In 03 years of being in business, this week i considered going back to an " easy " 9 to 5 life.
The last two weeks were the hardest thing i ever done in my life ( and trust me, i have done a lot of hard things in life, including not being afraid of death threats because i did not wear something on my head, i slept in a sleeping bag once with my little one while it was -25 outside because i did not have enough money ( my first year in business ) to pay for a new electrical panel ..... But those things feel now like a piece of cake compared to the last week.
If you follow my progress thread, you already know that i am offering a summer program : leadership, and entrepreuneurship program ....parents LOVED the concept. I had 447 registrations .
What went wrong then ??????
Last week was the one of busiest ( next week will have same number ) .... 100 kids ....it was crazy, my lack of experience managing a big number of kids was soooo obvious, it was embarassing.
I hired 10 young ( 18-25) to help with the program and have a ratio of 1 supervisor for 10 kids .
I will not bore you with details but here what i learned ( the very hard way )
1- You think you are well prepared ?? Think again. I had unexpected situations ( a supervisor that seemed during the hiring process like a really good match, turns into a lazy slob, cellphone texter and very arrogant, which results in complaints from parents that we are not delivering because kids are bored during the day.
I was not expecting managing a big number of kids to be sooo challenging ( i am a teacher, i do know know how to manage 10, 20 but 100 is different. Sometimes it was chaotic and then a parent show up and witness that...it was just sooo embarassing. When parents witness that, they become anxious ( i fully understand ) and even agressive, the worst part is that they talk to each other and it becomes like a snow ball effect......So far i have 10 people asking for reimbursment ( yes it was that bad ) and even one threatning to call a local newspaper..!
2- People HATE paying extra for extra services ( i had Tshirts made for the program, they were not included in the price ....Parents would become sooooo angry when they learn it's an extra $15. I was soooo surprised by their reaction. Eventhoug the Tshirt is not mandatory or anything, they just did not like it being asked to pay more for something. So next time : Charge more upfront.
Will add more later ( time to get to work for next week )
The last two weeks were the hardest thing i ever done in my life ( and trust me, i have done a lot of hard things in life, including not being afraid of death threats because i did not wear something on my head, i slept in a sleeping bag once with my little one while it was -25 outside because i did not have enough money ( my first year in business ) to pay for a new electrical panel ..... But those things feel now like a piece of cake compared to the last week.
If you follow my progress thread, you already know that i am offering a summer program : leadership, and entrepreuneurship program ....parents LOVED the concept. I had 447 registrations .
What went wrong then ??????
Last week was the one of busiest ( next week will have same number ) .... 100 kids ....it was crazy, my lack of experience managing a big number of kids was soooo obvious, it was embarassing.
I hired 10 young ( 18-25) to help with the program and have a ratio of 1 supervisor for 10 kids .
I will not bore you with details but here what i learned ( the very hard way )
1- You think you are well prepared ?? Think again. I had unexpected situations ( a supervisor that seemed during the hiring process like a really good match, turns into a lazy slob, cellphone texter and very arrogant, which results in complaints from parents that we are not delivering because kids are bored during the day.
I was not expecting managing a big number of kids to be sooo challenging ( i am a teacher, i do know know how to manage 10, 20 but 100 is different. Sometimes it was chaotic and then a parent show up and witness that...it was just sooo embarassing. When parents witness that, they become anxious ( i fully understand ) and even agressive, the worst part is that they talk to each other and it becomes like a snow ball effect......So far i have 10 people asking for reimbursment ( yes it was that bad ) and even one threatning to call a local newspaper..!
2- People HATE paying extra for extra services ( i had Tshirts made for the program, they were not included in the price ....Parents would become sooooo angry when they learn it's an extra $15. I was soooo surprised by their reaction. Eventhoug the Tshirt is not mandatory or anything, they just did not like it being asked to pay more for something. So next time : Charge more upfront.
Will add more later ( time to get to work for next week )
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