A Day in the Life of a Franchisee

Anna Morgan, Director of Footlights Sale, gives an insight into her Saturday morning routine

My Saturday mornings usually begin around 8.45am; I arrive 45 minutes before the start of our first class to set up and make sure all rooms are ready for the students. It is important to me that our reception area looks welcoming and professional, to make that good first impression to free trials and existing students. 

My first job is to get the kettle on (of course!), then I check all the rooms. Once the teaching teams arrive around 9.20am, we have a catch up, I brief them on the students, that day’s free trials, and any additional needs.  Our youngest group arrives at 9.30am and are signed in. In non-Covid times, I chat with parents and carers, fulfil any merchandise requirements (sales and orders of hoodies or t-shirts) and wait for the main school to arrive at 9.45am. It gets very busy and the building comes alive with activity – it’s the most wonderful experience and you find yourself going from 0 – 100 in under an hour!

It’s all go from this point; ideally we have all main school students (7-18 years) together for a huge group warm up until 10am when we break off into smaller groups by age. There are three groups – F1 (7-8 years), F2 (9-11 years), F3 (12-18 years) and the groups then rotate between acting, singing and dance. We have a 15-minute break at 11.50am where I sell toast, drinks and general tuck items, and catch up with what’s been going on in their lives, it gives me the chance to really get to know my students/clients. The teachers also get the opportunity to have a break and an essential catch-up with each other on progress in classes, to ensure we are all on track for the show or end of term presentations.  Following the break it’s back to class and at the end we join together to present ‘Star of The Week’ and sign all our students out.

Covid-19 guidelines have meant adapting the routine slightly, keeping the groups separate for warm-up and ‘Star of the Week’ to limit the contact during the morning, and this has worked well in maintaining a safe environment.  In times of lockdown, our classes have moved online via Zoom, however these run live exactly as they do on Saturday mornings, with the exception of having conversations with parents/carers.

Once the students leave, I have a debrief with the teachers, check all the rooms and tidy up where necessary – we are hiring someone else’s building after all – then I am in the car for 1.20pm. When I get home, I have a well-earned nap or cup of tea; I will post photos on social media that day so it has the best impact. On Monday I will do all my admin work, but this could be done on Saturday or Sunday if you prefer. It includes following up free trials, record keeping, banking and reconciliation, placing any merchandise orders – and that’s it for the week, apart from marketing and social media, until Friday when the madness starts again with preparations for Saturday school!

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