Haunted Attractions Profit and Loss Part 1. Hiring

Welcome back to HH365! Today we will throw out some tips to help with the business side of Haunted Attractions. The big names are already clued in but these tips will mainly help the up and coming Haunts or new Haunts starting in 2020 to get off on the right foot. 

I have spent numerous years in Business Management and ran my far share of Businesses. I have learned from some of the best minds in the field and have learned how to translate it to the Haunt world because at the end of the day. They are businesses. Let us get started. 

Every Dollar Counts. Whether it is a dollar coming in or a dollar going out, how you reflect on incoming and outgoing matters to the highest priority. Hiring believe it or not is one of the biggest way to impact your final numbers. If you hire the correct person every time you will be printing money. The decisions you make while hiring is just as important as rebuilding a part of your attraction.

Hiring the right person will increase your profit. From the ticket booth to the snack stand to the face of your Haunt, the goal should always be to make the right hire the first time. It is the same thing with Volunteers. Sure, Volunteers means that they want to be there, but you can also have the wrong Volunteer. That can drive business out of your door that you will not see again.

In order to hire the correct individual, it all lies in the interview process. Use your gut during the interview. If you feel even the slightest bit of doubt. Do not pull the trigger. You can always go for a second interview to see if the feeling subsides or if it comes back again. Hiring the wrong individual will always always end badly. I have learned this time and time again. 

Mistakes will happen and you will be fooled to pull the trigger on the wrong candidate. It is life. It will always happen. The key to fixing the mistake is to hit it head on. Make sure you have proper tactics in place to ensure you can do what you can to have them exit. Just like any business you need to gauge their performance on the job. Like any other business you will need to document any short comings and try and help them reach their potential. The use of daily or weekly progress reports can really help you out to make the best of it. You can rate how individuals perform on a night to night basis because Haunt season is so short. Create these mission plans around what associate you are trying to help or help out the door. For example: An associate is working the ticket booth but constantly on his phone. It is holding back your lines and causing customers to complain from a line that is not needed at an Haunted Attraction. This will let you rate his or her performance for the evening. And just the associate grabbing his phone here and there will cost you money in the long run. 

Well this was the first installment of Profit and Loss at HH365! Keep it here at HH365! Where Every Day Is Haunt Season!