We recently had the opportunity to return to Waco, Texas and attend Encore Training. Although the initial reason for our visit to Waco was to spend time with our franchise consultant, Rachelle Kemp, to nail down GGPro and work on our budget, sitting in on the week of Encore was truly a bonus.
Our week started out with getting to meet three new franchisees who were also there for training. Being around them gave us back that brand-new energy that we had when we first started. We realized that we are so caught up in running our business, that we had lost some of the spark we had four years ago. Being with these new owners relit that fire. Their perspective on some things and ideas they had for their own businesses were great, and we were so glad to be able share ideas with them. They all felt they were going to gain a great deal from us since we have been in business for a few years, and we hope we were able to share some knowledge, but we gained so much from them as well.
The one-on-one time we spent with Rachelle was incredibly productive. Rachelle worked her schedule around us for the week to ensure we completed everything on our “To Do” list. Zoe Margetts always just makes life so easy for everyone and the other franchise consultants at the Home Office were also very generous and shared their time with us. Eric Brown and Brandon Bushey each lead their own sessions of Encore training, and took time to work with us one-on-one, offering additional expertise to help our business.
We also had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Green and discuss our needs, wants, share what we were learning and the direction we were hoping to see for this franchise. During these sessions with everyone at the Home Office, we were able to implement the information we were gaining through our Encore training and really bring everything together. Their time and dedication to our business surpassed our expectations!
One of the new franchisees said he was “scared, nervous and excited.” Our advice to him was to stay scared, nervous and excited. When your business is growing, it’s scary and will make you nervous, but along with that comes the exciting part of watching it grow. Isn’t that the goal for all of us? Taking the time to come to Encore training was one of the best decisions we have made for our business and for ourselves. We gained new perspective, a new energy, and a new sense of direction.
If other owners are interested in coming back to complete Encore training, contact your franchise consultant to discuss upcoming training classes!