Longtime college basketball coach Todd Mitmesser finds success off the court with Class 101
San Conejo Valley, California, Class 101 Franchisee Todd Mitmesser has spent his career helping student athletes succeed on the court, and now he’s excited to help high school students succeed in college.
“I think as a coach you don’t get into it or stay in it if you’re not competitive. And with Class 101 you’re in a competition, if you will. You want your students’ test scores to go up, you want them to get into the schools they want and need to get into, and you’re working every day toward those things. Once they get an ACT score that’s several points higher, that’s a huge feeling of success. You are helping them every step of the way.”
Class 101 national college planning franchise is helping high school students get into better colleges and qualify for higher amounts of scholarships and financial aid. The college application process is complicated and stressful, resulting in students who get very little, or zero, financial aid and who often end up at the wrong school.
Class 101 addresses these problems by meeting one-on-one with students throughout the year, resulting in their earning improved ACT and SAT scores and GPAs. Additionally, our college planning experts guide students as they draft a high-performance resume and powerful essays, visit schools, complete applications ahead of schedule and navigate the scholarship and financial aid processes. The results are phenomenal. Class 101 students apply to eight schools on average and receive more than $160,000 in scholarships and aid — much more than the average U.S. high school student who applies to a handful of schools and receives about $20,000 in scholarships and aid.
Mitmesser and his wife and their two children have moved often over the years due to his wife’s career, as well as his coaching career at the collegiate level. A native of Kentucky, Todd first heard about Class 101 two years ago when his niece went through the Class 101 program. When his wife accepted a job in Los Angeles, he knew from his niece’s experience — even before he knew what a college planner was — that he was interested. “As soon as I talked to Tom Pabin (Class 101 founder), and I knew quite a bit from my niece already, all the details he shared convinced me right away that Class 101 was exactly what I needed to do. I bought the franchise before I even moved out here.”
Business model and 20-year brand equity sold coach on Class 101
Although Mitmesser could have drawn on his many years of experience working with young people as a successful basketball coach to launch a college planning business solo, he was drawn to Class 101 for multiple reasons, one being the franchise model.
“With Class 101 you are not reinventing the wheel, if you will, because they have already proven their model works with all the success with students. There’s no way I could have done it on my own. I have a great background for this business, however some of the day-to-day things we do for our students rely on our tremendous system — in terms of organizing daily and weekly tasks — as well as on the skills franchisees learn through multiple training sessions every week that are both brief and very informative.”
The low overhead and start-up costs also were a plus.
“Class 101 is a relatively small investment that you can make back in your first year easily, and it’s a franchise concept that doesn’t require huge investments to get rolling month to month. Many franchisees start out with a shared-type office space and work with clients around their schedules, meeting them in their homes or at coffee shops. Once your business grows, you can open a storefront like many of our franchisees have so that you can have a physical presence in the community as well. I do both — I meet with students in my office or at their home or coffee shops. It’s flexible, and there’s not a lot of overhead.”
Mitmesser also notes that while there are several college planning services in his area, none has been around as long or offers a competitive edge for athletes. “Class 101 is a brand, and as a new franchisee and someone new to this business it was very nice to be able to sell the brand. Class 101 has been around for 20 years, and that gave me instant credibility.”
Class 101 provides strong, consistent support
Mitmesser says the consistent and timely support Class 101 provides franchisees is a winning formula.
“The support is very consistent. We have three weekly calls. They also are very timely in a sense of how our business works and the systems we used. For example, many times our franchise development and marketing meetings discuss things coming up in the high school calendar. For example, we had a meeting about a month before FAFSA came out so we were ready for what was coming up.”
Join Class 101 college planning franchise
Looking for a business opportunity that makes a positive impact on families in your community? With a franchise fee of just $29,900, you can launch a business that offers both the potential for high earnings and a strong sense of pride. Several of our franchisees have surpassed the $100,000 revenue mark in their first or second year of business. We provide stellar franchisee support, essentially helping you every step of the way as you build your business.
If you’re passionate about helping young people and would like the chance to make a living while helping families save thousands on college costs, Class 101 may be the business opportunity you’ve been seeking. We’re enjoying unprecedented nationwide growth and are looking for new franchise owners.
Find out more by researching our franchise website, calling 855-476-1028 or requesting a copy of our free franchise information report.
