Why a local beauty bar chain feels like a ten with Rise
Client Stories 4 minute read

Why a local beauty bar chain feels like a ten with Rise

Rise | July 3, 2018

Local beauty bar chain, THE TEN SPOT, uses Rise payroll and group benefits to bring a little glamour to their processes, and allows them to focus more on the beautiful work they do and supporting their employees.

With a mission “to make everyone feel like a ten”, THE TEN SPOT has inspired a mantra by which their entire company embodies. Offering services in nails, facials, brows, waxing, and laser, “the anti-spa beauty bar” promotes confidence and positivity both in how they deliver customer service to their clients as well as how they establish their people and culture.

At the head office and boutique levels, THE TEN SPOT is devoted to providing an uplifting work environment where employees can come to work and feel supported and valued. For example, new hires at their HQ are given a warm and celebratory welcome with balloons and cupcakes on their first day. As a female-driven organization—95% of their 200 employees are women—the company offers work flexibility to women with families, helping their people manage their work-life balance along with boosting their productivity. In leading by example through embracing their value of always putting people first, THE TEN SPOT sees a trickle-down effect filtering down to how their staff cares for their clients.

Rise is an evolving company… I like how open Rise is to making things better (from hearing suggestions to updating features)... It blew my mind because I wasn’t used to anything like that.

Since its inception 10 years ago, the company has grown from one location to a franchise of over 23 locations (with 17 more opening soon) across Canada. A rapidly growing business franchise like THE TEN SPOT needs a solid payroll service to support their operations.

We spoke with CFO Laura Wittholz, CPA, CGA, who oversees the financial and HR strategies for THE TEN SPOT, about their payroll administration experience. With the payroll provider they were previously using, they were disappointed in the software interface (which they found to be “old, clunky, and bureaucratic”), the lack of reliable call in support (“you’d be on hold for a long time”), and the increasing billing patterns (“everything was an add-on with additional fees attached to it”). Ultimately, they found a misalignment with their company values and were looking for a new solution that was more vibrant, more cutting-edge, and more committed to looking for new and better ways to do things.

Enter Rise. Since switching to Rise for their payroll and benefits, THE TEN SPOT has found that the knowledge and support gaps they were encountering within their franchise-based business have been significantly alleviated.

Our franchise partners were really happy with the implementation; they find it really easy and all of their HR questions are answered by Rise.

Rise is the perfect fit for their company’s franchise model. The implementation process was “really easy,” and according to Lisa, it was also easy to apply the framework and duplicate it across their network of franchise partners. Before, their partners would reach out to Laura when they were confused on how to do things. Now, they can get the support and the information they need right from Rise.

THE TEN SPOT is drawn to the Rise platform for the aesthetics, the customization, the accessibility, and the ease of use. As Laura notes, "everything is laid out so perfectly and you can customize the screen to suit your preferences. I like how it's virtual in the sense that you log in to the website and you can chat with support right away. Payroll just doesn’t take me that long anymore.”

THE TEN SPOT offers health benefits to their employees, which is unheard of in the industry. In their experience with using Rise for their benefits, Laura couldn’t help but rave, saying “the benefits department has tons of experience, knows their stuff, gives good advice, are quick to respond, and are always on it.”

Rise helped reduce the administrative tasks on THE TEN SPOT’s plate: “They'll enroll people when they're supposed to be enrolled and get the proper documentation out. The benefits team did a reconciliation report to ensure we weren't missing anybody on payroll.”

Chat support is a great feature, somebody is always available, I don't remember ever waiting on Rise for anything. It's always immediate interactions and everybody on the other side is super knowledgeable and resourceful.

Additionally, she appreciated the Benefits team’s support during their renewal process: “They helped us negotiate a better rate and get the package that makes sense for our business. Instead of trying to upsell us or sell us on things that we don't need, what they're looking out for is what we do need.”

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