When you’re running a yoga and/or Pilates business, you’re faced with all the issues entrepreneurs have in small business and all the competition in the studio industry. That’s why being a studio owner can be such a daunting venture.
But with the right guidance and the right tools, you can set your yoga and Pilates studio up for success. Here are some tips:
Where you run your yoga and Pilates business seriously matters for its success. In city settings, you want to be easy to find, easy to access, and have plenty of parking. If you can’t afford the high rent of a studio in a particular urban area, downsize your rental options to one room. Remember that you can always expand to a bigger location as your business expands. Wherever your studio is located, be sure to make it a place people enjoy being in.
Word-of-mouth marketing is still king in the studio industry. That’s why it’s imperative to be where your target market is so you can get them talking about you. And where are your target markets? They’re online and they’re out in the community.
To connect with your market online, be sure to:
To connect with the people in your community:
When you make these connections, your studio’s name is more likely to be passed through lips. And when people are talking about your studio, they’re paying attention to your business.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking to other yoga or Pilates studios for direction on how to market your studio and bring students through the door. Rather than playing the “keep up” game and trying to market your studio based on what everyone else is doing, ask yourself what makes your studio different. Once you know what makes you stand out from the saturated industry of studio fitness, you have guidance for creating your marketing plan.
Make sure you research and get expert advice about trying a new marketing tactic rather than doing it just because your rival studio is doing it. Not every marketing strategy or approach for every studio, nor should it. If you’re marketing your studio well, you’re making marketing decisions based off your unique value proposition– not your competitor’s value proposition.
Ultimately, what sells students in your classes is what they are getting out of coming to your studio. If you just focus on presenting all your class offerings– what you bring to the mat –you may not be connecting with your prospective students. Instead, focus on what they can take away from the mat. Use language they can understand and relate to and talk about what they will gain from taking classes at your studio. Listen to their needs, and respond with the benefits they can draw from your studio to fulfill those needs.
Forget all the fancy customer service manuals and guides– simply valuing every customer and potential customer for their business and their humanity is a job well done. The care you put into every interaction with someone who comes or may come to your studio is what will keep people not only coming back but singing your praises. Staff attitude has a lot of impact– particularly in the era of online reviews!
Managing a fitness studio comes with a huge to-do list such as scheduling and teaching classes, tracking attendance, managing members, and managing and tracking sales. Doing this manually on your own puts a lot of pressure on you and slows the growth of business. That’s why having studio scheduling software is so necessary in this business. Software can enable you to run your studio at peak efficiency and allow members to easily book with you.
For an affordable, intuitive, and cloud-based software solution, check out fitDEGREE!
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As a boutique fitness studio owner, you know it's not your business is more than engaging workouts. To truly thrive and retain clients in the long run, you need to build a strong sense of community within your studio.
