Mistakes Managers Make – Francisco Garcia

This week we speak to an Award Winning Spa Manager/Director who has literally taken each spa he has worked for to new profit heights, doubled revenues, reduced cost of goods and a happy workforce! He has transformed the lives of those he has coached, led and inspired. A true champion!!!

Make sure you watch the video clip of the live interview with Francisco Garcia currently the Spa Director at Jiva Spa at The Taj Hotel in Cape Town, its great and you can certainly save yourself time, money and stress if you learn from his mistake and how to avoid it and/or fix it!

So I wanted to extend the interview a little and asked Francisco three more questions, here are his answers:

What do you feel are the 3 most common mistakes that managers make in our Industry? So not the mistake you refer to in the interview that we recorded specifically, but the 3 most common mistakes you see in the market place today.

• 1 – Ignorance about Spa finance and finance in general and accountancy principles
• 2 – Trying to run their spa /salon not taking into consideration what their guests wants/need but rather what they personally like.
• 3 – Not leading by example. Imposing authority (management) instead of leading. Not enough leadership skills. People should want and desire to follow what you want to achieve not force them to do it.

How do you feel that managers could avoid these mistakes? What should they be doing instead?

• 1 – Get proficient and familiar with business Finance and Accountancy principles. Do not delegate to someone else as I think it’s crucial that managers have their thumbs on their financial situation daily. There is no need to be an accountant but know how to read and compile reports and know how to act on the information.
  Something that Spa Professionals Guild advocates and teaches too.
• 2 – Ensure you know your market and your appeal to that market as per what your brand promise is. We can’t be everything to everyone. Make sure you know what you want to be and do it well.
  Spa Professionals Guild Sales & Marketing Module hits the spot here!!!
• 3 – Do lots of self introspection work to analyze what type of manager are you and does it help your business? Attempt to be a good leader and not a good manager.
  Module 1 of Spa Professionals Guild Course is EXACTLY THIS!!!!

What is your golden nugget piece of advice to all owners and managers of spas and salons in the world?

• 1 – Develop develop and develop your staff some more. Train them and develop them constantly. Also, remember we are in the business of managing people. We don’t manage the business, we manage the people in our business. All our efforts should go into that.

Totally loved chatting to Francisco! And I know his advice will give you lots to think about.

So, lets start with his introspecting suggestion! Join me on our next coaching sessions and let’s grow and develop together.