Customer story · Novae Popschool, the Netherlands
From 60-80 hours a week to half a day
Novae Popschool has taught in Ede, the Netherlands, for over 28 years. First as Novae Drumschool, since 2006 as a music school. With 300+ students a year and more than 15 teachers, the admin outgrew the owner. A first version of Klario has been running there since 2019.
- students a year
- 300+
- teachers
- 15+
- from 60-80 working hours a week to half a day
- 60-80 → ½
- less in admin costs per year
- €45k
The start
A school that ran on its owner
Collin Leijenaar is an internationally touring drummer and the owner of Novae Popschool. For years he was director and administrator at the same time. Timetables in spreadsheets, invoices in a bookkeeping package, agreements in his head. Sixty to eighty hours a week.
The school grew, and the admin grew with it. On top of that came the question every Dutch school with freelance teachers knows: would our way of working hold up if the tax authority looked?
The approach
A new model and one system
Collin built what he needed himself. Timetable, enrolment, invoicing and messaging moved into one system. The working relationship with teachers moved to a franchise model, set up with the franchise lawyers and consultants of Koelewijn & Partners.
The teachers became franchisees: independent business owners with their own practice inside the school. They got insight into their timetable, their students and their own numbers. That is how they started carrying the school with him.
The result
A school that carries itself
Before Klario
- Sixty to eighty working hours a week, mostly admin.
- Chasing payments and difficult money conversations.
- All knowledge lived in the owner's head.
- Growth meant more work.
With Klario
- Half a day a week on the school.
- Invoices and reminders run automatically.
- Ways of working live in the system, not in one head.
- Over €45,000 a year less in admin costs.
"I could tour with my band again while the school kept running and growing."
What would this mean for your school?
Book an introduction. We show how Novae works, and what that would look like for you.