KEY POINTS:
Even at 4.30 on a Friday afternoon, 11-year-old Phoebe Rose-Yon is still keen to get to her maths class.
Phoebe's no girly swot; she just enjoys the computer-based tuition, and games help make an extra hour of maths less of a chore.
Maths will never be Phoebe's favourite subject, says mum Tina Rose, but weekly classes at NumberWorks'nWords are helping her keep up at school and feel more in control of the subject.
It seems a tough ask to make extra maths classes anything but a chore, but NumberWorks'nWords owners Anne and Maurice Smith have been doing just that for almost two decades.
It's obviously worked: there are 47 franchised centres in New Zealand, Britain, Australia and the Philippines, and the company recently signed a deal with Dubai-based international school operator Beacon Education to license its maths and English-learning programmes.
The Smiths see huge growth potential for the new venture.
Beacon Education has partnered with Dubai-based private school developer Madaares, which plans to develop 20 schools in the Gulf region in the next five years. Beacon, financed by a private Dubai company, has licensed NumberWorks'nWords' new programmes to two of its five Dubai schools. Maurice Smith doesn't like to put a figure on it but says if the company can "get it right" the new venture "will be big".
It's certainly a change from the company's original business model: in Dubai, the NumberWorks'nWords classes are run by Beacon staff, and "rolled in" to computer labs for the duration of the NumberWorks'nWords class and "rolled out" again afterwards. In the franchise centre model, each centre is independent and leases premises that are used solely for NumberWorks'nWords classes.
The company was set up by maths teachers Terry and Dara Robinson in 1984 as NumberWorks. While head of the maths department at Auckland's Tamaki College, Terry Robinson introduced individual maths learning programmes which allowed students to work at their own pace instead of having to keep up with a class. The programmes were a success, and when he left teaching, Robinson, also a self-taught software programmer, hit upon the idea of providing individual maths tuition programmes via computers, which were then a novelty.
Computers are still the major draw-card and students are rewarded with games as they complete certain exercises. The software is developed in-house and the Smiths contract children's authors and illustrators to write and illustrate the texts, posters and achievement certificates, so students aren't using the same texts that they use at school.
Using computers means students can work at their own pace, although there are levels of achievement to be attained. The company employs tertiary students as tutors to oversee classes, which helps make it a "comfortable" environment, says Tina Rose, because they're generally closer in age to the students.
The Smiths knew the Robinsons socially and always believed their idea would take off, but say the business is realising its full potential only now.
When they floated the idea of buying into the business, Anne Smith, a former primary teacher, and Maurice Smith, whose background was in sales and marketing, reckoned their skills would be a good combination. They were but they were "pretty green" in the early years, believing they'd be "instant millionaires", laughs Maurice Smith.
The two couples and centre manager Keith Ratcliffe trained centre managers and tutors themselves, a process which generally took several months. Anne Smith, who did the lion's share of training, remembers one year when she was away for nine months in total. It was tough, but the Smiths made sure they had regular "assignations", flying or driving to meet each other. Growth came easily in the early years but the company would have grown much faster if it had started franchising earlier, removing the hassles involved in finding centre managers and managing staff.
The first Australian franchises were opened in tandem with those in New Zealand, which meant a lot of travelling across the Tasman and around New Zealand.
By 2005, the steady growth had flatlined. Overseas competitors had set up in New Zealand and were offering English tuition and maths. The Smiths, who had bought out the Robinsons in 2002, decided their only option was to add an English programme, which has since been launched in all but the Philippine franchise, and so re-branded the company NumberWorks'nWords.
Just over 10,000 students attend classes in the 47 centres each week.
This year, the franchises generated about $12 million in student fees.
Maurice Smith said a centre wouldn't be opened unless it was expected to attract at least 250 pupils. Management issues have forced the closure of two centres, but all others have thrived. Next year, three more franchises will open in New Zealand, and another in Australia.
There are five centres in England but, because the Smiths can't find a master franchisee to call the shots, growth there has stalled. England is an enticing market because there is surprisingly little after-school tuition on offer, says Maurice Smith, and the country's compact geography and large population mean it will not be difficult to expand.
The company generally spends about 15 per cent of its revenue on updating programmes and keeping up with school syllabuses. It has invested heavily in IT systems, installing a solid intranet to keep franchisees in contact and up to date.
When asked about their plans for the future, the Smiths don't want to give much away. There are succession plans, says Maurice Smith, but they have been put on hold to launch the reading programme and the Dubai venture.
The Smiths are glad they came across the Robinsons and their idea when they did. Anne Smith says: "When you see a diamond in a pond, you pick it up."
Working away
* Nineteen franchises in New Zealand, 22 in Australia, five in England, one in the Philippines.
* Two schools in Dubai licensed to use maths and English programmes.
* About 10,000 students attend classes each week.
