Why Do I Do What I Do?

 Yeah, that's me... looking professional...

And this is me being less professional...

Hi... I'm Brian Lee and I LOVE to manage Fun Parks because of three very simple, but profound reasons.

1) It keeps me young... I just turned 30 last year and I have been managing at Fun Parks for almost a decade... (But it feels like yesterday...) This job is new and fresh everyday, because everyday that you work has a new challenge... NO, a new ADVENTURE to embark upon. We get customers that want to fight us... we get customers who cry on our shoulders... we get celebrities like Darius Rucker to come in to play... we get put in magazines... We have to let go of an employee or manager that just aren't working out... We lose an amazing employee to follow new dreams and goals...We find out one of our staff members lost a sibling or a parent or a child... we have to deal with a customer breaking a leg at Go-Karts or an employee breaking a leg at the Rock Wall... These things all ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME (Thank goodness it wasn't all at once LOL) And some people would let these things turn their hair gray, but not me... I enjoy my work being filled with all aspects of life... THAT keeps me young...

2) It challenges me! If you had asked me what I hate about my job (even just a month ago) I would have said, all the changes... but really, those changes were a challenge that I had to rise against. I had to figure out how to prepare my managers and our staff. I had to figure out where I could cut money so that money could be used. I had to trim almost 8% off our labor. I had to prep for Fire Suppression Inspections, Go-Kart and Bumper Car Inspections and Fire Marshall visits. I have to decide when to hire and when to fire and not to fire; when to hire and not to hire... At the park I'm at now, I had the privileged of doing most of the company foundations from scratch (including Handbooks, Procedure Manuals and Safety Manuals)...  What a blast...

3) It lets me grow young people... This is the best part... if for no other reason than this, I get to mold the next generation with knowledge, understanding, compassion, wisdom and general work habits... not so they'll stay at the park forever, but so they'll enter the world ready... It means so much to me to know that they'll look back and remember what was done for them... And I got to be a part of it...

Why do you do what you do?

Brian Lee

Just another Manager

Facebook.com/FECMGR

All Things Redemption

All Things Redemption!

I am going to try to make these bullets, but if you have questions or want clarification... just ask :-)

How to Structure a Redemption Area:

1) Say it with me... "Something for everyone." If you don't have a little something for everyone, you will miss customers. People will play to play, but if they have something to play for, they will inevitably play more. 

2) Merchandise your wall to be easy on the eye. Ie. Put like things together, or things that have similar color patterns. Use the items that light up to draw your attention to other prizes, etc.

3) Make it easy for the Customer to see, but also easy on the employee to suggestive sell.

4) Make your pricing high enough to maintain a good profit margin (We mark up 300% on bin items, 200% on small wall items and 150% on large wall items and electronics.) Things have to be attainable to be desirable...

5) Have a plan for ordering and for restocking. A plan is in place so that when the leader of the department is gone, someone else can slide in without too much disruption...

How to Buy for a Redemption Area:

1) Spend less money on high quality stuff. (If you are only buying from one dealer, I promise you are overspending on something... I promise!
2) Do your own ordering. If you have a company doing it for you, they will send you the crap they're trying to get rid off along with the good stuff... don't hold other companies junk...
3) Set a budget and stick with it. We allow our Redemption leader 15% of Arcade sales (based on last year) to buy for Redemption. Anything more than that has to be approved. This makes them WANT to buy quality items cheaper, so they can buy more! (Checks and Balances are GOOD!)
4) Always sell items at retail value to start with. If you get a Playstation 4 for $50 but they are retail for $500, don't mark it as 150% over $50... you mark it as 150% over $500... You paid for the savings in the department heads salary.
5) PLAN your buying... the last thing you want is to be the last one to order just to realize you missed out on the HOTTEST ITEM ON THE MARKET... (Been there before...) Also, plan buying based on what's coming out, not what is out... plan ahead for success!

How to Stock a Redemption Area:

1) Always keep your Redemption area FULL!
2) When you do run out of something, or sell more than you thought you would, make it LOOK like you still have a full Redemption Area. (Moving things forward on the pegs and push bin items to the front of the bins, or pull the bin all together...)
3) Plan what will replace each item if you are making a change, and don't get bogged down with giving away two $5 toys that have been discontinued. Leaving them on the shelf will lose you more money than what it cost you to make some little kids day...
4) Use an inventory sheet or a par sheet for ordering (If you need one, I can send you ours. It will save you SO MUCH TIME!!)
5) Use a little labor to keep your Redemption Area "shoppable" meaning, nothing should ever be turned backwards, it should all be easily seen. Keep ticket values displayed properly and make sure your staff is trained on the best ways to maintain a quality looking area.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions or need clarification!

Brian Lee
Just Some Manager trying to help
Facebook.com/FECMGR

The "F" in FEC

The Lee Family

2016 Family Vacation

Family is an important part of our society... heck, it's an important part of us. There are 2,500+ Dating sites (in the US) where singles go to find the one person in the world they want to begin a family with. There are 62,000 Non-Profits, geared specifically towards families, that made up almost 30 billion dollars in charitable giving in 2016. And let's face it, no matter what our personal views are, a majority in America puts emphasis on 'FAMILY'.

So what does that mean for a Family Entertainment Center? Well, it means that we need to understand the dynamics of this group and be cautious in our decision making. To be clear, I don't believe we let the 'Family' completely dictate us... but they should influence our thinking.

Here are some things we do in our park to make sure families are happy with their experience as a whole...

1) We turn off the 'Flag Girls' on our racing games and Big Buck Hunter HD. No one even notices that the girls aren't there, but I promise a mother would notice if they were. (I know from experience in fact LOL)

2) We train our staff to know 2 or 3 games that are geared towards each age group. (Or, if we don't have games for that age, how we accommodate that as a park. Recently, we got rid of our 'Children's' games and used that space for more racing, and crane games. Now, when a mom comes in, I tell them that kids 0-3 usually don't need much money on a card to really enjoy the Arcade because they just love to see all the flashing lights. The moms are always thankful that they can actually bring the toddler in and we don't mind them sitting at the Cruisin Blast and watching the cars fly by... that same mom will continue to come as the child grows up and she will bring her older kids too... It's all about our response (Plan a response)

3) We find ways of drawing on 'Family' time like we draw on Corporate outings and groups! Use families to increase revenue in the slow season by offering them something that sounds great to them, but is also worth while for your company. Maybe a Family Pack with 4 Go-Karts, 4 Unlimited Putt-Putt Golf and $40 in arcade for $80. (That's just $20 per person for about 2 hours of fun!)

Don't get stuck, however, thinking only about the little kids... you have to do something to make teens and dads want to come too (because lets face it, they need to be included for it to be a FAMILY outing). So dim the lights in the arcade... have TVs playing sports, let dads putt-putt for free when the family plays (because that won't cost you anything, but it could mean the world to his kids...).

Make sure you are living up to your name as a FAMILY Entertainment Center... It could make all the difference...


Brian Lee
General Manager
Charleston Fun Park
GM@charlestonfunpark.com
Join us at  Facebook.com/FECMGR