From the outset The Sporting Globe has had a distinct branding strategy and carefully designed operating system which allows it to be a franchise.
“We also implemented a loyalty program which we’ve seen be successful with the Horseland and Boost Juice franchises,” Sinclair says.
“The loyalty program has been a key pillar of our marketing strategy… as has social media. Social media is less expensive than print or radio ads.”
Despite claims by many businesses that operating a small business is made burdensome by compliance regulations, Sinclair has found it “pretty simple”.
“We have a clock in and clock out system, all the rates are loaded and one of the benefits of being in a franchise model is that one of the services we offer is to do the payroll. The managers have to approve the staff’s hours, and then we process it from there,” he says.
“Responsible Service of Alcohol is very important too, and that’s been a matter of staff training. We have quite a detailed training manual and staff induction process to ensure all staff have a good working knowledge of alcohol laws.”
One lesson Sinclair has learnt in the past few years is to be flexible with plans.
“Everything we want tends to take longer than we’ve expected. With a new site opening we now know to allow for a bit of extra time,” he says.
“We no longer set open dates until we’re a lot closer to the day. That way if you get delayed by a few weeks you won’t have to panic. We like to run trial shifts with everyone in the venue before the actual opening, but with the one in Fountain Gate the painters were still doing touch ups while I was putting on my tie to open the venue.”
Unsurprisingly, sport is one of Sinclair’s passions and ashamedly admits he follows the Melbourne Demons AFL team.
“I don’t play anymore, but I enjoyed it as a junior. I’m keen on golf and snow sports, horse riding – basically any type of sport.
“I love major sporting events, I’ve been to the last two Super Bowls in the US and I’m excited about the soccer World Cup coming up.”
Currently Sinclair is working on opening three new sites, with a site in Richmond opening in less than a month’s time.
Former AFL footballer Kelvin Moore will come on board as one of the franchise partners to run the new store.
“He’s a switched on guy with a great personality and he will be a good business manager,” Sinclair says.
“He’s come from a football background, so he’s good at sticking to a system and he knows how to lead a team of people, just like in a business. He’ll be good with the staff demographic of 18-25 year olds.
“Our plan from here is to grow quite quickly, but with the right franchisees.”
To other entrepreneurs, Sinclair says it’s important to be aware that a brand can never be all things to everyone.
“You need to stay true to the business plan and focus on what you want. A lot of people questioned in our initial stages if our model could work, but we stayed true to the narrative and that’s served us well in today’s environment.”
