Bridge International Academies vs Portal Languages Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Bridge International Academies vs Portal Languages including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Company Overviews

About Bridge International Academies

Bridge International Academies was born out of a conversation Jay Kimmelman, Shannon May, and Phil Frei shared in 2007. Passionate advocates for education and issues related to global poverty, our three cofounders wondered why no one was thinking about schools in developing countries the way Starbucks thought about coffee. Why hadn't anyone tried to tackle education for the bottom of the pyramid by building a large-scale chain of low-cost, high-quality schools? Costs could remain low due to scale. Quality would be ensured due to standardization. Monetizing the institution would guarantee sustainability and, importantly, place the parents in control. Our trio decided to be the first to try. Bringing with them Jay's experience founding Edusoft (an education software company in the USA), Shannon's background in education, international development, and sustainable design, and Phil's history of developing award-winning educational toys (some licensed by LEGO!), they developed the Academy-in-a-Box model that continues to guide the company today. In January 2009, the first Bridge International Academy opened in the Mukuru slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Today there are hundreds of academies with more launching every term. Expansion plans are in place on a global level with a mission of reaching 10,000,000 children.

About Portal Languages

Portal Languages began as a private language tutoring service by our founders from their apartment in Costa Mesa, California.  The spark that launched the company came from a continuous demand for their language tutoring service.  In January 2009, the founders decided to establish Portal Languages - " Costa Mesa in a 400 sq./ft. office space.
A website and a functional space was then created for the school.  We decided to adopt the Language Teaching Methodology Series - “The Natural Approach, Language Acquisition” developed by Stephen D. Krashen and Tracy D Terrell.
What followed were several years of quick expansion as internet marketing campaigns, student referrals and a sound business principle began to pay off.
Portal Languages has been helping students acquire a foreign language for over 5 years. As a franchise owner, you’ll have continual support to develop a profitable and simple business.  This is the Ideal business for an experienced language teacher with entrepreneurship skills who is interested in starting his/her own business and contribute to the community.
-Royalties and marketing are about 8% of gross sales;
-Average unit volumes are $200,000.