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Pebble booking software reduces “admin headache” for Happy Mandarin
Parent & Baby
Activity Providers
Pebble News
5
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Jul 19, 2024
•
5
min read
Want to try Pebble?
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Jul 19, 2024
•
5
min read
Want to try Pebble?
Happy Mandarin 快乐中文 is the brainchild of Karen Cheuk, a Cambridge-educated mother, ex-business consultant and entrepreneur. With her business now in its 9th year, and with growing demand for online and face to face classes, Karen has opted to invest in Pebble, an award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers.
Inspiring the next generation
Karen was born and raised in Hong Kong, before coming to the UK to study at Cambridge University. After meeting her husband and having her first child, Karen was keen to find a Chinese class that would foster a love of language in her daughter. After searching online, and attending a few classes, Karen was left with the feeling that there was a definite gap in the market.
Throughout her childhood, Karen had witnessed her Dad inspire generations of children through his career as a music and Chinese teacher. Despite forging a very successful career as a business consultant, Karen had always shared her father’s passion for inspiring the next generation. With a dearth of classes in her area, a baby at home, and a fire in her belly, Karen started Happy Mandarin.
Karen explains “We are a trilingual family – my husband speaks Mandarin, I speak both Mandarin and Cantonese, and English is used in school. The classes I found were very traditional in their approach to teaching, and generally only attended by Chinese-speaking families. I wanted something that offered so much more! When I started Happy Mandarin, I was on a mission to create a fun and engaging environment that would provide children with the best start to learning Chinese. Not only that, but I wanted to create something that appealed to families from all linguistic backgrounds.”
Holistic and happy
Happy Mandarin opened its doors in 2015. Rather than a traditional classroom-based approach, the classes use a combination of interactive songs, movements, stories, and games to deliver learning in a fun and engaging way. They also use arts and crafts, cartoons and books to develop Chinese character recognition and writing from an early age.
The business model has fulfilled Karen’s initial vision - with customers of all ages and nationalities having fun while learning a new language.
Following the overwhelming success of face to face Happy Mandarin classes, and with COVID changing the landscape for children’s activity providers, Karen expanded the business to offer online lessons, including 1-2-1s and group sessions.
Karen explains, “As the business has grown, I have built a team of teachers who deliver lessons according to a set curriculum. Classes now run from 2 years up to GCSE level, with each class carefully designed to cater for different age groups and language proficiency. It has been great to see mum’s engaging in learning with their kids - many of them use our workbooks to revise the songs and vocab, watch Chinese cartoons, read stories with Chinese elements, and celebrate Chinese festivals.”
Booking management software that supports growing businesses
Post-covid, the demand for online classes continued, making it important that Happy Mandarin had the infrastructure in place to manage demand. Karen started the search for management software that would enable her customers to book classes, while reducing administration relating to payment and registrations. An ex-management consultant, Karen was no stranger to evaluating business systems, and wasn’t confident she would find a solution that met her needs - until a friend recommended Pebble.
Karen explains “I sat through lots of demonstrations and meetings and none of the systems I saw were flexible enough to warrant the investment. I thought I may as well do it myself. As a result, I didn’t have high hopes when I attended the first meeting with the Pebble team - but the call was great.”
“Due to my previous role as a consultant, I asked lots of questions!” Karen continues. “The Pebble team are very transparent and were happy to share details which satisfied me that they had the funding in place to continually develop and market the product and deliver continuous improvement.”
How Pebble supports Happy Mandarin
Pebble’s software integrates with the Happy Mandarin website - effectively adding a fully-customisable booking system and secure payment portal to their existing site. Karen and her team can create online or in-person classes, single sessions, terms or blocks, as well as subscriptions, promotions and discounts. In addition to managing sign-ups and payments, Pebble acts as a customer relationship management tool, managing all of the administrative tasks associated with running a children’s activity club - from communications and confirmations, medical and photo/marketing consent information, to digital registers.
Last year, Pebble won Education Software Provider of the Year at the Education Investor Awards - recognition of the fact that the team is continually adding functionality that helps activity providers to grow their revenue streams and create operational efficiencies. In the same year, the Pebble website also saw an 83% increase in visits, including a 1400% increase in unique visits with bookings year on year. With Happy Mandarin also listed on Pebble’s booking site, this ongoing marketing investment represents a valuable opportunity for Karen and her team to tap into a new audience.
Asked what she likes about the system, Karen is enthusiastic. “It takes away the administrative headache associated with onboarding new customers and taking payments - something I used to do manually. The team is also incredibly responsive, open to feedback, and willing to support and evolve. With their help, I managed to set up and implement the system in just two weeks! As well as the reduction in admin, I love the reviews function. Parents receive a link from Pebble after the first class, which prompts them to give us a review. I find it really helpful for other potential customers, and it is really valuable for me to know that Happy Mandarin is achieving what I set it up to achieve - inspiring a new generation to enjoy learning Chinese.”
To learn more about Pebble’s award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers, visit https://bookpebble.co.uk/
Happy Mandarin 快乐中文 is the brainchild of Karen Cheuk, a Cambridge-educated mother, ex-business consultant and entrepreneur. With her business now in its 9th year, and with growing demand for online and face to face classes, Karen has opted to invest in Pebble, an award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers.
Inspiring the next generation
Karen was born and raised in Hong Kong, before coming to the UK to study at Cambridge University. After meeting her husband and having her first child, Karen was keen to find a Chinese class that would foster a love of language in her daughter. After searching online, and attending a few classes, Karen was left with the feeling that there was a definite gap in the market.
Throughout her childhood, Karen had witnessed her Dad inspire generations of children through his career as a music and Chinese teacher. Despite forging a very successful career as a business consultant, Karen had always shared her father’s passion for inspiring the next generation. With a dearth of classes in her area, a baby at home, and a fire in her belly, Karen started Happy Mandarin.
Karen explains “We are a trilingual family – my husband speaks Mandarin, I speak both Mandarin and Cantonese, and English is used in school. The classes I found were very traditional in their approach to teaching, and generally only attended by Chinese-speaking families. I wanted something that offered so much more! When I started Happy Mandarin, I was on a mission to create a fun and engaging environment that would provide children with the best start to learning Chinese. Not only that, but I wanted to create something that appealed to families from all linguistic backgrounds.”
Holistic and happy
Happy Mandarin opened its doors in 2015. Rather than a traditional classroom-based approach, the classes use a combination of interactive songs, movements, stories, and games to deliver learning in a fun and engaging way. They also use arts and crafts, cartoons and books to develop Chinese character recognition and writing from an early age.
The business model has fulfilled Karen’s initial vision - with customers of all ages and nationalities having fun while learning a new language.
Following the overwhelming success of face to face Happy Mandarin classes, and with COVID changing the landscape for children’s activity providers, Karen expanded the business to offer online lessons, including 1-2-1s and group sessions.
Karen explains, “As the business has grown, I have built a team of teachers who deliver lessons according to a set curriculum. Classes now run from 2 years up to GCSE level, with each class carefully designed to cater for different age groups and language proficiency. It has been great to see mum’s engaging in learning with their kids - many of them use our workbooks to revise the songs and vocab, watch Chinese cartoons, read stories with Chinese elements, and celebrate Chinese festivals.”
Booking management software that supports growing businesses
Post-covid, the demand for online classes continued, making it important that Happy Mandarin had the infrastructure in place to manage demand. Karen started the search for management software that would enable her customers to book classes, while reducing administration relating to payment and registrations. An ex-management consultant, Karen was no stranger to evaluating business systems, and wasn’t confident she would find a solution that met her needs - until a friend recommended Pebble.
Karen explains “I sat through lots of demonstrations and meetings and none of the systems I saw were flexible enough to warrant the investment. I thought I may as well do it myself. As a result, I didn’t have high hopes when I attended the first meeting with the Pebble team - but the call was great.”
“Due to my previous role as a consultant, I asked lots of questions!” Karen continues. “The Pebble team are very transparent and were happy to share details which satisfied me that they had the funding in place to continually develop and market the product and deliver continuous improvement.”
How Pebble supports Happy Mandarin
Pebble’s software integrates with the Happy Mandarin website - effectively adding a fully-customisable booking system and secure payment portal to their existing site. Karen and her team can create online or in-person classes, single sessions, terms or blocks, as well as subscriptions, promotions and discounts. In addition to managing sign-ups and payments, Pebble acts as a customer relationship management tool, managing all of the administrative tasks associated with running a children’s activity club - from communications and confirmations, medical and photo/marketing consent information, to digital registers.
Last year, Pebble won Education Software Provider of the Year at the Education Investor Awards - recognition of the fact that the team is continually adding functionality that helps activity providers to grow their revenue streams and create operational efficiencies. In the same year, the Pebble website also saw an 83% increase in visits, including a 1400% increase in unique visits with bookings year on year. With Happy Mandarin also listed on Pebble’s booking site, this ongoing marketing investment represents a valuable opportunity for Karen and her team to tap into a new audience.
Asked what she likes about the system, Karen is enthusiastic. “It takes away the administrative headache associated with onboarding new customers and taking payments - something I used to do manually. The team is also incredibly responsive, open to feedback, and willing to support and evolve. With their help, I managed to set up and implement the system in just two weeks! As well as the reduction in admin, I love the reviews function. Parents receive a link from Pebble after the first class, which prompts them to give us a review. I find it really helpful for other potential customers, and it is really valuable for me to know that Happy Mandarin is achieving what I set it up to achieve - inspiring a new generation to enjoy learning Chinese.”
To learn more about Pebble’s award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers, visit https://bookpebble.co.uk/
Happy Mandarin 快乐中文 is the brainchild of Karen Cheuk, a Cambridge-educated mother, ex-business consultant and entrepreneur. With her business now in its 9th year, and with growing demand for online and face to face classes, Karen has opted to invest in Pebble, an award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers.
Inspiring the next generation
Karen was born and raised in Hong Kong, before coming to the UK to study at Cambridge University. After meeting her husband and having her first child, Karen was keen to find a Chinese class that would foster a love of language in her daughter. After searching online, and attending a few classes, Karen was left with the feeling that there was a definite gap in the market.
Throughout her childhood, Karen had witnessed her Dad inspire generations of children through his career as a music and Chinese teacher. Despite forging a very successful career as a business consultant, Karen had always shared her father’s passion for inspiring the next generation. With a dearth of classes in her area, a baby at home, and a fire in her belly, Karen started Happy Mandarin.
Karen explains “We are a trilingual family – my husband speaks Mandarin, I speak both Mandarin and Cantonese, and English is used in school. The classes I found were very traditional in their approach to teaching, and generally only attended by Chinese-speaking families. I wanted something that offered so much more! When I started Happy Mandarin, I was on a mission to create a fun and engaging environment that would provide children with the best start to learning Chinese. Not only that, but I wanted to create something that appealed to families from all linguistic backgrounds.”
Holistic and happy
Happy Mandarin opened its doors in 2015. Rather than a traditional classroom-based approach, the classes use a combination of interactive songs, movements, stories, and games to deliver learning in a fun and engaging way. They also use arts and crafts, cartoons and books to develop Chinese character recognition and writing from an early age.
The business model has fulfilled Karen’s initial vision - with customers of all ages and nationalities having fun while learning a new language.
Following the overwhelming success of face to face Happy Mandarin classes, and with COVID changing the landscape for children’s activity providers, Karen expanded the business to offer online lessons, including 1-2-1s and group sessions.
Karen explains, “As the business has grown, I have built a team of teachers who deliver lessons according to a set curriculum. Classes now run from 2 years up to GCSE level, with each class carefully designed to cater for different age groups and language proficiency. It has been great to see mum’s engaging in learning with their kids - many of them use our workbooks to revise the songs and vocab, watch Chinese cartoons, read stories with Chinese elements, and celebrate Chinese festivals.”
Booking management software that supports growing businesses
Post-covid, the demand for online classes continued, making it important that Happy Mandarin had the infrastructure in place to manage demand. Karen started the search for management software that would enable her customers to book classes, while reducing administration relating to payment and registrations. An ex-management consultant, Karen was no stranger to evaluating business systems, and wasn’t confident she would find a solution that met her needs - until a friend recommended Pebble.
Karen explains “I sat through lots of demonstrations and meetings and none of the systems I saw were flexible enough to warrant the investment. I thought I may as well do it myself. As a result, I didn’t have high hopes when I attended the first meeting with the Pebble team - but the call was great.”
“Due to my previous role as a consultant, I asked lots of questions!” Karen continues. “The Pebble team are very transparent and were happy to share details which satisfied me that they had the funding in place to continually develop and market the product and deliver continuous improvement.”
How Pebble supports Happy Mandarin
Pebble’s software integrates with the Happy Mandarin website - effectively adding a fully-customisable booking system and secure payment portal to their existing site. Karen and her team can create online or in-person classes, single sessions, terms or blocks, as well as subscriptions, promotions and discounts. In addition to managing sign-ups and payments, Pebble acts as a customer relationship management tool, managing all of the administrative tasks associated with running a children’s activity club - from communications and confirmations, medical and photo/marketing consent information, to digital registers.
Last year, Pebble won Education Software Provider of the Year at the Education Investor Awards - recognition of the fact that the team is continually adding functionality that helps activity providers to grow their revenue streams and create operational efficiencies. In the same year, the Pebble website also saw an 83% increase in visits, including a 1400% increase in unique visits with bookings year on year. With Happy Mandarin also listed on Pebble’s booking site, this ongoing marketing investment represents a valuable opportunity for Karen and her team to tap into a new audience.
Asked what she likes about the system, Karen is enthusiastic. “It takes away the administrative headache associated with onboarding new customers and taking payments - something I used to do manually. The team is also incredibly responsive, open to feedback, and willing to support and evolve. With their help, I managed to set up and implement the system in just two weeks! As well as the reduction in admin, I love the reviews function. Parents receive a link from Pebble after the first class, which prompts them to give us a review. I find it really helpful for other potential customers, and it is really valuable for me to know that Happy Mandarin is achieving what I set it up to achieve - inspiring a new generation to enjoy learning Chinese.”
To learn more about Pebble’s award-winning booking management software for children's activity providers, visit https://bookpebble.co.uk/
Jul 19, 2024
•
5
min read
