‍

Among highly competitive quick-service restaurants (QSR), maintaining brand consistency and ensuring effective training across a vast franchise network is paramount. For Bahama Buck’s, a popular shaved ice franchise with 114 locations, this challenge was met head-on by partnering with Opus to bolster staff training. Adopting Opus effectively improved training and communication, closing gaps and strengthening relationships between franchisors and franchisees. Read on to uncover the solutions that helped Bahama Buck’s transform its training programs and overcome its challenges.

Challenge: Low Visibility into Training Operations Produced Inconsistent Franchise Performance

Before Opus, Bahama Buck’s relied heavily on paper-based training materials and a limited in-house training dashboard called "Icebox." This approach created significant challenges in maintaining brand consistency due to the time-consuming process (upwards of two years!) of updating and distributing printed training materials to its franchisees. This made it difficult for the company to maintain consistent product quality and customer service across locations. Because of outdated materials, franchises struggled to keep training current, leading to inconsistencies and growing training gaps. 

Opus as a Solution to Streamline Training Time, Accelerating Productivity and Store Performance 

Bahama Buck’s chose Opus Training to address these challenges head-on, leveraging its robust features to standardize training. Bahama Buck's introduced role-based training paths in Opus that ensured consistent skill mastery across all locations.

Engaging and Accessible Training

Opus’ interactive training elements and app-based format resonated with their younger demographic of crew members, improving knowledge retention across the board. The platform also empowered franchisee managers with easy-to-use reporting for monitoring individual and team progress, tracking assignments, and identifying areas for improvement. 

Streamlined Communication and Access to Information

Opus’ messaging tools and ease of access allowed managers to easily direct employees to training modules for quick refreshers and SOP guidance.

Real-Time Updates for Consistent Standards

With Opus, Bahama Buck’s gained more than just the ability to update training materials—they gained the agility to evolve their entire training strategy. What once took years to refresh can now be iterated in real time, allowing corporate teams to respond to frontline needs faster and smarter.

For example, they expanded their role-based training into a clear leveling system, setting consistent expectations for performance and progression across all locations. It’s a flexible, data-informed approach that helps franchisees deliver better training, faster.

💡 Curious how Bahama Buck’s uses role-based levels to guide crew development? Check out their Level 1 Core Training module in action →

Results: Strengthening Franchise Relations and Driving Tangible Results in the Field

‍

With Opus, Bahama Buck’s has turned training into a strategic bridge between the corporate office and its franchise community:

  • Franchisee satisfaction is up, thanks to always-current training materials and real-time updates that eliminate the delays and inconsistencies of the past.
  • Field managers are more effective, with 80% of Bahama Buck’s managers using the Opus Training mobile app and reporting tools to track progress, coach teams, and conduct check-ins—without the burden of paper-based training.
  • Corporate teams gain real-time visibility into training completion and crew development, allowing them to support franchisees proactively.‍
  • Employees ramp 25% faster, boosting operational readiness and retention across all locations.

Franchisees and managers alike now feel supported—not just with tools, but with time back, clearer standards, and stronger communication.

Close-up: Opus by the Numbers: 25% Faster Ramp Time for New Hires in Opus

Before adopting Opus, Bahama Buck’s relied on a paper-based leveling system to guide crew progression—from Newbie to Level 3. While the structure existed, there was no centralized way to track completion times across franchise locations, making it difficult to pinpoint how long onboarding and upskilling actually took. 

Most shops estimated a timeline of 6 to 12 months based on hours worked and rough benchmarks. With Opus, that ambiguity is gone. Training progress is now measurable, consistent, and significantly faster. New hires are reaching Level 3 in just 4.5 months—a 25% reduction in ramp time—thanks to mobile-first learning, clearer milestones, and reporting visibility across all locations.

Powering Management Performance in the Field with > 80% mobile adoption

Opus is designed for mobile from the ground up. 93% of managers and 80% of franchisees use the mobile app to stay connected to their teams and training. Whether it’s reviewing dashboards, sending messages, or conducting Opus Check-ins, everything happens right from their phones. This proactive approach to training doesn’t just boost knowledge retention—it also saves time for field leaders.

“With Opus, Check-ins provide us the chance to have intentional, continuous learning opportunities embedded throughout the training journey,” said Cierra Miller, Director of Field Operations. “Crew members receive structured training at the right moments, which allows us to reinforce key training concepts before they can become issues.”

Franchisees win with smarter training. Opus gives every crew member a clear path forward, while empowering leaders with the tools to support them. Training happens in real time, managers get time back, and operations stay consistent. From the shop floor to the corporate office, Opus is helping Bahama Buck’s scale what works.

‍