By Pritam Kumar Agrawal, Founder of Hello Kids
For decades, aspiring edupreneurs in India have faced a daunting challenge: high royalties charged by leading preschool chains. While the promise of a well-known brand attracted many, the long-term burden of fixed royalty fees often ate into profits, stifled innovation, and left owners with limited control over their own schools.
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Hello Kids, India’s leading chain of preschools, is rewriting this narrative. By eliminating the conventional royalty model, it has created a more inclusive and empowering system that puts edupreneurs first. Instead of demanding a fixed percentage of revenue every month, Hello Kids offers an affordable one-time association fee, giving school owners the freedom to reinvest their earnings into quality infrastructure, teaching, and student enrichment.
This disruptive approach has opened doors for thousands of passionate individuals who wish to enter the education sector but are deterred by financial barriers. With no ongoing royalty to pay, edupreneurs enjoy higher profitability, faster breakeven, and the ability to design locally relevant programs while still benefitting from the national brand’s curriculum, training, and marketing support.
The results speak for themselves. Hello Kids has grown into one of the largest preschool chains in the country, with a strong presence across metros, Tier-II, and Tier-III cities. In Gujarat alone, the brand has established over 50 centres, underscoring the growing trust of edupreneurs and parents in the state. Its success is driven by a simple yet powerful philosophy: education should be accessible, and running a preschool should be sustainable. By removing the royalty trap, Hello Kids ensures that every partner remains motivated to deliver quality education rather than struggling under financial pressure.
The model also brings greater flexibility. Edupreneurs have the liberty to decide fee structures, implement innovative teaching methods, and adapt to their community’s needs without the constant fear of meeting corporate revenue targets. This autonomy has encouraged creativity and accountability at the grassroots level, directly benefiting children and parents.
At its core, Hello Kids is not just building preschools—it is building a generation of edupreneurs who are financially independent, socially impactful, and committed to transforming early education in India. In doing so, it has set a new benchmark in franchising, proving that success in education can be both profitable and purpose-driven.
With this shift, the “royalty-free” model pioneered by Hello Kids is not just a business strategy; it is a movement. It signals the end of an era where edupreneurs were trapped in lopsided agreements and ushers in a future where education entrepreneurship thrives on empowerment, trust, and shared growth.
