U N D E R
MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy : We think small-business owners fi nd themselves in a niche where community interaction and involvement are of the utmost importance . Giving back to community groups and providing for worthy local and national nonprofi ts provides us with a sense of purpose and often rewards us with loyal customers later .
Management method or style : We both believe that you should lead by example , meaning ensuring that staff sees you are willing to put forth the effort to succeed daily . We also strive to make ourselves approachable and available to handle concerns or crises on a personal basis .
Greatest challenge : We have a large group of creative professionals who work at our three studios ( many as subcontracted artists ). Managing customer demand with availability of our staff can be diffi cult . Also , balancing the mindsets of business owners and creative artists can sometimes be a challenge .
How do others describe you ? Veronica is fun , resourceful , hard-working , outgoing , and a little bubbly . Tyler is passionate , confi dent , relatable , loyal , and a touch nerdy .
One thing I ’ m looking to do better : Time management . There never seem to be enough hours in a day . We have been getting better at delegating tasks and duties to others , but we are always looking to improve .
How I give my team room to innovate and experiment : Our business model thrives on creativity , so we often allow our staff to generate new concepts and class models to provide for our customers .
How close are you to operations ? Veronica is directly involved with day-to-day operations with the customer . Tyler offers support with simplifying business processes , IT , and navigating state and local law with business expansion .
What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor ? Branding and suppliers / vendors .
What I need from vendors : Art materials ( canvas , easels , paint ) and studio furniture .
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy ? How ? We have not changed our strategy . Traditional media has not done as well for our localized business . Customers typically live within 10 miles of the studio . Small dollars spent on ensuring social media impressions on existing and potential customers is always money well spent . Customers love seeing pictures of class and typically share with friends how great the experience was !
How is social media affecting your business ? Social media has been vital to the growth and exposure of our business . We have to stay active on Facebook and Instagram to ensure that we interact with and inform our customer base .
How do you hire and fire ? Our staff is made up entirely of creative people who not only can create amazing works of art , but who also can teach others how to create their own masterpieces .
How do you train and retain ? We have senior-level artists who can inform new or unsure artists with the steps , approaches , and methods to complete any piece . Keeping our artists in communication with each other creates a social atmosphere where they can support and push one another .
How do you deal with problem employees ? It ’ s few and far between , but we both try to have an honest and open discussion with our staff to give them the opportunity to fi x / adjust the problem . If the problem continues , we will hold a person-to-person meeting again to inform and reinforce why they are being terminated .
Fastest way into my doghouse : Dishonesty .
BOTTOM LINE
Annual revenue : $ 600,000 .
2017 goals : To boost our newest studio ’ s revenue by 20 percent by grassroots marketing and heavily promoting our divisions .
Growth meter : How do you measure your growth ? We have experienced physical growth , opening two more studios in the past year . But we also measure growth tangibly in overall revenue .
Vision meter : Where do you want to be in 5 years ? 10 years ? Debt-free would be a great start ! We could see ourselves opening another studio , but we also want to place focus on opening a community-based business we feel would be in demand .
How is the economy in your region affecting you , your employees , your customers ? We are quite fortunate to live in an area that has had a very stable economy because of a nearby military base ( Patuxent River Naval Air Station ) and its proximity to Washington , D . C .
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market ? The area of our primary studio , in St . Mary ’ s County , has had stable growth over the last two decades because it ’ s a headquarters for Naval Air . Our Calvert studio , in North Beach , Md ., is in an area that is trending up as well .
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business ? We have been extremely fortunate to have locations in areas with stable economies . We are busiest in late fall to early spring and slower in the summer .
What are the best sources for capital expansion ? We have had
terrifi c success with payment processing-based capital loans ( PayPal and Square ). The awards are quick and the fees are minimal .
Experience with private equity , local banks , national banks , other institutions ? Why / why not ? When we started , we did have trouble with both local banks and national banks , so we started entirely selffunded . During our second studio opening , after being established for 2 years , we had great success with a small local bank .
What are you doing to take care of your employees ? We offer a unique job type that is not only creative , but also fl exible in schedule . Most of our instructors are subcontracted part-time , as many are working professionals during the day . Teachers are a large portion of our instructor staff .
How are you handling rising employee costs ( payroll , minimum wage , healthcare , etc .)? This has been one of the hardest adaptations with opening multiple locations . As we have grown , the need for more staff has increased , obviously resulting in higher employee costs . We have had to reevaluate how we are spending and distributing hours among our studios to fi nd balance between what would be ideal to make the locations perfect and what is fi nancially feasible .
How do you reward / recognize top-performing employees ? We often run incentives / bonuses for artists who effectively promote our products and who create “ sell-out ” works of art for future classes .
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place ? We are still fi guring this out !
44 MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE ISSUE I , 2017