Recently, First Class Software Managing Director Lane Harrison presented at the New Zealand Swim Teachers and Coaches Association Conference in New Zealand.
Lane presented on the future of swim schools.
Below are the key points from his presentation!
Let’s start with a quick game!
I am going to share with you a quote and I want you to guess who said this quote.
First, one to guess correctly will win a prize….
Here is the quote….
I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time
Any guesses as to who said this?
Clue, it’s a famous businessperson.
Audience guess – Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates
Close! But all wrong.
The correct answer is Jeff Bezos
I feel this is a very powerful quote because it’s important for a business owner in the swim school industry to ask this question.
Let’s explore both sides of the equation.
What's not going to change in the next 10 years for swim schools?
- Kids will still learn to swim
- Quality swim teaching
- Engagement and progression of the child
- Staff and customer relationships/connection
- Customer retention
These are all things that will still be true 10 years from now.
You can put a lot of time and effort into these factors.
These are fundamentals of long-term success in the industry.
Continually re-visit these and ask if are you performing at an excellent level in these areas.
Next….
What is going to change in the next 10 years?
- Artificial intelligence!
- Automation (do more with less effort)
- Apps
- Different communication methods (Whilst mainlining human to human connection)
- Data and analytics
A lot will change in the next 10 years.
Somethings we have not even considered yet.
A lot of the things you do now in your day-to-day operations will be automated 10 years from now.
In the year 2000 did we consider the use of tablets and smartphones or apps?
These are now mainstream.
To stay relevant, it’s important to keep on top of these emerging trends and technologies.
That’s why having a strong software partner is important.
Our role is to understand these emerging trends as well as understand the operational processes and challenges of swim schools.
We can then help build these new technologies into our software to help swim schools further streamline operational challenges.
If you’re looking for a swim school software vendor, I suggest to look for the following
- Do they have a commitment to ongoing improvements and regular updates (technology moves fast).
- Do they have an intimate understanding of the processes, needs, and challenges of a modern swim school?
These are two areas we as an organization are committed to for the next 10 years and beyond.
If you’d like to know more about how we can help you feel free to connect with us!
PS – Here is the rest of the quote from Jeff Bezos for those interested.
“In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that’s going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want a vast selection. It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher,’ [or] ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.’ Impossible. And so the effort we put into those things, spinning those things up, we know the energy we put into it today will still be paying off dividends for our customers 10 years from now. When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.”