High Tech Back Office
Distributing flyers and using word of mouth to get students into her school are just two of the many marketing and business management techniques Rosette employs.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT HER HIGHLY FUNCTIONING WEBSITE:
Critical pages are used to great effect. The home page is interactive and alive with aYouTube video of the past year and a rotating photo gallery. Visitors to the site immediately get a sense of the school’s philosophy – it feels fun and alive. The website is also social media-connected, mainly using Facebook where they have a good number of fans, the page is regularly updated and people are commenting, sharing and excited about the school’s upcoming happenings.
Other important pages include the About page, the testimonials page (Praise), more photo galleries and a blog which they use to share parenting advice – further espousing the school’s philosophy.
All this sounds like a lot of work – maintaining the site and interacting with social media as well as managing the actual school. A virtual assistant takes care of website maintenance, sends a regular newsletter to the families and takes care of some scheduling. The school also uses an automated online scheduler so that parents can easily make changes if their child is sick, needs after school care or the family will be away. Automating this process gives maximum flexibility but also reduces the time spent going back and forth trying to get the schedule worked out.
Rosette proudly told me that she employs nineteen staff members (including teaching and non-teaching teams). She’s created a nurturing team environment for the people who work on and off-site. Everyone is trained to very high standards – which is important since nobody knows when they could be relocated to another base, as in the case of the staff from military families. When they leave they do so with some excellent skills for their next position but the school recovers quickly since everyone knows how to do most of the necessary jobs.
Technology plays a part in maintaining team morale and high quality work. We chatted via Skype. When Rosette is away herself she’s able to check in with the team the same way. It’s not about micromanaging though – hiring the right people, giving them support and training, then trusting them to do their work is what Rosette believes in. Part of their on-boarding training will soon be delivered online – pretty awesome!
Challenges Ahead
It’s a challenge running a private preschool but Rosette has established a beautiful school that fills a need in the area for quality preschool education. Like any business it needs to turn a profit. With a heavy emphasis on efficient systems, an A-team staff and a long-term strategic business and marketing plan Rosette feels confident that the future looks bright. I agree, with Rosette’s military precision, firecracker personality and a lot of heart this business is here to stay. It’s a shining example of strong small business management – make no mistake, it is a business. Rosette financed the school with her personal savings so she needs to see a return on investment.
No stone is left unturned when it comes to all the moving parts. It begins with a commitment to providing the best customer service possible. The students and their families are the customers and without them Rosette knows she doesn’t have a business. Special attention is paid to student/family loyalty – this year’s students will be next year’s too. And happy students means good reviews which will in turn attract more families to the school.
It’s incredibly impressive what Rosette has had to overcome but she takes it in her stride and is humble about her accomplishments.
I couldn’t have done it alone she says. Such a role model!
ELIS Okinawa is located Kadena-cho, Kadena, Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan.
Check out the website here.
