SHEMBLOG

Franchises in Delhi

The national capital of India, Delhi, is a trade and commerce hub and there have always been ample opportunities for the entrepreneurs and investors here. Some great industrialists and business corporates started from this place only. Recently, the metropolis has witnessed a number of business activities and franchising is one among them.

What has helped franchising to grow in and around Delhi?

There are many factors responsible for the growth of franchising business in and around Delhi, like:

• Delhi is an important trade and commerce centre in North India. There is availability of plethora of resources needed to develop infrastructure. Building costs are much affordable.
• There are numerous financial institutions that help in providing the capital to entrepreneurs and investors in their projects.
• Man power and professional workforce is also one of the reasons making it a good destination for franchisors and investors.
• There is a huge population that has to be supported in the vicinity. With over 1.6 crore population, the city has to provide amenities to its people. 
• The accumulation of wealth is also one of the reasons for new startups that emerge now and then. 
• Foreign brands and services have made successful entry in the metropolitan cities, including Delhi. Thus, many service providers from outside India have been pouring into the city.

Popular Franchises Available in Delhi
So far the most happening industries and services for franchising near Delhi have been those of restaurants, food joints, clothing, retail shops and education institutions. The competition in most of them has reached to a critical mark, except school franchising. School franchising stems out of the education services and there are still a lot of opportunities available.

Advantages of Franchises in Delhi
Franchising is a proven business practice and is less risky than starting a project independently. Unless one is very much sure and confident of the success of the business proposal, there is always a risk of failure with early setbacks. However in business franchising, everything has already been put to practice and tested.

Are Indian Schools In Foreign Performing Better?

Recently there was a post on an online journal about CBSE affiliated school in gulf and various activities it was engaged in. For instance take the example of International Indian School Dammam.  The school is one of the popular institutions in Saudi Arabia. There are many other CBSE affiliated schools in Asia and gulf region.

A quick look at the curriculum and calender of these schools reveal that they have evolved into better institutions than the schools established in our own country. This may sound a concern to the educationists in the country. Our own experts at SHEMFORD have described many bottlenecks in the education system and particularly schools established in India.

Some of the points highlighted, which contribute in the under performance of our schools, have been given as:

• Underdeveloped Infrastructure
• Rigid and conventional methods of teaching
• Deficient qualified staff
• Primitive practices largely followed in schools
• Inappropriate curriculum

A few of the institutions in India, mostly private, have made a great progress in the last one decade. These schools are in no way less famous than those established in other countries. The people responsible for their achievements have studied, selected and implemented the best practices in education known throughout the world. These are the schools much needed in India.

This would be the eighth All India Engineering Entrance Examination for students seeking bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, architecture and planning. After qualifying the tests, the successful candidates will be admitted in NITs, IITs and government funded engineering colleges and institutions.

Papers

Candidates will have to appear in two papers. The first paper will include the subjects Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The second paper will consist of Mathematics, Aptitude Test and Drawing (for architect and planning courses).

Dates and Timings

Date: 6.04.2009
Timings: 0930-1230 Hours – Paper 1 – Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics
1400-1700 Hours – Paper 2 Mathematics- Part I Aptitude Test-PartII & Drawing Test-Part III

Eligibility

In General Category, candidates born on or after October 1, 1984 can appear in the examinations. Candidates in Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST) or Physically Handicapped) born on or after October 1, 1979 can appear in the exams.

Applying

Candidates can apply online and submit their applications within one month’s time, which is from 05.Dec 2008 to 05 Jan 2009. Payments can be made by demand draft, credit card or challan forms.        

School Admissions – An Advice To Parents

It is admissions time and parents are already feeling the edginess to get their child admitted in the preferred school. To seek an admission in the right school has become a speciality, and parents who have a kid admitted in the school can tell you more. It is more complicated for parents who seek nursery admission for their children.

There are many reasons that make school admission process a taxing job for the parents. One of the most obvious one is the limited seats or admissions in the schools. The number of preferred schools is less and there are limited seats available in the schools. These factors are responsible for selection processes, wherein schools favour the selection of the appropriate candidates.

In nursery school admission, it has been argued that schools must not offer admission on the basis of such criteria which may turn unfavourable to the less privileged class. It is true that the judgement of not selecting a child based on few questions and answers asked to the child itself or the candidates is   somewhat flawed.

The true potential of the child is realized much later and even then an education institution cannot deny the right of education to those who face natural difficulties in reading, comprehension, retention or any other aspect. That is where a good school and institution provides the remedy. Rather than selecting and polishing the studious and intelligent students, a good school educates trains and builds competencies even the most disadvantaged students.

Is Your Child Prepared For The Interviews
Interviews have been discouraged by government authorities following unfair practices in the last few years. However, admitting children without even a single question asked or an interaction is also not a very good idea. The education providers or schools have the right to know as who is being admitted in the school. But interactions in this regard may be limited and favour all.

Some commonly asked questions in nursery admissions are given below:

• The age of the child? Parents have to mention the age of the child and also provide proof for the same. The question may be asked to the kid as well.

• About the health of the child – schools make sure that they have the information regarding allergies or any health related issue with the child to be admitted.

• Potty training. During parent interactions school authorities might ask about the potty training, about tantrums or any peculiar information which might help to know the child better.

• Children are asked such questions as – what is your name, what is your father’s name, what is your mother’s name? Do you have any brother? How much old are you? How much old is your brother? What is the colour of your clothes? How many days are in week? What comes after Tuesday?

Notifications and Dates
The month of December is a high time for school admissions in most North Indian states. Admissions and admission process continue till January, after which the rate slows down. Notifications and dates are often published in the newspapers and through advertisements in local channels. Parents need to have a close watch on the notifications and important dates to avoid any discomfort later on.

Understanding the Brand Value

Brand equity or value is basically a measure of the total value of a particular brand, i.e. this kind of evaluation is done in a very comprehensive manner. A brand could be in the form of an indefinable asset and the established market value of a franchisor could be more than the countable/physical assets like land, employees, machines, etc. Brand value is decided mainly by the market demand and in that regard, by the customer loyalty — the extent of customers who repeatedly by goods of the same brand. Therefore, brands offering their franchise merely aren’t offering a business opportunity but also the market goodwill and reputation that have been established over the years. A franchisee in turn benefits from immediate recognition as the brand already has a market presence which translates into immediate customer presence and thus, the profits begin pouring in much sooner as compared to a traditional business venture.

Regional Factors — brands offering their franchise have to be very careful about the regional, geographical locations proposed by the franchisee for setting up a branch. This is because of several factors.

1. The franchisor’s brand may be very market specific. For example, luxury brands like the very high-end watch segment has a very limited and highly profitable customer base. Now, these customers would usually be found in the most reputable urban locales. If the franchisor decides to open a branch in semi-urban, rural or township kind of an area, the credibility and the exclusiveness associated with the brand would dip. This would mean that the existing customers would associate the brand with lesser prestige value. Combined together, these factors would eventually lead to erosion of the brand’s worth and demand.
2. The franchisee location is very important for brands offering their franchise with regards to the concentration factor. For example, in the southern part of a city a company may already have two fully-functional and profitable franchisees. Now, if the parent company decides to award a third franchise opportunity in the same area, it could eat into the profit margin of the existing franchisees. This also means less-than-expected returns for the new franchisee. The density of a brand in a region also decides the exclusiveness of a brand. There is a thin line separating exclusiveness and availability and the franchisor has to take care of that.
3. Brands offering their franchise have to take calculate the future prospects of a given region. For example, in India, there are many semi-urban areas that cannot presently offer the customer volume of a metropolitan but in the near future have the potential to provide greater customer numbers. It makes sense to establish low-profit oriented but growth-assured kind of franchises in such areas.

The Department of Welfare in association with G.B. Pant Hospital and College organised a presentation to the school children on the occasion of Hepatitis Day, on December 4. The agenda or primary goal of this exercise was to spread information about hepatitis among the school children. Also, the organiser wanted to promote the idea of organ donation to save lives of many people who are affected by the disease.

 This year it was the school children of age 12-16, which was considered as the focus group. The children did show much interest and were present on the occasion in good numbers. The awareness about the disease, which take a heavy toll, will help in educating the children from an early age.  

 Experts believe that the information disbursed through children may also reach the parents in a positive way. There has been a lot of emphasis on extending the safety net to the majority of the population, which is still vulnerable to the risks.

 SHEMROCK Group of Schools welcomed such exercises and workshops to educate the children on health related topics and concerns. The schools and the society itself conduct many workshops and programmes, to spread the message.  In the last six months a number of programmes were conducted which were observed with active participation from the parents.

SBI, STATE BANK OF INDIA, CLERICAL EXAM FINAL RESULT, EXAM HELD ON JUNE 1

 To know the result you can either find it in the lists given below or click on the link

http://sbi.co.in/downloadfile.jsp?fileid=1705

There was an opinion piece published in a popular news daily regarding the output of country’s leading business schools. The author argued that in order to take India further forward, the renowned business schools need to shape the students and stop being just placement agencies.

While the management and business schools in India catch most of the attention, various industries are heavily dependent on them. The pay packages for students graduating from these schools are relatively hefty and the most plausible explanation is the great responsibilities that lie on their shoulder. However, the recent economic downturn has made everyone sceptical about their expected role.

Business schools and other education providers are now looking forward to enhance their system and work upon providing quality education. The phenomenon can have a trickle down effect and further affect the primary and secondary schools.

The arguement also highlights some of the primary concerns for education experts and education service providers. In order to remain ahead, the institutions have to upgrade their systems and look for new ways. We expect that our audience will have some better opinion and will share it with us.