Praising motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world, in the mid of 18th century, the great American poet William Ross Wallace wrote, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Undeniably, motherhood is the most important job in the world that comes without a recipe to follow, a comprehensive guidebook or an on-the-job trainer. By learning everything manually, mothers become great leaders. Kavita Rathor, mother of two kids, is a great woman. But,it is not only the motherhood that makes her great among 649 million women in India, instead her ability as a leader to create one of the leading preschool chains in the country. Today, her preschool brand Sanfort, one of the most trusted preschool chains in India, guides thousands of young kids to make this world a better place for living.

In 1999, what Kavita and her husband S. K. Rathor created was a tiny preschool with hardly 20 kids in Noida. Even to start that Kavita had to face immense pressure from her family. "Being in a typical Rajput family, my in-laws never allowed me to go out for a job, but somehow I managed to convince them to start a preschool," says Kavita Rathor, Founder Director, Sanfort. Because of pure passion for education, she was leaving all her comforts for a business that was almost unheard at that point of time. Kavita recounts, "In 1999, there were hardly any preschools in the market and the concept of early education was not very popular in the society. Hence, we had only very few students in the beginning." For about ten years, the husband-wife duo kept on working hard and developed innovative concepts for early childhood education. "Over aperiod of time,our school started picking up andpeople started approaching us.I have never thought of such a big business, I was just focused on improving the quality of education at Sanfort. Today we have 110 preschools and 5 secondary schools running successfully in different parts of the country," says Kavita.

In a market that is clogged with people who search for shortcuts to a quick success, it took Kavita and Rathor to build a successful franchise model by launching a preschool brand called Sanfort based on the U.K. concept of preschool education. "We worked very hard on the development of curriculum to get it accredited to British Association of Early Childhood Education,U. K., and to becomea member of Preschool Learning Alliance, U. K. After a strong preparation of more than one year, we launched Sanfort by the end of 2009," explains Kavita. Sanfort's curriculum is all about stress-free and conceptual learning with the help of role-play models, activities and modern technologies, whichhelps children to develop their talent academically, creatively and socially. Sanfort has also collaborated with Trinity College, London for English language development of children at preschool level. The tie-ups with such reputed organizations helpthe instituteto get regular updates and trainingson the innovation in early education.

"Education is more than imparting knowledge and we believe in encouraging children to do significant things through fun-filled activities, latest concepts, teaching aids and technology. Here, we provide a carefully planned and structured curriculum and environment that helps children to grow and learn in a natural way," says Kavita. Sanfort has gone an extra mile in the preschool education sector by a perfect utilization of technology in its curriculum. Kids at Sanfort play on the touch panel with the specially designed software and simultaneously they learn alphabets, numbers and shapes, as they are the only preschool chain in the country with 'True Smart Learning System.' "Our Smart Classrooms are technology enhanced that foster opportunities for teaching and learning by integrating learning technology, such as Smart Touch Panels, Projectors, Computers, specially designed software, 'Touch N Learn' technology and audio/visual aids," claims S.K. Rathor, Founder and Managing Director, Sanfort.

Today, with an innovative curriculum and successfully running branches all over the country, Sanfort has become a household name in the Indian preschool education sector and they have definite plans when it comes to expansion. Rathor says, "Franchising is the most powerful recipe for scalability in the entire business world. I strongly believe that franchising is a winning formula for both franchisors and the franchisees." The franchise model of Sanfort is highly transparent and gives lifetime business opportunity to the franchisees. Sanfort's qualified and experienced team of professionals extends all kinds of support required by the franchisee and closely monitors the functioning of branch to ensure the high returns.

"In a franchise model, success or failure of a brand depends on the success or failure of the franchisees. Hence, it is very important to choose right partner, give them proper training and inputs to run the business and complete hand holding to make the venture successful," opines Rathor. For Sanfort, every franchisee is a potential long-term partner therefore, from financial status and social reputation to educational background and passion towards the education profession; they look for everything before granting the franchise. Sanfort have one of the best franchise support system in the industry. The support starts from the selection of the site, planning for the interior and exteriors of the branch, planning of the pre-launch, launch and post launch marketing activities, recruitment and training of the staff, extensive training of the franchisee and periodical skill up-gradation programs. "We provide fully detailed and structured curriculum, specially designed books, activity sheets and other teaching materials along with all kind of supports required to make the business successful," claims Rathor.

With a proven track-record of establishing large number of quality preschools across Delhi and other northern parts of the country, Sanfort has started spreading its wings to southern states. At present, they have four branches in Karnataka and one in Kerala. However, Kavita and Rathor have bigger plans that go beyond a mere geographical expansion. "We have already entered into K-12 education with five senior secondary schools. In the coming years, we would be establishing more schools in the tier II and tier III cities," claims Rathor. While, concern to improve the quality of education in schools has started receiving the highest priority, entry of innovative educational institutions like Sanfort will instigate a higher quality of schooling in the country. "We are not in the game of numbers, our focus is only on improving the overall quality of education," concludes Rathor.

S. K. Rathor, Founder & Managing Director

S. K. Rathor, M. Sc. & M. Phil. in Physics and MBA in Marketing, is the Founder & Managing Director of Sanfort Group of Schools. He is a regular speaker in major conferences and seminars on education and entrepreneurship in the country. S. K. Rathor is recently decorated with 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award'and 'The Most Successful Educationist in Early Childhood Education Award' for his contribution in the field of education.

Kavita Rathor, Founder Director

Kavita Rathor, Masters in Education, is Founder Director of Sanfort Group of Schools. A well-known name in the field of early childhood education, She has been awarded as the "Women Entrepreneur of the year 2015" for her contribution in the field of education.