Membership Update
Joe Burr came to his first meeting as a member of MABE.  He is the owner of Kale's Collision and Auto Glass.  He was a lawyer but wanted something different to do so he bought Kale's.  He appreciates being invited to join the group and looks forward to being a member.  He also thanked members for business he is already received. 

Leads & Introductions
Members introduced themselves and announced leads.

Social Update
The holiday party will be at Melissa Matthews' home this year (4391 E Marshall Ct, Gilbert AZ 85297).  The date is Saturday, December 19th.  Don Ellis has generously offered to cater the event.  Today was the last day to sign up.

Next week's open discussion topic will be "What are you going to do different next year?"

Feature Program - Coach Ryan
Ryan did not start his career teaching fitness classes to children.  He couldn't even imagine it 5 years ago.  His father was a successful professor.  Ryan had planned to follow in his footsteps.  He had his school and career completely mapped out.  Things went smoothly in beginning.  His first job was with a big four accounting firm.  It was "the" corporate environment.  He learned how to develop work plans and get projects done.  With his supervisor, sleep and food were optional...very demanding! You had to think like an entrepreneur.  You learned how to put out fires.  And you learned deliverables.  He also learned to count minutes.  Every step of the way, he had one foot out the door on his goal to becoming a professor.

Enter the GMAT Exam - A standardized test that is very important to universities.  He took it four times.  He did not do well.  It was so important that he couldn't even get into the university where he had family history. 

His slate for the future was now clean.  He could do anything.  He had that itch to start his own business.  He already had the skills he had developed while working in corporate America.    He stumbled onto a franchise called Stretch & Grow, a mobile business that taught fitness in preschool environments  It was cheap to get into with little overhead and he loved both kids and fitness.

He had six kids in his first class.  He spent several days planning it.  The great thing about children is that they are very forgiving.  It did get easier over time.  He didn't have on the job training other than the kids training him. 

Jumpstart is 80% marketing.  There are enrollment cycles that follow the school year and holidays.  Ryan has learned that you have to make contact with the parents.  The people that pay for the service are not the ones using it.  The only feedback that his paying customers receive is from their 4-year-olds.  That can be very positive...or very negative.

Competition is a challenge everyone faces.  The daycare centers can bring in anybody they want.  They can even bring in a competitor.  He is aware of this but looks for opportunities to learn from them and also get a boost to work harder.

Working with daycare centers can present financial challenges.  He has to monitor payments closely as sometimes they go directly to him and sometimes they go into the daycare bank account.  In the beginning the daycare centers did not charge him a fee because they saw the value of offering his service.  But when he works with corporate-owned centers they do take a percentage of his fees. 

Injury risk to children is another challenge.  He tries to keep children with both feet on the ground to avoid injuries.  But children will be children and accidents happen so he does carry the proper insurances.

Another challenge is working FOR your business while working ON it.  He teaches his classes which leaves little time to work on projects.  But in order to grow he is going to have to replicate.  Jumpstart is the fabric of who he is.  The thought of sharing it with somebody is terrifying.  But it is something he will have to do so he can work on things such as offering kid's fitness DVDs. 

There are five different segments to his classes.  First is the warm up.  His bread and butter is his aerobic adventure where he narrates a story and the kids animate.  After that he will bring in the puppets or presents some educational topic.  Then he brings in equipment to use followed by a slow down.

Ryan's finished by engaging MABE members in the Tootie-Ta!