Mo Khalil worked in sales but had the entrepreneurial bug. In 2003, he moved to Florida and opened a Verizon Wireless franchise that he expanded to multiple locations. But when his son was born, he says, “I started thinking about legacy and how much I loved kids.” And he thought back to his childhood—when he and his parents emigrated from Egypt to the Bronx when he was 11. “Math was honestly the only bright spot in my day until I learned English,” he says. That passion for math has stayed.
Khalil sold his stores to Verizon and opened his first Mathnasium in January 2011. He now owns 70 stores in seven states and has been the largest Mathnasium franchisee for the past 10 years, generating greater than $30 million in annual revenue. Here, he shares his strategy for success.
1. Location is all the pieces.
“The recent franchise owner may seek to scale back [lease] “investment,” says Khalil. “I do the opposite. I look for the highest rent. I serve the upper middle class, so you have to be where they are. People sit at a stoplight for three or four minutes, staring at your sign. You can’t buy that many views for that little money.”
2. Walk into the room with your clients.
“A lot of people join the Chamber of Commerce as if that’s going to make a difference. But you also have to go where the customer is. Mine are in schools, so I go to PTA meetings to understand what each school needs and provide that. Each one typically has three fundraisers a year, and I’m involved in all of them.”
3. Hire employees based on your core values.
“We’re looking for someone who sees family as a core value. These people will stay with you longer and are more trainable. Ask for multiples during interviews: Tell me about three or 4 of your core values. What do you reside by every day? We leave this issue open and only then will we pursue the topic further.
Tip Bonus
Mathnasium CEO Mike Davis says one of Khalil’s best strengths is the speed of his sales funnel. “Parents often call us in despair,” Davis says. “The kid just got a bad grade. The parents just had a fight at the kitchen table about how to do algebra. When they call, [Khalil] he’s great at getting them into the center to get an assessment and then helping them quickly. That’s because of his architecture. He has his own call center. He’s always available for assessments. The difference between good and great here is that Mo does it in three or four days, whereas the average is five to six days.