Pros
The culture is great. Everyone is very accommodating and helpful.
Cons
They expect GMs to be mechanics, electricians, plumbers and marketing gurus. We allegedly have a marketing department, but they seem to only respond to Google and Yelp reviews. I honestly don’t see any of their efforts elsewhere. If you want to advertise or do any marketing, that’s on you as the GM. And it counts against your P&L which will affect your bonus. Need something fixed or replaced? Well that’s where this expectation of you being an expert in all of the above listed fields comes into play. It’s too much of a burden. We have two maintenance guys that are experts, but how much can two guys do with over 100 locations spread throughout the east coast? The rest falls on yours and your DM’s shoulders. The company refuses to pay more for entry level employees. Currently it is $12/hr plus commissions. When those candidates could go right down the street and make $14 working at a gas station without having to make it up in commissions. Needless to say, we don’t get the best or most reliable candidates for employment. On top of running the day to day operations, they want you to go out into the community and do various things that are all about being the positive ripple. Except there is little to no return on any of that investment in time, which you have very little to spare. Mind you, we’re required to work a minimum of 50 hours a week. And due to everyone always having staffing issues, means it is not uncommon for a GM left running the location by themselves or with just one other person. Yet they expect us to be in the parking lot getting reviews and engaging with customers. Upper management seems to care more about community involvement and getting reviews instead of generating revenue. They never seem to ask what is the ROI on all these outside activities they want us to do. Obviously I’m unhappy with my position and the expectations foisted upon our shoulders. and so take my biased assessment for what it is worth.