Kumon Australia & New Zealand

Throughout her daily work as a Kumon franchisee, Lauren Cuskelly of Kumon Mt Gravatt Education Centre in Brisbane’s south sees her students make progress in their learning on a daily basis. As well as educating the children in her community, Lauren manages her own Kumon business. She trains and employs a skilled team of local assistants, participates in outreach activities with other businesses and pursues sponsorship opportunities with local sporting teams and schools. These are just some of the ways that Lauren’s Kumon franchise gives back to her community. Lauren knows that her business is benefiting students through the feedback from parents. She goes to great effort to establish and maintain what she calls a, “clear and open communication loop”. “I know I'm making a positive impact because those interactions are, 9 times out of 10, extremely positive”, Lauren says. “It's always, ‘Thank you for the hard work that you and your team are doing with my child’, or ‘Thanks for this information and this feedback’”. In relation to her centre assistants, Lauren employs many of her former students, so she sees the contribution as twofold: nurturing the students in mathematics and reading, and then developing those students into capable employees. “A lot of my staff members now are my previous students who have completed the programme and then have started working for me”, Lauren explains. “They're actually face to face with the students and supporting their learning. It's this really lovely cycle of young students working hard in my centre in a really nice and supportive setting, and then I'm able to have them back on board to continue the legacy through to nurturing other new students.” Lauren’s franchise is located at Mount Gravatt Central, a suburban shopping strip, and she sees her presence there as a valuable contribution to the business community. “There's a network of business owners who work here, and while we're all doing different things, we work collectively to make our village here a really positive little hub”, Lauren says. And the many outreach activities in which Lauren participates are further examples of giving back. “I offer sponsorships or support for local fetes, and just try to be present in the local community”, Lauren says. “I know that we're making a positive difference; it’s a really rewarding way to work”. Lauren’s contributions and investments in her community are not without return. These play an essential role in marketing and brand awareness for her franchise, encouraging positive word-of-mouth and increased student numbers. In turn, this increases the profitability of her franchise. “A key step is to make sure that we're in the centre, that we're delivering an excellent product and service, because that's going to drive growth and growth is going to drive profit”, Lauren says. “I also benefit from the broader public relations and marketing that Kumon does as an organisation. We're backed by an excellent brand with an excellent team that do really dynamic and interesting marketing activities”. “I then try to leverage off the national brand, and work with the materials and content that they're setting up for us for use at a more local level”. If you want to make a difference and own your own business, we encourage you to attend our Information Meeting to find out more. Sign up [here](https://www.kumoninstructors.com.au/Franchise/Login) to attend a live Information Meeting in Australia, or [here](https://www.kumoninstructors.co.nz/Franchise/Login) for New Zealand Or watch a recorded Information Meeting [here](https://www.kumoninstructors.com.au/Franchise/Login) for Australia, or [here](https://www.kumoninstructors.co.nz/Franchise/Login) for New Zealand. A recruitment consultant will contact you after you join the Information Session to chat about your preferred location and timeline. To see a full list of available locations, please visit:[ Available locations (AU)](https://www.kumoninstructors.com.au/Franchise/Available-Locations) or [Available locations (NZ)](https://www.kumoninstructors.co.nz/Franchise/Available-Locations)

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