Knowing When to Stop Teaching: How Anna Neville Grew Kidslingo Into a Network of 150

One of the hardest decisions for any class business founder is knowing when to step away from delivery.

Teaching is often where the business began.

It is where the founder sees the impact first-hand, builds relationships with families and stays connected to the reason the business exists.

But there can also come a point when continuing to teach holds the wider business back.

For Anna Neville, founder and franchisor of Kidslingo, that moment arrived after several years of splitting her time between local language classes and growing the franchise.

She loved teaching.

But if Kidslingo was going to reach more children, she had to stop being the person delivering every class herself.

“It was scary, but liberating at the same time.”

Bringing Languages and Marketing Together

Anna studied languages at Nottingham University before moving to London and building a career in marketing and international advertising.

She worked for global agencies and spent time at a head office in New York.

After having her daughter and son, she began looking for something different.

Anna wanted a business that would fit around family life while using the skills she already had in languages, marketing and communications.

She had also always wanted to run something of her own.

Kidslingo began with a few French and Spanish classes in local nurseries while her son was still very young.

The demand grew quickly.

A few nursery sessions became more nurseries, schools and local classes, until Anna was much busier than she had originally expected.

She began building a local team and looking at ways to expand the model.

That was when franchising entered the picture.

Franchising Before There Was a Clear Roadmap

Kidslingo launched at a time when the children’s activity franchise sector looked very different.

There were some established brands in dance, music and sport, but the market was far less crowded than it is today.

There were also fewer consultants, specialists and structured pathways available to guide emerging franchisors.

Anna researched the model, worked with experts where she could and learned through experience.

Looking back, she describes the early stage as a form of pilot, but in reality it was closer to launching and working things out along the way.

“Let’s launch the franchise and let’s feel our way through and see how it goes.”

The early growth was steady rather than explosive.

For the first five years, Anna continued teaching while also leading the franchise.

That time in the classroom was valuable.

It gave her direct insight into what franchisees and tutors would experience, from lesson delivery and resources to working with schools, nurseries and parents.

She does not regret it.

But eventually, the split became unsustainable.

The Decision That Changed the Growth Curve

Anna was still spending around half her time teaching and half her time acting as franchisor.

She could see the potential of the network, but she did not have enough space to develop it properly.

At around 15 to 20 franchisees, the trajectory became clear.

The business could grow further, but only if Anna focused on:

• Franchisee recruitment
• Training and support
• Lesson resources
• Product development
• Marketing the national brand
• Expanding the age range

She reduced her teaching gradually, cutting the hours by around half before stopping completely by the end of the year.

It was not an easy decision.

Like many class business owners, Anna had built the company around something she genuinely loved doing.

Leaving the classroom meant stepping away from the part that brought the mission to life most visibly.

But it also meant giving the business the leadership it needed.

The growth rate that followed confirmed the decision.

Building More Than a Recruitment Machine

Once Anna had more time to work on the franchise, the focus was not only on bringing in more people.

She also strengthened the product and the support surrounding it.

Kidslingo initially focused on younger children, but the programme later expanded to cover the full primary age range.

Anna invested time in improving:

• Lesson resources
• Franchisee training
• Support systems
• Programme quality
• Age-specific materials
• Recruitment campaigns

For a franchise to grow sustainably, the product has to keep earning its place.

A strong recruitment campaign may bring people into the network, but the quality of the programme and the support they receive determines what happens next.

Kidslingo is now approaching its 13th birthday, with around 81 franchisees and a wider network of approximately 150 franchisees, tutors and teachers.

That scale allows the brand to reach far more children than Anna could ever have taught alone.

Why Recruitment Is Harder Now

Anna is open about the fact that franchise recruitment was easier in the earlier years.

The market was less crowded and advertising platforms offered more detailed targeting.

A relatively small Meta advertising budget could generate strong leads from people who closely matched the ideal audience.

That has changed.

There are now far more opportunities competing for attention, higher advertising costs and fewer targeting options.

The children’s activity market itself is also much bigger.

New brands are no longer entering a quiet room.

They are stepping into a hall full of music, movement, sport, creativity and competing business opportunities.

That makes credibility and visibility increasingly important.

For Anna, awards have become a deliberate part of that strategy.

Awards as a Brand-Building Tool

Kidslingo has won and been shortlisted for numerous awards over the years.

Anna sees them as much more than trophies for the shelf.

They help build:

• National visibility
• Brand credibility
• Sector recognition
• Customer trust
• Franchisee confidence
• Useful press and social content

“As a franchisor, the good times and the bad times, you’ve just got to show up.”

Awards help Anna remain visible within the franchise and children’s activity sectors.

They also create opportunities to speak on podcasts, contribute to discussions and mentor other business owners.

But the strategy is not only about promoting Anna.

She sees herself as representing the entire Kidslingo network.

“I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it for the franchisees.”

That does not always make entering feel comfortable.

Anna admits that putting the brand forward can still feel like showing off.

But she also asks a very fair question:

“If you’re not going to show off about it, who is?”

Using Awards to Gather Better Stories

The award entry process also encourages franchisees to pause and reflect on what they have achieved.

It can be easy to overlook progress when the day-to-day work is busy.

An entry creates a reason to gather evidence, ask for reviews and revisit the human stories behind the figures.

Anna encourages franchisees to combine both.

The numbers matter.

Judges need evidence of growth, results and impact.

But facts alone rarely make the strongest story.

The passion, personality and real experiences need to come through too.

“You’ve got to let your passion, your personality come through in the awards.”

Asking customers for feedback can lead to valuable testimonials that serve the business long after the award entry has been submitted.

Anna advises franchisees not to let those reviews sit quietly on a platform.

Screenshot them.

Turn them into graphics.

Share them.

Celebrate the impact they reveal.

Sowing the Seed of Language Learning

That impact can be seen in the stories families send back to Kidslingo.

A child may surprise their parents by ordering an ice cream in Spanish while on holiday.

Another may suddenly look forward to nursery because Tuesday is Spanish day.

These moments may appear small, but they show the learning moving beyond the classroom.

Anna describes the Kidslingo approach as “sowing the seed”.

The younger children begin learning, the more naturally they can absorb the sounds and patterns of another language.

Young children are also less self-conscious.

They can sing, play, move and make mistakes without worrying about getting everything perfect.

The goal is to give them a positive first experience that can grow into confidence and curiosity later.

The programmes also go beyond vocabulary.

Children learn about the countries and cultures where French and Spanish are spoken, helping them understand that these are global languages connected to diverse communities.

As Anna explains, it helps open their eyes to “how wide and diverse and exciting the world is”.

Continuing to Innovate

Kidslingo now delivers through:

• Nurseries
• Primary schools
• Community venues
• Online classes
• Curriculum teaching
• After-school clubs
• Enrichment days

The business has also begun expanding into the first years of secondary school through immersive “trip to France” and “trip to Spain” enrichment experiences.

These sessions transform school halls and give pupils the opportunity to use language through practical activities.

It creates continuity at an age when many children can otherwise become more self-conscious or disengaged from language learning.

The product continues to evolve because the mission is not simply to teach a list of words.

It is to create enthusiasm, confidence and a skill that children can carry into later life.

Watch the Full Interview

Anna Neville’s journey shows that stepping away from delivery does not mean losing touch with the mission.

Her years in the classroom gave her the knowledge to build a stronger franchise model.

But stopping teaching gave her the time to scale it.

Kidslingo has grown from a few local nursery sessions into a national network of around 150 people, reaching children through schools, nurseries, community settings and online programmes.

The lesson is not that every founder must stop teaching at the same stage.

It is that the role that started the business may not be the role needed to lead its next chapter.

👉 Watch Anna Neville’s full interview here.

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