Jose Bello joined Soccajoeys as its first franchisee. “I was the guinea pig when it launched! I’ve seen Soccajoeys grow from preschool to 10 products to franchisees generating more than $500K a year,” Jose says.
Now the passionate football fan is leading operations for the kids’ sports business.
And he’s had a hand in shaping it into a low-level investment option that suits keen franchisees joining with any career background.
“No technical skills required!” says Jose. “Franchisees can use the high level of support on hand to optimise their business. Perhaps the best support we offer is being in the industry for 17 years and a franchise model since 2010,” he adds.
Over 50 per cent of Soccajoeys franchisees lack sports or teaching experience. Out of 38 franchisees, 87 per cent are mums and dads, with about 40 per cent actively involved in sport, the rest understanding the importance of sport in childhood development.
Training program
Soccajoeys’ thorough four-day onboarding process in Sydney includes a marketing workshop, a franchise management system workshop, and a franchisee meet and greet. Any newbie franchisee lacking sports experience will undertake between 17 and 20 coaching classes.
By the time the program launches they will have potentially coached up to 35 classes. Franchisees attend training with a business partner, friend or coach.
The educational portal allows franchisees to access their training programs for each term; it includes videos showing how to deliver exercises, best practices, dealing with some behaviour challenges, tips and ideas.
“That’s been a great introduction to the network,” says Jose.
“Both the founder, Stacy Alogdellis, and I were former football professionals, and I’m a qualified early childhood education teacher, so we based the curriculum on science, aligning soccer programs with necessary exercises and skills that meet needs of children at different age groups,” he says.
Strong support provided
Soccajoeys boasts streamlined and bespoke systems with constant reinvestment and close franchisee collaboration to ensure software meets their needs. Everything is designed to make it easy for a first-time business owner to operate.
“Our CRM is very user-friendly; many automated features make admin much easier, and less stressful. No one wants to sit sending email after email. Our communication with families is consistent; we provide automated messages or templates for franchisees.
Admin and marketing
“We continuously invest and it’s a priority because we don’t want our franchisees weighed down with heavy administration. Franchisees should be out in the community doing classes, recruiting coaches, talking to school principals, building their businesses,” Jose says.
An external marketing agency creates and manages digital marketing campaigns and initiatives and this valuable resource enables franchisees to create more personalised targeting campaigns for their territory.
“If they want to put together an activation day in the community, they have a dropbox with folders of marketing material that can also be customised,” explains Jose.
Marketing is a big focus for business building, as he outlines.
“I conduct a full marketing day with a new franchisee as they start to plan their promotions. We will spend a day visiting daycare, schools, and shopping centres, putting together a promo day. We walk through the whole process, working on the best language to use when talking to directors and parents and sharing specific messaging that helps them sell the product.”
Recruitment and interviews
Jose stresses that the relationship between Soccajoeys and the franchisees is a partnership from the beginning.
He provides guidance on recruiting coaches, supplying a job template, and identifying the best source for leads. He also shares his CV screening process and often conducts the first interview with prospective coaches.
“Then we may do a group interview with the coach, depending on what the franchisee wants.
“We’ve always told franchisees, whatever the question or the situation, don’t be afraid to ask us. We would prefer to get silly questions asked and know they are getting the best response. It’s about making franchisees feel comfortable and reassured.”
Supportive environment for franchisees
Soccajoeys’ support extends to guidance on how to handle a potential dispute with a coach or negative parental feedback.
“We’ve created a very close, supportive environment.”
That support ensures that franchisees from any background can manage the business. Jose reveals the diversity of franchisees’ former careers: corporate, banking, sales, construction, personal training, professional soccer, IT, town planning, and business ownership.
“This is a flexible business for someone transitioning careers; they could start weekends and build up to full time. Most franchisees are full-time,” says Jose.
Franchisees are buying a business to run it themselves with Soccajoeys providing all the support, tools and resources.
“I conduct monthly tactical sessions with franchisees. I group franchisees in business operations, and use these to discuss how the business is performing, enrolments, coach recruits, challenges, and what’s working in LAM; it’s a bit of an open forum.
“It’s a comfortable, safe space for everyone to be honest and transparent about their business.
“The ultimate goal is for franchisees to feel complete autonomy in running their business. Soccajoeys’ franchisees gain a level of confidence that makes business ownership more rewarding,” says Jose.