City Cave Float & Wellness Centre has opened 27 new sites in under six months, increasing the total footprint to 52 from 16 outlets at the start of 2021.
Co-founder Jeremy Hassell said the key to rolling out a chain of new centres in the midst of a pandemic revolved around planning, focus and collaboration.
For starters the head office team was divided between Queensland and New South Wales to ensure they were able to keep a close eye on centre openings and be available to new franchisees.
“Each role in our support office is vital to the opening of each franchisee and their success; dynamic leadership was key to organisation and ensuring success of operations,” said Hassell.
“We can have every system and process perfectly in place, but during a pandemic, things change, and they change quickly. Having strong leaders in each department meant that when it felt shaky, a quick fearless decision would bring stability back to the team.”
Sydney-based head of franchise development, Liz Seeto, said there was a strong focus on timing and preparation, securing good sites, and deal negotiations.
“We worked hard with our external suppliers to ensure they were able to support us in our expansion plan; This made a huge difference in guaranteeing we didn’t experience any shortages. Our builders, suppliers, and contractors have been super supportive during this time and our support office team really pulled together,” Seeto said.
