Author: Lisa S

Honor your partners

Posted on by Lisa S

Honor your partners. What does that mean? You stay in business because of the efforts of many;  your teachers, your staff and your contractors. Each and every one of these participants can generate good will and profits for your studio, or cost your studio precious time and business.

So what does this mean to honor your partner? It means to know what your partner’s needs are and to make every effort to meet those needs in order to have incentivized people working tirelessly on your studio’s behalf.  Sometimes it can seem exhausting to constantly be having to check in with everyone to make sure that they are happy with their job and confident in the way things are being done, but this is a big and often very productive part of a Studio Owner or Manager’s job.

It’s amazing how excited and productive employees can get when they feel that they are being listened to, that they are being fairly compensated, and that their contributions are helping to mold real change and success at your studio.

On the contrary, you can also see employees complete lack of engagement when they feel their efforts are being thwarted by inefficiencies and poor studio policies. The greatest contributors are not robots. Not literally or figuratively do they act as unfeeling entities that execute repetitive tasks without regard to emotion.  At least not for any period of time.

So check in.  Give employees/partners feedback.

If you are viewing a report in your Studio Management Software and start to see a slide in someone’s performance, either in sales, or class numbers or whatever metric is used for that persons job, the first response is to check in with that person.  Find out how they are doing, what is working for them, what is not, how you can help them do their job more successfully.  Then, if it turns out that they are confident and feel that things are running smoothly, you have eliminated one critical variable and can focus on the real problem at hand; why are customers not responding to the product or service you’re offering?

This process alone will help your employee/partner feel more engaged and ready to tackle the real joy of creating growth for you and your studio.

Your employees and partners are your most valuable asset.  They bring the joy directly to your customers and students.  When the team works together the energy is contagious and your customers will want to be a part of it.  They will return with uplifted spirits because of it.

Though we may at times think we are simply selling a product or service, we have to remember our job really is to create positive emotions and experiences for people who, by the way,  will exchange us their hard earned money for it.  They deserve the best we have to offer.

Education, clear vision and a willingness to make the right choices is the path to happy studio doors swinging wildly! If you have an experience to share, maybe something that worked or didn’t work for your studio, please send me a note.Jeff@Mybeststudio.com

Happy travels,
Jeff Haywood

Successful Studios Don’t Do This

Posted on by Lisa S

Successful Fitness and Yoga Studios don’t make mistakes that are going to cost them their business or all their savings. It happens all too often that a struggling studio has either underestimated the costs of building the business or they have run into slow times and they panic. Suddenly their revenue is not where they feel it needs to be and they are offering all kinds of deals, changing instructors and classes in order to “boost sales.” Successful Studios don’t do this.

Successful Studios don’t knee jerk. Before making big changes or doing anything, they make sure they are seeing the problem clearly. They delve into the reasons why sales are slowing. They know that making big changes to their business model is disruptive and costs them money. With the wrong choice it can cause them to lose clients or students, piss of their loyal instructors or just generally cause chaos. Instead they stop and dig into the data until they understand exactly what is not working. Is it a particular time, a particular class type, a particular teacher that is resulting in lower head counts? And then they take that particular weakness and drill down deeper. What about that class isn’t working? Is it too hard, too easy, is the marketing not right so that new students aren’t getting what they expected?

That’s what successful Studios do.  They drill down, drill down. They figure out the real problem so that when they create a solution to the problem they create the RIGHT solution. It may take them more time, but it ultimately saves big money and a lot of wasted time. You can’t succeed by responding to the wrong problem.

Sometimes a Studio finds under analysis that their overall numbers are weak across the board, all times, all teachers, and all classes. Then upon further checking in the community they find other studios are experiencing the same as well. In this case it is more a result of a weak economy than something that they are doing so making a big change in their business model would simply be costly and defeating. They are better off cutting costs where they can and offering a reasonable promotional discount just to keep their name out in the community and keep some activity happening.

So how do you know?  How do you drill down to figure out the problem? You start with good Management Software. My Best Studio Online Management Software for instance generates reports that will isolate all the different facets of your business and show you in real time what is not performing.  You can take this information and do some interviewing of instructors, staff and even a student or two to get the best, most accurate, picture of what is really happening in your Studio.

Successful Studios are not precious about their business model or advertising. They look at performance with an objective eye that recognizes that the customer is always right. If customers are not responding to what they’re offering, they will understand what it is that the customer prefers and offer it too them, or they will market to new clients that are more suited to their business.

By making smart choices and introducing solutions strategically, then tracking the results of the solutions with My Best Studio’s Reports you will know exactly how the improvements or advertising you’ve made are affecting your Studio’s performance. You will know what is happening and why so that you can tweak your solutions or celebrate when the time is right.

Education, clear vision and a willingness to make the right choices is the path to happy studio doors swinging wildly! If you have an experience to share, maybe something that worked or didn’t work for your studio, please send me a note.Jeff@Mybeststudio.com

Happy travels,
Jeff Haywood

What’s a yoga economy?

Posted on by Lisa S

Crazy as it is, the overall economy is the starting point of any yoga studio owners understanding of how well their studio is doing. If you have a great local economy and your studio is suffering you’re probably doing something wrong. On the other hand, if you have an economy that is doing poorly but your yoga studio is burgeoning, you’re probably resonating in a good way with your community. Regardless of the state, good or bad, it’s imperative to see the truth of the economy so that your expectations and decisions are based in reality. We would love to always say business is booming, but sometimes that just isn’t so. There are ups and downs. Keep in mind that different cities and states will be performing much better or worse than others at any given time. It’s your local economy that you want to know about. Continue reading →

Is my studio space a life preserver or boat anchor?

Posted on by Lisa S

The decisions you make before you open the door to your yoga studio can catapult or kill your business. One of the key choices you’ll make is your yoga studio space.

It’s said that the desirability and value of all real estate is location, location, location. But when it comes to leasing a space for a profitable yoga studio, the definition of “location” needs to be a bit broader in scope. Simply being on the trendy strip will not ensure you of a financially successful enterprise. It will ensure that you’ll be paying high rent. It will also mean that because your higher rent you will have less flexibility to last when and if your studio stumbles. Don’t get me wrong. Being on the most popular street with unbelievable foot traffic and exposure can be a boon to opening a studio and could ultimately be a fantastic choice. But it is a calculated risk and one that should be considered greatly. Continue reading →

Are Yoga Teachers the soul of a yoga studio?

Posted on by Lisa S

There are some studio owners who feel that teachers are simply an exchangeable part in the business of offering yoga classes. They come and they go. I think this is an incorrect assessment, and a missed opportunity. When a yoga student has found the right teacher for them they can become unbelievably loyal, a lasting devotee of that teacher and the studio. This continued membership is exactly what yoga studios need to succeed. Continue reading →

Does my Yoga Class Schedule make sense?

Posted on by Lisa S

Is there a magic formula for creating a successful yoga schedule? I wish there was. The problem is there are so many variable’s it would take an algorithm sophisticated enough to send a man to mars. No, instead, we use a lot of intuition and plain cutting and pasting to imagine what will resonate with our local student base. Over time one can get a feeling for what is working and what isn’t. But when you first start out it’s a bit of a crap shoot. There are some relatively simple rules to follow though. Continue reading →