Biggest mistakes when opening a Pilates studio
Opening your own Pilates studio is exciting, but it can be pretty daunting too. In this article we’ve looked at some of the biggest mistakes people make when opening an independent Pilates studio, to help you to avoid the most common problems and pitfalls for studio owners.
Failing to have a staffing plan
One of the biggest mistakes for any new Pilates studio owner is failing to adequately plan the staffing requirements for their business. Your initial instructing team may look very different to the team you have 6 or 12 months into business.
Recruiting your instructing staff is an ongoing process, not just something you do before you launch. Even if you have a full team and all of your classes are covered, you should be networking or advertising work opportunities within your business constantly. Those who do this stand a much better chance of long term success.
Failing to promote the business effectively prior to launch
Advertising and promoting a new business can be expensive. Many new Pilates studio owners will invest heavily in shiny new equipment and then not have any money left to invest in advertising.
Not to mention, advertising can be a hit and miss affair unless you’re experienced in what works. Costs can mount up and get no leads coming into your business. Spend your advertising dollars carefully but don’t underspend.
Not having enough working capital in reserve
This is a common mistake we’ve seen independent Pilates studio owners make many times over. Sure, nobody has a crystal ball to foresee how successful your new Pilates studio will be, but one thing for sure is that if it’s a slow and steady build up of customers, you might just run out of money before you can get to a point where you are covering your expenses.
Having from three to six months of expenses in reserve buys you time to build the business up to a point where you can meet these costs and keep your doors open.
Not having a sales process and failing to sell the service on offer
It might sound silly when reading this, but so many new Pilates studio owners make this critical mistake simply because they love the Pilates method and approach their business from the ‘love of the Pilates method’ mindset. They believe that they shouldn’t have to ‘sell’ their service or ‘sell’ themselves.
This approach certainly doesn’t pay the bills and very soon, the well will run dry and the business will close. Sales is the lifeblood of any business and this is no different when it comes to opening a Pilates studio.
Having a well thought out and well practiced sales process that all team members are on board with from the outset will ensure your business gets up and running straight away and is on the fast track to being profitable.
Neglecting to create scripts, processes and procedures for staff
We believe that great businesses have great systems, processes and procedures and that people need systems to follow in order to know they are doing things the right way. When people know they are doing things the right way, it makes them happy and fulfilled in their roles.
Failing to fully document how you want things to be done and coupling that with failing to train people on the procedures is a recipe for disaster and a lot of frustration.
Admittedly, it takes time to document everything and it’s difficult to do if you haven’t even opened the doors yet. One way of shortcutting this is to benefit from the learning that someone else has already done, by going with a good Pilates franchise rather than going it alone.
With a franchise, you get to plug into someone else's processes, scripts, procedures and ways of doing things so that you don’t have to waste months and even years figuring out the best way for yourself.
Before deciding to go it alone, why not take a moment to consider the benefits of a franchise? Read our blog #10 Good Reasons to Buy a Franchise or request more information to learn how to fast track your success in business.
