Saj and Kitty Rizvi own nine Kiddie Academy locations in the western suburbs of Chicago. They have three more schools in the final stages of construction and three locations in lease negotiations.
When the husband-and-wife franchise team of Saj and Sunny Rizvi decided to expand their Kiddie Academy business beyond four locations, they knew what they needed to do.
They hired a vice president of operations, regional and maintenance managers, a recruiter, two accounting specialists and someone who oversees construction.
With that corporate infrastructure in place, the Rizvis expanded their franchise operation over the last decade to nine locations in the western suburbs of Chicago. They have three more schools in the final stages of construction and three locations in lease negotiations.
The Rizvis opened their first Kiddie Academy in 2008, when they invested $500,000 to open a school in Streamwood, Illinois.
Adding to their growing franchise operation, the Oak Park, Illinois, couple signed a six-unit deal with Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa last year and are anticipating opening their first location next month in Park Ridge, Illinois, with their second and third locations opening next year.
“It has become pretty seamless for us to grow once we built the infrastructure” of our company, said Saj Rizvi, whose Kiddie’s Playground Management company operates Kiddie Academy schools throughout DuPage County, Illinois. “It’s become a lot easier than when it was just pretty much my wife and me doing it all. The people we’ve brought in have really made all the difference.”
The Rizvis decided to become franchisees in 2005 when they started looking for an early education school for their first daughter and became frustrated with the lack of quality options, the couple said. Saj Rizvi was working in the hospitality industry at the time as a vice president and general manager for Medieval Times Dinner & Entertainment.
He said he discussed the idea with his wife, who had a master’s degree in education, of buying their own childcare and early education franchise. After researching a number of brands, they landed on Kiddie Academy which Pauline and George Miller founded in 1981. The brand signed its first franchise agreement in 1993.
Today, Kiddie Academy has over 300 locations, all of them franchised. It did $543 million in sales in 2023.
Meanwhile, Hand & Stone, which started franchising in 2006, has over 500 locations with $640 million in global sales in 2023.
Related: Hand & Stone Expands With Conversion of 23 Massage Green Spas
Saj Rizvi said their schools that have been open over two years are generating between $2 million and over $3 million in revenue “depending on location and licensed capacity.”
Enrollment at their 14,000- to 18,000-square-foot schools ranges from 145 to 185 children and they have about 250 employees. He anticipates that employment number to be closer to 400 by next year with new Kiddie Academy and Hand & Stone units.
“A significant amount of our enrollment for Kiddie Academy comes from referrals and parents who started with one child with us and then end up enrolling their other children,” Rizvi said. “That and the fact that Kiddie Academy is a well-known name and has a very good reputation and there is a high demand for quality childcare and early education has been very much the reason for our growth. It just keeps feeding itself.”
Sunny Rizvi, who oversees operations for their company while her husband focuses on said that becoming Hand & Stone franchisees will allow her and her husband to continue to do what they do best, which is providing “quality personal care and wellness services.”
“In today’s world, self-care is no longer a luxury rather a necessity. As a mother of five and business owner I realized the need for taking out time for health and wellness is essential,” she said. “Hand & Stone not only provide services that are cutting edge and constantly evolving for their clients, but also creates long term relationships.”