Is the cost of Initial Training included in the Gokhale Method franchise fee?
Gokhale_Method Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
to cure.
The following summarizes the training:
Training is held during various intervals during the year depending on our need to train new franchisees. The instructional material may consist of our Teachers Manual or Policy Statements, scripts, images, checklists, demonstrations, practice and quizzes. Currently Esther Gokhale conducts the training; she has been teaching postural methods for health improvement since at least 1992. The cost of Initial Training is included in the $4,000 franchise fee. You must pay food and lodging expenses in connection with attendance at Immersion Week. The Gokhale® Active (Premium) fee of $140 must be paid yearly from the time of acceptance to the program. Gokhale Active helps prepare accepted candidates for the Immersion Week. Upon completion of Teacher Training Immersion Week, you must pay $240 a year for teacher webinars. Once a year you must pay $450 for the annual teachers' meeting, for which you will also pay food and lodging. This is a required fee and attendance is mandatory. We do not at the present time have any further continuing education requirements, but we reserve the right to add them if we add new approved formats or new continuing education. All franchisees must attend training and complete it to the franchisor's sat
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 18–23)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Gokhale Method Franchise Disclosure Document, the cost of the Initial Training is included in the $4,000 franchise fee. However, franchisees are responsible for covering their own food and lodging expenses while attending the Immersion Week training. Franchisees must also pay a Gokhale® Active (Premium) fee of $140 yearly from the time of acceptance to the program. Upon completion of Teacher Training Immersion Week, the franchisee must pay $240 a year for teacher webinars. Once a year the franchisee must pay $450 for the annual teachers' meeting, for which they will also pay food and lodging. This is a required fee and attendance is mandatory.
Initial Training for Gokhale Method consists of one week of training in the Gokhale Method at their headquarters in Palo Alto, California, or at other designated locations, called the "Immersion Week". This is followed by participation in at least twelve teacher webinars (live or pre-recorded), self-study of the Gokhale Foundations course script and materials, and teaching the full six-lesson Gokhale Foundations course in a one-on-one setting to two separate practice students. As part of teaching practice students, franchisees must prepare at least six videos in which they record themselves teaching each one of the six separate Gokhale Foundations lessons accompanied by self-critiques of each lesson. These recordings will be reviewed by peers, and the franchisee will be required to view recordings submitted by other trainees and to evaluate them.
If a Gokhale Method franchisee does not complete all of the Initial Training and has not qualified to teach within six months of attending the Immersion Week, Gokhale Method may terminate the Franchise Agreement upon 30 days' notice and failure to cure. The FDD outlines a detailed table of subjects covered during the Immersion Week training, including hands-on techniques, philosophy, teaching skills, consultation training, and more, totaling several hours of classroom training. This comprehensive training program aims to equip franchisees with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively teach the Gokhale Method.