For Ready Steady Go Kids franchisee Lynsey Vinen her business is not work, it’s a true passion.

Lynsey brings endless energy and enthusiasm to her daily engagement with toddler and pre-schoolers, helping them develop skills and behaviours through sport.

The former nurse now owns and operates a franchise in Kallangur, in Moreton Bay, Queensland. But this is not her first business venture with Ready Steady Go Kids – Lynsey ran her first franchise for five years in Oxley and Toowong in Queensland.

“My husband Jeremy is in rugby league so we’d move with his contract and I couldn’t always work in nursing. When I searched for sports jobs or franchises for mums I came across Ready Steady Go (RGSK),” she explains.

“I’d been to other classes with our three-year-old Tilly and she was bored. When we tried RSGK it was a different story – she couldn’t wait to go back the following week.”

Kids love the structured program

Lynsey believes the variety and structure that Ready Steady Go Kids delivers is the biggest point of difference. 

Ready Steady Go Kids teaches the fundamentals of 10 sports to children as young as one-and-a-half, each week focusing on one particular sport. It’s a highly structured program with a set format for the class, so children are familiar with the process.

“Kids love structure and boundaries – they know what’s coming up next in our sessions, and they love that,” Lynsey says. “They know they start the class in a circle and sing a song before they stretch and warm up, and then they start the sports class,” she explains.

Lynsey bought her first business in 2013, built it up from scratch, and added a second area. Within five years she had 200 children a week in classes.

On the move

“It was such an ideal opportunity with a young child, working with other mums, hanging out in the park after class. For me, they became my support network as a young mum, I don’t have family here,” she says.

In 2019 when Jeremy’s football career took him to Canberra, Lynsey sold her business and worked for the local RSGK franchisee for a while. It wasn’t long though before the family moved again  – this time up to Queensland.

“Immediately I could see this was an opportunity for me to come back to running my own Ready Steady Go business. There were other sports lesson franchises locally but Ready Steady Go had a very small presence and wasn’t well-known. I could see there was plenty of potential to grow,” Lynsey says.

There was more than a little serendipity at play; when Lynsey phoned the franchisor Danie O’Connor, she discovered the local franchisee was moving on. 

“I said ‘I’m meant to do this!’ and I didn’t think twice about stepping up to buy the business,” she says.

Second time around

Lynsey bought the business in January 2025 with a five-year term.

“I can’t fault the franchise, it’s so organised. Danie is awesome, very supportive and always providing ways for us to grow business. Every month she calls us and provides guidance on our finances. This year we are working on one per cent improvements to grow our businesses.”

Add in an annual conference and a network of great franchisees, and further support and mentoring.

“You can do as much or as little as you want – from letters to new parents to end of term certificates. Admin is all done through the franchisee portal, reports are easily accessible, everything is simple to run,” she says.

Lynsey takes a proactive approach to building relationships with new parents and caregivers, ringing or texting them to introduce herself as the franchisee.

It’s an approach that has paid dividends; she has built her business on referrals, and very little advertising, other than repurposing the franchisor’s social media campaigns.

“I’ve got waitlists for my four weekend classes, I do a Wednesday session, and the other days I’m with Early Learning Centres,” she says.

Ready Steady Go Kids delivers lifestyle and purpose

While she’s working most days, she is finished by 1pm; learning from experience that parents are often busy with older children, meals and homework in after-school hours.

Lynsey has tapped into a rich vein of opportunity with Early Learning Centres (ELCs) which have a budget for incursions such as sporting activities. 

“There are more and more centres popping up, and they all have money set aside for daily activities,” she says.

Teaching two-year-olds the fundamentals such as learning to follow instructions is what the job is all about.

“It doesn’t feel like work. New groups are so excited. Teaching children the boundaries, such as waiting their turn when they are so excited to kick a ball,” she says.

“I’ve found something I am passionate about. At end of 10 weeks, you can see children’s behaviour, skills and development, improve,” she says.

“Parents love the program, the kids love to be moving, and it captures their attention, I just think it’s ideal.”

Lynsey focuses her business on term-time classes: “ I work hard for 10 weeks, then have two weeks off,” she reveals.

“This is the perfect business for mums, for anyone wanting to work around kids and have flexibility.

“We’ve got lots of opportunity as a brand in Queensland to build a presence, it’s exciting. And with Ready Steady Go Kids you can make your business as big as you like,” Lynsey says.