Running a successful youth sports business takes more than passion; it requires operational efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and tools that help scale effectively. For Kids United, a youth soccer training franchise, that success came with a 41% growth in memberships across their 22 locations over the last year.

With the opening of new locations at Morris Marketplace and Lyndhurst, they saw an additional 49% spike in new memberships in June alone. The secret to their growth? Implementing Zen Planner Studio to automate their operations, streamline member management, and keep up with the increasing complexity of managing multiple locations.

If you’re a gym or fitness studio owner looking to grow your business and reduce the burden of day-to-day admin tasks, Kids United’s story can show you how Zen Planner can become a powerful partner in your business journey.

When Kids United started out, they were managing their business manually, tracking memberships and payments using Excel sheets, and handling class schedules with minimal tools. As they expanded, it became clear that this system would no longer work. Managing operations across one or two locations is hard enough—managing 22 locations with manual processes was impossible.

At a point where operations were slowing them down, Kids United needed to find a solution that would automate their day-to-day tasks, provide real-time data insights, and allow them to scale seamlessly as they opened new locations.

When Kids United implemented Zen Planner Studio, they immediately saw improvements in their operations, efficiency, and scalability. Here’s how the platform helped transform their business.

Before Zen Planner:

Managing memberships and payments across multiple locations was a huge challenge. Payments had to be tracked manually, new sign-ups had to be entered into spreadsheets, and membership renewals were inconsistent.

With Zen Planner Studio:

Zen Planner Studio gave Kids United the ability to centralize their membership management across all 22 locations. From one platform, they could automate renewals, manage new memberships, and track payments with ease.

• Automated Renewals: The platform ensures that memberships are renewed on time without any manual intervention. No more chasing after late payments or manually updating membership statuses.
• Payment Processing: Zen Planner Studio handles all payment processing automatically, ensuring that payments are collected on time. If a payment fails, the system sends automated reminders to members to update their payment information.

Impact:

The time saved from automating membership and payment management allowed Kids United to focus on expansion, contributing to their 41% membership growth over the last year.

Before Zen Planner:

Without real-time insights, Kids United had a hard time making informed decisions. They couldn’t track the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, analyze their conversion rates, or understand which locations were thriving and which needed more attention.

With Zen Planner Studio:

One of the most powerful tools that Zen Planner Studio offers is its customizable reporting feature. For Kids United, this feature was a game-changer. The platform provides real-time data on all aspects of their business, including:

• Lead Tracking: The reports allow Kids United to see how many leads they’re generating from different marketing sources (Facebook, Google, word-of-mouth, etc.), allowing them to allocate their marketing budgets effectively.
• Conversion Rates: Zen Planner reports track how many of their leads convert into paying members. By analyzing this data, they can refine their sales process and ensure that they are converting as many leads as possible.
• Attendance Tracking: With attendance reports, Kids United can track which classes are the most popular and which may need adjustments in schedule or promotion.

Impact:

The data-driven insights provided by Zen Planner Studio helped Kids United maintain their 49% spike in new memberships after opening new locations, by allowing them to adjust their operations and marketing in real-time.

Before Zen Planner:

Scheduling and tracking attendance for hundreds of classes across 22 locations was time-consuming and error-prone. Staff had to manually check students into classes, and it was difficult to monitor which students were attending regularly and which ones were at risk of dropping out.

With Zen Planner Studio:

Zen Planner’s class scheduling and attendance tracking features made it easy for Kids United to automate these processes:

• Class Scheduling: Staff can easily set up and adjust class schedules across all locations. Changes are automatically reflected across the system, so there’s no need to notify individual locations manually.
• Attendance Tracking: Students are checked in automatically via the Zen Planner app. This data helps Kids United track engagement and send automated reminders to students who haven’t attended in a while, improving retention.

Impact:

By automating scheduling and attendance tracking, Kids United can ensure that their classes are running smoothly without having to worry about manually updating rosters or following up with absent students. This has led to higher student engagement and retention rates.

Before Zen Planner:

Managing multiple franchise locations was difficult. Each location had its own processes, and communicating updates or new protocols to every location was inefficient.

With Zen Planner Studio:

Zen Planner’s headquarters feature allowed Kids United to centralize management across all 22 locations. They could push updates, reports, and membership templates to every location at once, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

• Standardized Processes: New franchisees are onboarded with standardized templates for memberships, reporting, and scheduling, so every location operates smoothly from day one.
• Centralized Reporting: Kids United’s headquarters can track the performance of all locations in real time, ensuring that every franchisee meets the same standards.

Impact:

This feature was critical as Kids United continued to expand.

Since implementing Zen Planner Studio, Kids United has seen remarkable success:

• 41% Membership Growth: From September to August, Kids United grew its memberships by 41%, largely thanks to the automation and data insights provided by Zen Planner Studio.
• 49% Increase in New Memberships: After opening new locations at Morris Marketplace and Lyndhurst, Kids United saw a 49% increase in new memberships in June, with Zen Planner handling the onboarding and management of these new members.
• Increased Efficiency: By automating key processes like payments, scheduling, and reporting, Kids United saved countless hours of administrative work, allowing them to focus on growth and improving the student experience.

Here’s what Kids United’s team has learned from their rapid growth with Zen Planner Studio:

• Automate Wherever Possible: Whether it’s handling memberships, scheduling, or payments, the more tasks you can automate, the more time you’ll have to focus on growing your business.
• Use Data to Guide Your Decisions: Zen Planner’s reporting tools give you real-time insights into what’s working and what isn’t. Make sure you’re tracking lead sources, conversion rates, and attendance regularly to stay ahead of any challenges.
• Scale with the Right Tools: If you’re planning to expand, having a system in place like Zen Planner Studio that can manage multiple locations and franchises will make growth much smoother.

Zen Planner Studio can help you streamline your operations and scale just like it did for Kids United.