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Hispanic Career World Magazine, launched in 2001 is the recruitment link between students and professionals who are Hispanic and the employers that seek to hire them. This publication offers career-guidance columns, news, and feature articles that profile Hispanics in all fields.

This magazine reaches students, graduate students and professionals in all careers at their home addresses.

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 Franchise Opportunities

 
Building a Successful Franchise
 
Husband and wife entrepreneurs Roberto and Candelaria Ortega are South American immigrants who founded KLA Schools, a preschool franchise.
 
Born in Ecuador, Roberto inherited his passion for education from his grandfather who started schools in South America. Roberto immigrated to Miami in 2001 for his college education and stayed to work in real estate after he met his wife Candelaria, who hails from Argentina. Candelaria has a degree in business but left the corporate world to begin teaching. They opened the first KLA Schools in Miami in 2008 and began franchising in 2010. With their international backgrounds, the Ortegas wanted to cultivate a multi-cultural environment for early childhood education. The majority of their franchisees come from outside the US, including Jamaica, Haiti, India, Israel, and South America.
 
They currently have centers open in Florida, Washington, California, and Illinois, with seven additional in the pipeline within the next two years. Multi-unit franchise agreements are signed for California, Oregon, and Texas.
 
“The biggest key to entrepreneurial success has been the support of friends and family,” says Roberto. “They have been one of the main reasons that we’ve were able to open our concept and grow from one school to 12. Starting a business is less scary when you are supported from the beginning.”
 
As their business continues to grow, the Ortegas have learned valuable lessons about enhancing the KLA brand and setting it apart from the competition.
 
Before opening the doors on their first school, the Ortegas spent many months doing exhaustive research in the education and franchise industries. “We researched our competitors and identified what factors would help our concept stand out to investors and to potential customers,” Roberto explains. “Our most important research before we founded the school focused on the core of our concept – the Reggio Emilia teaching approach. Our research into Reggio Emilia took us to conferences around the US and the world, most notably to Italy, where the first Reggio schools are found. It shaped the core of our business model and turned our schools into the modern and open environments they are today. When prospective franchisees visit a KLA School, they immediately see and feel what makes our preschool different from the competition.”
 
Also from the beginning, the KLA team worked on developing a culture of collaboration and creative freedom within its franchise system. “When opening a franchise, there are certain processes put in place, but we also wanted franchisees to contribute their unique perspectives to their schools,” notes Roberto. “We learned early on that creative input from our franchisees would enhance the brand and help it to grow. We focused on making the avenues of communication between the franchisor and franchisee more effective. Our franchise system is building a culture that will continue to evolve as we continue to build more schools. Communication is key to maintaining the integrity of the brand and allowing it to evolve.”
 
The Ortegas set out to create a franchise that provided excellent early childhood education and built around a group of talented and dedicated individuals who shared their values and will maintain their high standards. “As a franchisor it is important to establish the feeling of family and togetherness in the face of growth,” says Roberto. “My wife is pedagogical director of KLA Schools and my children attend KLA Schools, so going to work every day is being a part of a family unit. When a new member of the family joins the franchise as a director, teacher, or owner, we want them to feel like they are an integral component in the function of our brand. As we continue to grow, the passion we have for the brand and the people we work with has led to the culture of success we are experiencing today.”
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