Growing and keeping great team members is critical for any business. Perhaps you’re looking to expand your business or want more time away from the day-to-day operations to focus on your interests. In either case, understanding how to attract and keep great team members is critical. Tu Le, founder of InCourage Martial Arts and the MyStudio Membership Management Software platform, has first-hand experience with the inherent challenges of growing a business and team.
Through trial and error (yes, failure is part of the process), he’s collected some strategic strategies you can implement to make your business journey a bit smoother with less of the error factor. Please read on to discover the practices that have allowed him to expand while growing a solid team of leaders who are invested in the business.
Are You Ready for Another Location?
Opening another location can represent a huge leap forward for your business. It’s a golden opportunity to reach more clients, generate additional revenue, and begin transforming your company into a regional brand. That said, there are a few questions you need to answer before you sign that lease.
First and foremost, you need to ask yourself if your business model is profitable without you on site. You’ve mastered the art of running your facility, but how does it function when you’re not there?
Since you can’t be in two places at once, you need to make sure your existing location can function like a well-oiled machine with or without your presence.
If your business is profitable without you there, the next step is to ensure that you have the right tools in place to support your expansion. For instance, adopting multi-location studio management software will give you the agility needed to oversee a secondary facility.
Finally, ask yourself if the opportunity you’re pursuing is worthwhile. If the answer is yes, take the leap and build your business.
Team Compensation Tips to Help You Grow
If growth is on your mind, consider implementing the following tips from Tu Le.
Share Your Vision with Your Team
Launching a new location will require you to roll up your sleeves and log hours of hard work. As a passionate business owner, you’re ready, willing, and able to log 60-plus hour weeks to bring your vision to life. But you can’t do it alone. Your team must also be willing to put in the effort.
Every team member wants to know the answer to one burning question: what’s in it for them? Will the business growth lead to increased compensation or new career opportunities?
To get your team on board, you must make working for your studio more appealing. You can do this by offering perks and benefits such as:
- Healthcare
- Retirement plans (401K, IRA)
- Ample vacation and paid time off
- Family-oriented company culture
- Work-life balance
- Competitive salaries
When you can share your passion with your team and mobilize them for your vision, you’ll be well on your way to launching a successful second location.
Give Team Members Ownership over Their Time
Getting your team on board is a major win for your expansion plan. However, if you want to launch a successful location and become a staple within the community, you need to build and maintain a talented staff.
While that starts by offering competitive pay and benefits, Tu Le believes you should take your compensation package a step further by giving your team members ownership of their time and income.
Le’s business provides full-time team members with 20 annual PTO days per year. That’s right — every full-time member of his business can take up to four weeks off annually. This gives them plenty of time to recharge and refocus.
Additionally, InCourage Martial Arts (Le’s multi-location brand) only requires full-time employees to work Monday through Friday. While the studios are open on Saturdays, Le doesn’t mandate that any full-time team members work on the weekends. Instead, he incentivizes them to pick up Saturday shifts by offering $50 per hour.
Le uses the same strategy for staffing birthday parties. Team members that run birthday events are paid $100 for 1.5 hours of work; if they sign up for just one trial, they earn another $100.
Empower Employees to Earn More
Le also believes in empowering employees to generate more income via bonuses. The financial incentives offered to full-time employees and franchise partners include:
- Monthly bonus paid out for every new member registration
- Monthly bonus paid out for every camp week sold
- Monthly team fun-fund bonus for hitting goals
- 25% of net business income as the main partner
InCourage’s bonus structure keeps employees motivated, gives them the opportunity to learn more, and ensures that they’re fairly compensated for their hard work. In turn, this leads to better morale, higher engagement, and more consistent results for the business.
Invest in Training and Membership Management Software
To help your team succeed, you must equip them with the right skills and tools. Specifically, you need a dynamic business task manager like MyStudio. Our location management software is scalable, user-friendly, and purpose-built for gyms, fitness studios, and other membership-based service facilities.
After you’ve landed the right location management software, you need to train your team on your policies, procedures, and sales model. Integrate them into your company culture, highlight your core values, and ensure that they align with your mission.
Investing in quality training and software will transform your workforce into productive brand ambassadors that represent your business in a positive light when you’re off-site.
Prepare for Growth with Location Management Software
Want to learn more about how to grow your business with location management software? If so, schedule a call with MyStudio to discuss your expansion goals.
