Supporting Strategic Growth at Bonjour Kids
French language experiences for primary age kids
Bonjour Kids is a growing language education business offering French clubs for primary-aged children across East Sussex. Founded in 2024 by Imogen Coogan, the business delivers fun, interactive sessions in schools, nurseries and community venues, led by an experienced language teacher.
With rising demand for children language learning, the businesses needed to plan in order to strengthen foundations for sustainable growth.
Challenges
Before joining the programme, Bonjour Kids faced several challenges common with businesses at their stage of growth to cope with increased demand:
- Building a team to support delivery and marketing activities
- Protecting intellectual property
- Developing a scalable financial model
Specialist support
Through the Ambition to Action programme, Business Adviser Alastair MacKenzie worked closely with founder Imogen Coogan to define and strengthen a strategic direction for the business. Support included:
- Creating a Strategy on a Page to clarify growth priorities
- Providing guidance on intellectual property and trademarking.
- Developing a financial model to support the recruitment of tutors and plan for future expansion
- Advising on strategic hiring to meet local demand
- Supporting overall business strategy, expansion planning, and identification of new opportunities
Alastair noted;
“It has been a real pleasure working with Bonjour Kids, their model allows for more primary age children to get exposed to a new language in fun and memorable ways. We worked with the founder Imogen to build on existing strengths and knowledge of the sector as a trained teacher. We have supplemented this knowledge of what works in the classroom with business strategy tools, IP advice and developing a plan for growth that creates additional employment opportunities for other language teachers in the region.”
Impact
As a result of joining Ambition to Action programme, Bonjour Kids has achieved tangible progress:
- A clearer growth strategy and confidence in future planning
- A streamlined staff onboarding process
- A fit for purpose marketing and recruitment messaging
- Trademark applied for, strengthening brand protection
- Expansion into additional language clubs supported by improved staffing plans
Founder Imogen reflects that the programme provided “good food for thought,” particularly around trademarking and long-term planning, and has helped her make progress in building the business.
“To be honest, it’s given me really good food for thought even since the last session. You know, I wouldn’t have really thought about trade marking. I’ve got that done now. You know, there’s lots of things that I can see I want to do and will need to build into the next few weeks, but I feel like I’m actually making progress now on building the business. So that’s good, really good!”
Imogen Coogan, Business Owner. Bonjour Kids
The future
Bonjour Kids is now well-positioned for sustainable growth, supported by stronger strategic planning and a more resilient business model. With a growing appetite for language learning across the region, the business is set to expand its reach and create new opportunities for language tutors.
