News And Notes
Welcome to 2022 Luv 2 Play family! We are super excited to see so many of you working your way through an exhausting 2021. With all of the ups and downs, we have seen so much growth in our locations.
We saw Metairie rebuild from the ground up after the calamity of a hurricane. We saw Grande Prairie have to pivot right after opening to adhere to Canadian restrictions on COVID-19. We saw Sutton and Surprise open back up with new owners.
The backbone of our brand is our owners. From Neeraj to Jessica to Adam, and everyone in between. Here is to a successful 2022. We are here for you, and we expect greatness in 22!
Inside The Numbers
December 2021 Top 5 Revenue Streams
Parties:
- Dublin: $23,838
- Norterra: $18,977
- Stockton: $17,810
- San Jose: $17,435
- Chino: $17,084
Food/Beverage:
- Appleton: $19,027
- Stockton: $14,523
- Riverside: $11,541
- Dublin: $11,221
- Norterra: $10,783
Entries:
- San Jose: $39,030
- Riverside: $33,021
- Appleton: $32,373
- Stockton: $30,262
- Sutton: $23,106
*Arcade:
- Grande Prairie: $17,771
- Norterra: $10,891
- Sutton: $10,841
- Sandy: $8,030
- Fairfax: $5,923
*Partial numbers, please see your own records for complete analysis
*Active Members:
- Norterra: 369
- Sutton: 356
- Sandy: 311
- San Jose: 289
- Dublin: 278
*As of January 20, 2022
Our Corporate Website is where you can place purchase orders, submit warranty requests, grab “to go” marketing graphics and mingle with your fellow franchisees.
Update: Socks are IN! We have the following sizes in stock and ready to ship.
- Toddler
- X-Small
- Small
- Medium
- Large
- X-Large
- XX-Large
Please use the company portal to place your order. In order to expedite these orders, we are requesting orders of 200 per size, which is 1 box per size.
Also, check out our Franchise Blog, it has timely information and updates on training and development. The blog showcases tips and tricks for increasing revenue and buy in. The latest blog gives you an understanding of employee recognition. Please check this regularly, as new content will be posted weekly to assist each of you succeed! Do you have your own tips and tricks? Please submit them and we can use it in a future issue.
Revenue Stream Spotlight
Sutton has done an incredible job bringing a fun and exciting playground to the town of Sutton. They have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to bring joy to the kids and parents there. The hard work has paid off, and they are consistently in the top 5 for many of the revenue streams of Luv 2 Play.
A Word From Aluvii
My name is Robert Brinton, CEO and co-founder of Aluvii. I have had the pleasure of working with the Luv 2 Play Indoor Playground franchise group since 2016. We love working with the corporate team and each individual franchisee location. My role at the company is not normally to train or provide general customer support, but I have chosen to personally work with each new location as you train to go live and ongoing support because I value the relationship we have with Luv 2 Play and each of you. I also attribute much of our POS indoor playground functionality to the conversations and goals we’ve had together with Luv 2 Play to deliver an all-in-one POS solution for your franchise locations. I look forward to work with each of you as we continue to grow together. If you need any help or have any questions about Aluvii, feel free to reach out to me directly.
Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unique challenges to our company, and all of you. But we have continued to work hard to improve the software and release new features. One of the major projects over the last 18 months has been to rebuild our entire hardware integration infrastructure to provide more reliability and stability to the connection with hardware devices. We are continuing to roll out these new changes in our 3.0 version. Because this version requires a new gateway installation on each POS machine, we need to roll this out slower, one at a time. Some of the franchise locations have already received this update, and others are coming soon. If you want this update now, feel free to reach out to me. To read the release notes about the other great features included in that 3.0 version, click here.
A few highlights include improvements to reduce fraud for online payments, as well as prompting the customer to enter a tip on the payment terminal in employee registers. We also released our party e-vites & RSVP feature to allow customers and employees to send party invitations.
We are also in our beta phase for our new version 3.1 release that also has many great features for Luv 2 Play indoor playgrounds. To see the full release notes for this version, click here.
This includes the ability for customers to sign waivers while purchasing online, pay with gift cards on ecommerce, and some price adjustment features on sessions tickets to allow higher pricing on weekends. This version will also include notifications when pay plan payments fail, and the ability to move/suspend the next pay plan billing date.
Overall, I am pleased with the recent updates, and I am proud of our team for what they have been able to accomplish despite the unique challenges. I think you will also like the new updates.
When it comes to software improvements, one of our core beliefs at Aluvii is that the software is never “done.” We will always continue to improve and develop new features to provide the best all-in-one POS software in the industry. We look forward to a good year in 2022!
From Sophia’s Desk
As we continue to progress and expand the Luv 2 Play brand, we want to ensure that we continue to stand out from the competition. To do so the playground equipment must be more attractive, and new play events must be added over time to keep the playground modern and exciting. We want to remind you all that our partners at Indoor Playgrounds International have the largest selection of new and exciting product lines, and we invite you to check in with our direct Indoor Playgrounds connection to help provide you with all your playground upgrade needs.
Brandon Heising
866-856-9778, ext. 714
We are also looking into new partnership opportunities to add some exciting new menu options to bring a little more attention to our cafés, so stay tuned!!
Marketing 101
What is local marketing? It is the marketing you do within the community. The first step to getting involved is getting to know your community. Since we are kid focused it makes sense to start where the kids are, by creating a list of who your potential community partners are such as:
- Youth Groups
- Elementary Schools
- Preschools
- Daycares
- Sports Teams
- Boys & Girls Club
- YMCA
- Girl Scouts
- Boy Scouts
- Thanks Home School Organizations
- PTA/PTO
- Mom/Dad Play Groups
- Church Groups
- Youth Groups
- Vacation Bible School
- Mother’s of Preschoolers (MOPS)
- Parents without Partners
- Non-Profits
- Big Brother Big Sister
- Rotary Clubs
- Libraries
- Make a Wish
- Toys for Tots
- Children’s Hospitals
In this list document any information you can find such as contact information for a few different people, programs, and needs. Some programs that may be interesting is anything discussing reward programs, field trips, camps, or fundraising needs.
Make sure to do your research so you can ask questions but also so you can talk about ways that you can support their programs. But also ask what they would like to see what a helpful partnership for them would be.
Go with a plan on what services you can provide, but also go with some goodies. Here are some ideas for programs or services that make sense for our brand, having these lined out will help when you have a call or meet. Do not just mail information, they may look at it, but it will likely be thrown away. You will want to speak to someone in person, virtual meeting, or over the phone. Ask for 15 minutes if they are reluctant.
DONATIONS
Set a budget, create a plan. Your donations do not have to be enormous. Give Admission Passes they cost you little for the card themselves and relatively little when redeemed, plus they generate a buzz that you donate- something goes a long way versus nothing. We can even create certificates in Canva like below.
FUNDRAISING
Offer a fundraising program, determine a percent you want to give. When determining this amount make sure to know what your competitors offer and local restaurants, too. Create incentives for participation for the classes. Get the principals & teachers involved. Create fun themes. Give teachers and principal a free drink or food item when attending. When you have the staff participation you will see the kids. Create a contest between schools but make it a big deal with a kickoff and check presentation. Invite local schools to a continental breakfast to rollout. Offer to match or double the winner. Give items they can sell before hand like half off game cards. The sky is the limit.
VOLUNTEERING
Do community walks with Children Hospital with your staff. It is great for team building and sometimes you can even have a vendor table. Volunteer to read in classrooms during Read Across America week (end of February) and give $2 Off Coupons. Participate in school festivals as a vendor.
FIELD TRIPS
January/February is when schools begin to look out spending the remainder of their budget which means funding for reward field trips. Daycares, Summer Camps, and Recreation also look for field trips.
END OF YEAR PARTIES
January/February that also plan end of year graduations for Kinder and Preschool.
TEAMS
Create a partnership with local organizations to allow them to host tables for team sign ups. Host a organization kick off party and give a free party to one team who books their end of year party.
INCENTIVE AWARDS
Partner with a school or a district and offer an award for ongoings at the school. Free admission for perfect attendance passes... Free pizza for reading goals.... etc.
DISCOUNTS
Offer an organization a group rate for a specific date or every day. Provide organizations or local schools a discount for their staff.
A LITTLE BIT OF IT ALL! Get CREATIVE!
We can help with that! Meet with the Principals in your area and find out what the school does that is unique to them. Meet with the Parent leaders. I have found the principals have programs they need help with, and they are great influencers for Field Trips and Fundraisers, too. You have to go in with the "Give" mindset and not the "Get". The "Get" will come but sometimes it does take nurturing the partnership.
Set a goal to collect information and contact potential partners every week. Also set a goal of scheduled events per month. Start small 5 contacts a week, 1 event (20%).
As always please reach out if you have any questions or want assistance to build your program of offerings. Schedule a meeting here: https://calendly.com/luv2playmarketing/planning
Brand Colors
SOCI Reminder
You should have received an email with an invite from SOCi and you probably have already begun to see notifications. If you cannot find this email please let me know and I can have it resent. As a reminder it is very important to be responding to reviews and posting to Google often to help increase your SEO. Below are directions for self-guided resources on how to use the platform. You may also schedule a time with me to review if you have questions https://calendly.com/luv2playmarketing/planning.
For more information on SOCI and other marketing programs, email Christina. Use our marketing portal on the corporate website to submit requests. We highly recommend using the company portal for your communication with our marketing department. This will help us give you the tools you need in a way that has accountability on both sides of the coin.
Party Central
Tips and Tricks from the Field!
Here are some tips and tricks, do’s and don’ts from our Party Director, Lacey Meadows. Questions? Please email her at lacey@luv2play.com, we are here to help and assist.
Training and Development Corner
Ongoing Sales and Operation Training Available
The following video outlines an important aspect of any business. The time you spend in your business, and the time you spend on your business. Casey Cavell is one of the most impactful people I know. His theories and applications are a centerpiece of what has made him a successful business leader in todays world. The video is less then 2 minutes, but the lasting impact of his words should give a moment to ask yourself those three questions he brings up.
With the seasonality of our playgrounds, one of the ways you can set a plan in. For questions, please email me at edward@luv2play.com and I will be happy to elaborate or offer one on one or group training.
Luv 2 Play Monthly Conference Call
We have begun to set up our monthly conference calls with our franchisees. Please reach out to Sophia if you have any questions. The corporate team of Edward, Lacey, Christina and Sophia are eager to help. To set up a time use the link below.
This year, I will be visiting each location for a few days to offer support and training. You can reach out to me on a good day of the week and month that fits your schedule.
2022 will also have the return of the Luv 2 Play Convention in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2022. We will be gearing up for an exciting convention. Right now, I want to hear from you! Tell me the top 3 things you want to see from this year. I want this to be a collaborative event. Hope to hear from you this quarter.