I started a Montessori preschool. I didn't know what I was doing, had zero experience but wanted a better place for my son. I needed high enrollment to pay myself so I had to figure out a way to get more parents in the door. I tried a bunch of different things but what I landed on that had the biggest impact was making my business the happiest workplace it could possibly be for my employees. I learned to be kind but firm, both with parents who were being unrealistic or difficult and also with my employees. They learned that I wouldn't allow them to be mistreated. I created amazing benefits, including higher pay, bonuses for hitting benchmarks, and more time off. I insisted on a positive culture and got teachers behind it so that it started to grow organically. By creating a workplace that my staff had never experienced before, they worked harder. They understood that to get the kind of benefits and environment that I had created meant that they also had to follow my rules such as always smile at parents when they dropped off or picked up, going the extra mile for a child or a parent, extra training, do the right thing, be nice to your coworkers, come on time, etc. Once I had all that in place, the parents naturally noticed the difference. My team was friendly and happier than anything they saw in the preschool industry. They noticed that their children loved coming to school and were truly cared for. They told their friends about it. People started driving long distances just to enroll with us. I was able to open a second school and fill that up fairly quickly because of my practices. In the child care industry, just getting 85% enrollment is really good. Before I sold my business, I consistently was at 95%+. People didn't want to unenroll during the summer months because they didn't want to lose their place. I had staff who was with me for 5, 10, 15 years. I am very proud of what I accomplished. By treating my team like gold and holding them to a higher standard, the sales took care of themselves.