Former Sylvan Learning Parents Become Franchisees to Give Back to Hometown Community

Terry and Carol Wettig already knew about Sylvan Learning when they decided to become franchisees. Their daughter used Sylvan Learning when she was a senior in high school, so they were familiar with the brand’s standards and the way it worked with children. Their love for the brand never waned.

They previously worked for a security company, and when it went through some downsizing, the Wettigs decided to take a step back and evaluate their positions and decide on what their next step should be. When they decided to franchise, they pretty much knew where to go.

“There was no second choice,” he said. “It was Sylvan or nothing.”

Still, there was a lot of research to be done.

He and Carol started off by researching the brand’s corporate website and by looking at the websites and Facebook pages for individual Sylvan Learning locations across the country.

“We spent hours researching the process of franchising and dug deeper into how Sylvan operated and what their programs were,” Wettig said. “Once we made the decision to open a franchise with Sylvan, we also looked at the marketplace to determine the best location for us in combination with what our current and future goals were.”

The Wettigs are in the process of moving from the Richmond, Virginia area to Alabama, where they will open their Sylvan Learning center. Their center is located in Prattville, which is just north of Montgomery, and they opened on March 1st.

The Wettigs were enthusiastic about the prospect of starting a new chapter in their lives, which made the learning process fun for them.

“The discovery process was exciting to us,” Wettig said. “We did a lot of ‘homework’ in learning about Sylvan and while it was seemingly endless, it was exciting because we were starting a new adventure in our lives. We were motivated by the idea of working in a gold-standard company whose mission is to help children learn and prepare for their futures.”

Although it’s a done deal, the Wettigs are still doing research by speaking with fellow franchisees to gain as much insight as possible before their grand opening, as well as receiving training and support from their Sylvan business consultant.

“We talked to several people in the organization and since we are still a few months from opening our center, we are still talking to other center owners and visiting as many as we can to learn what good ideas we can take away and use in our own centers,” he said.

The Wettigs enjoyed working with the Sylvan Learning corporate team, whom Terry described as very responsive.

“We had our minds made up, and Discovery Day couldn’t have come fast enough,” Wettig said. “We felt we had all the information we needed to make a good decision.”