Chad and Tiffany Mussmon went from academics to franchise homeowners in 1997, constructing from one The Little Health club (#198 on the Franchise 500) to seven places throughout Maryland and Virginia — and including two Snapology (#394 on the Franchise 500) territories alongside the best way. This spring, they opened a co-branded Little Health club and Snapology hub in Leesburg, Virginia, giving dad and mom one cease for bodily growth and STEAM. On this Q&A, they hint the journey, programs and household handoff behind that progress.
Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Unleashed Manufacturers
What made you’re taking the leap from worker to proprietor again in 1997?
Chad: We have been each academics with a younger household popping out of faculty and did not actually have capital instantly — we simply labored our approach by means of with sweat fairness and put a marketing strategy collectively. I did not come from an entrepreneurial household, however my uncle was an entrepreneur, and I beloved his strategy to mentoring folks and creating his personal future. Franchising was new to me — I knew McDonald’s, however I did not understand how widespread franchising was as a 23-year-old. We simply began shifting our mindset from worker to possession, with the superior duty that comes with that.
Within the early years, what was the toughest problem, and the way did you take care of it?
Chad: Again then, multi-unit possession wasn’t widespread exterior of the large guys. There wasn’t loads of technique for a single-unit operator transferring to a number of places. We had a mentor who gave us nice actual property contacts. Native banking contacts have been an enormous a part of our capacity to capitalize on progress.
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What did Covid-19 change for your enterprise?
Chad: With Covid, we had a tough time — we closed a bunch — and my entrepreneurial spirit was crushed. I advised Tiffany I would by no means open one other enterprise. However my spirit recovered, and we opened 4 in 18 months. We noticed numbers within the aftermath of Covid we might by no means seen. We by no means had a million-dollar income location earlier than Covid-19; then, within the two years after, 5 out of six places have been million-dollar places. Issues are leveling off now, and the D.C. economic system has its challenges, however we’ve got change into stronger. We additionally discovered rather a lot about coping with landlords — some labored with us, some did not. It was a studying curve.
What advised you it was time to maintain increasing and hiring administration?
Tiffany: We noticed the necessity regionally — our county is without doubt one of the fastest-growing in America — and there was an enormous want for a non-competitive gymnastics program.
Chad: We knew we could not do it by ourselves, nor did we need to work 60-70 hours per week. I used to be most likely one of many first Little Health club folks to step away from day-to-day operations. I am nonetheless very energetic, simply not day-to-day. I used to be ready to try this by focusing intently on the kind of high quality instructors, administrators and managers operating our amenities.
How have dad and mom responded to combining each manufacturers beneath one roof?
Chad: It has been phenomenal. For fogeys, it is concerning the ease of bringing a number of kids to at least one place. Some children are extra athletic, some are extra into coding or STEM. The preliminary outcomes are that oldsters love doing a number of actions beneath one roof — it actually helps the trendy household with their life-style.
Tiffany: Snapology goes completely with The Little Health club. Each ideas consider in the identical factor — constructing confidence for teenagers. We even have children doing each — two lessons at The Little Health club and a category at Snapology — in a single place.
Your children now assist handle the co-branded location. What does that appear to be?
Chad: They’re the brand new technology of that blood, sweat and fairness. Their possession will come primarily based on the success of the situation — they’ve an fairness stake.
Tiffany: We’re mentoring them like we have been mentored. It is most likely our favourite location now as a result of we spend time with them. They’re each younger dad and mom, and we spend most of our time there.
How do you retain high quality constant throughout a number of models and types?
Chad: It is a problem. I have been a “programs man” for 20 years. I am large on creating documented methods of doing issues. Even in franchising, you continue to get discrepancies. However when programs are in place, we are able to direct issues again to the precise approach when points come up.
What’s subsequent — extra co-branded websites, new markets or a pause?
Chad: We’ll contemplate some markets in our territories over the following 12 to 18 months for The Little Health club. At some current places, as house turns into accessible, we could speak to landlords about including Snapology. Another ideas on the Unleashed platform are interesting, however I believe we’re taking a pause to catch our breath.
