cookies to be used. For more details, please read our Cookie Policy.
