Leasing a studio space can be scary and overwhelming. It’s a really big commitment. It can also be incredibly exciting and inspiring. However, that excitement and inspiration can be a big distraction away from the important things you need to do before you lease a studio space.
Meet Heather. Heather is the founder and owner of a hugely successful dance studio in Florida USA. Before Studio Evolution, she began her journey with a beautiful small studio of 300 students. Within her first year of SE, she had grown her business to over 800 students and achieved her dream of becoming a million-dollar studio.
Many (many) studio owners are deeply committed to their chosen career path and will often end up running a dance studio for decades. There are plenty of studio owners who go straight from the studios they grew up in, to running a dance studio themselves. There’s just something about studio life isn’t there?
When we look to growing our enrolments it is never a nice feeling when try and do this at the last minute. A lot of the time you get to the end of your holidays without much planning and know your enrolments should already be flowing in.
If there is one thing that studio owners do not have an abundance of, it’s time. There’s always so much to do. Program planning, teaching, studio maintenance, emails, teacher recruitment, organizing concerts. The list is endless. Unfortunately, you can’t stop doing any of these things. They’re essential to the smooth running of your studio.
Too often as studio owners we focus on the wrong things. It’s easy to blame competitors, lackluster teachers or changes in market demand for our empty classes. But what if the real reason was simpler than that?
Picture this. You’ve carved out a chunk of time this week to properly focus on marketing. You’ve got 2 hours. You sit down at your desk and… the toilet needs cleaning. Hang on, weren’t there some funky leftovers in the fridge that need throwing out? When was the last time the bed sheets got changed?
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times – teamwork makes the dream work. Years (and years!) of experience has led me to value team engagement as one of the most important elements in my business. Think about how dreadful it is when one of your leading teachers calls in sick or worse, gives their notice? That sinking feeling is one of the biggest clues – your team is your support network and it’s vital to your business to cherish and nurture them.
One of the top areas of concern for studio owners is free marketing. Paid advertising is also extremely important but that’s a discussion for another day. Free marketing is an untapped resource that too many studio owners ignore. The main reason it remains untapped is confidence. We’re not trained to go out there and hustle for our businesses.
Tolerance is often considered a good thing but that’s not always the case. Often we tolerate things because it’s easier than making a fuss. This leads to us doing too much and getting burnt out because we’re afraid of rocking the boat