Despite the slump in the economy, the education sector in India has not been affected. Providing quality education to the masses, Chetan Mahajan, CEO, UEI Global shares his company’s future aspirations.
Abha Garyali (AG): How did ‘UEI Global’ come into being?
Chetan Mahajan (CM): UEI Global is a brand held by Berggruen Education Pvt. Ltd (BEPL). Berggruen Holdings, a private equity company based in New York owns BEPL. BEPL was launched in India in March 2007, although we started full scale operations only in mid 2008.
Berggruen Holdings has many business interests in India including education, hotels, car rental, real estate and equipment rental.
AG: In what ways is UEI Global different from other educational centres? What is its USP?
CM: UEI Global is different from other educational centres in following ways.
Sales and Marketing: The Company has devised a model based on direct marketing where the cost of acquisition of a student is tightly monitored. It is based on an international model called ‘Lead Management’.
Employment: We work very hard to ensure that the students who join UEI Global are well placed on completion of their academic career. For this, we do two things- firstly we ensure that each eligible student must be guaranteed with a minimum number of interviews. Secondly, we provide the student with the requisite skills and knowledge to succeed in these interviews.
R & D: There is an in-house team, involved in research programs and delivery of such programs within the given infrastructure to ensure highest level of learning.
AG: How many centers do you have at present and in which all cities? What are the future target locations for your expansion?
CM: UEI Global are present at 18 locations in 11 states across India. We are present in Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Dehradun, Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Raipur, Pune, Bengaluru and Trivandrum. We will be increasing our presence in 11 states and are also planning to add three more states in the next 12 months – J&K, HP and West Bengal.
AG: Which all courses do you offer at your institutes?
CM: UEI Global has quite an impressive program bouquet and all the programs are available at every location. It has Degree Programs in hotel management, BBA and MBA. We also have vocational programs in retail operations, financial accounting, aviation management, English language training and personality development.
AG: What kind of training and support a franchisee would get when partnering with you?
CM: We don’t believe in franchising in the conventional sense. We call our franchisees ‘Partners’. Franchising in education is a very well accepted model in India. After taking the franchise our partners have a right on the brand name and are facilitated with program bouquet, sales and marketing know how, student management system, staff recruitment, training assistance and placement assistance.
AG: What are the challenges that can be faced by a franchisee in this business?
CM: The success of any business venture is directly proportionate to the urgency with which it is addressed. There are three main challenges which include student enrolments, best faculty and placement of students.
AG: What kind of background is necessary for securing a franchise of your company?
CM: A franchisee needs to have the hunger to succeed, ability to work diligently and sound financial background.
