Teacher? Engineer? Accountant? You Can Succeed as a Franchise Owner No Matter Your Career. Franchisees come from all walks of life. With the right training, they can all be on a path to success.

Are you wondering if you have the background to succeed as a franchise owner? You'll be happy to know that franchisees come from a variety of occupations.

Kumon North America, an educational enrichment franchise, recently surveyed 237 franchisees at a Kumon conference about their educational and occupational backgrounds. The survey found that Kumon Instructors (franchisees), come from all walks of life – from architect to psychologist to marketing professional.

As you would expect for a franchise in the education industry, Kumon has a large percentage of franchise owners who come from an educational background: Almost 18 percent were previously teachers and 8 percent were school administrators. Several of those surveyed were university professors.

However, not all Kumon Instructors come from academia. Another 18 percent of survey respondents previously had been engineers, and 15 percent were former information technology professionals. The surveyed group also included 10 physicians, a veterinarian, and a number of accountants and researchers.

Because it is an education franchise, Kumon North America's Vice President of Center Network Development John Collins says it is not surprising that Kumon attracts well-educated professionals from many different fields to own and operate Kumon Centers. To be considered for a franchise opportunity, Kumon requires that candidates hold at least a bachelor's degree and be proficient in math and reading. Of the 237 Instructors surveyed at the recent conference, 107 had master's degrees and 18 held doctoral degrees.

How does a former accountant or veterinarian know how to run a Kumon Center? "Kumon's extensive training program teaches new instructors not only everything they need to know about the Kumon Method to work with students but also the business skills necessary to run their franchise businesses," Collins says.

Although Instructors whose backgrounds are in teaching or education may be very comfortable working with students, they may not have the business skills they need to run their own businesses. Conversely, Instructors coming from the business sector may be comfortable with the day-to-day operations of running their Centers but less comfortable providing reading or math instruction. Collins says both groups get the training they need to succeed.

Additionally, training doesn't end when a Kumon Instructor opens his or her center. Instructors have the opportunity to attend continuing training and seminars, where they will receive formal training as well as the personal insights from experienced Kumon Instructors.

"As a company in the education industry, we recognize the value of education at every stage of a person's life and career, and we are strongly committed to providing an unparalleled training program for Instructors," Collins says.

He adds that if a person enjoys working with children and is interested in an owner-operator business model, they could become a successful Kumon Franchise owner no matter what career path they had taken previously. The training makes it possible for any professional to succeed with Kumon.

To learn if the Kumon Franchise opportunity is right for you, visit kumonfranchise.com.