You wanted a formula: Facilities

Control is more valuable than anything else at your facility.

Full isn’t the enemy, it’s the goal.

And even then, many won’t hit it since most are obsessed with a big, ‘perfect’ venue over a gathering spot they can control.

But control is exactly what I want in a facility.

I want to control the experience from the parking lot to the seat.

I want to control the lighting the auditorium.

I want to control the quality of the kids experience.

I want to control my own service length, not be kicked out by noon.

I even want to control the smell and sound throughout the entire place.

So to have 800 seats without control isn’t helpful. Or to have the ‘perfect’ location within a city but also have strict parameters on the time we have to be out or what rooms we can and can’t use isn’t helpful.

I realize you rarely get everything on the wishlist. But control is paramount to me. It’s far more valuable than being in the rich neighborhood, the new school, or the room with all the built-in toys.

None of those are the keys to growth and even worse, none of those will grow with you.

What if you need to start a 3rd or 4th service? Or need to add a Saturday night? Or need to add 4 more kids areas? Or want to do a higher level of production but your “cool built-in lights and sound” you loved at the launch date aren’t as great at your size or experience now?

You have a lot to wrestle through with what you want, what you think you need, and what you actually need. And so much of that is based on your vision (not your wish) as well as cultural elements like work ethic, giving, belief about debt, authentic, understanding of the difference between marketing and advertising, and much more.

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But … with all that said, here are some formulaic things I think (even though there is no universal formula):