Owning your own Pilates or Fitness studio is super easy right? Not!
I see so many studios popping up all over and then shutting down as fast as they open. What a very sad occurrence. I feel, really feel for small business owners especially if I see the business is struggling.
All that Pie in the Sky talk of do this, do that, make this change, don’t do that is going to drive you mad. The big question is;
Are you up to one of the biggest challenges and learning curve in your life?
What you need to know is:
1. YOU need people skills
2. YOU need courage
3. YOU need to be fairly financially secure
4. YOU need to have loads of common sense
5. YOU need to have balls of steel
6. YOU need to be level headed and NOT too emotional. Don’t take things personally
7. YOU need to be the bad guy sometimes
8. YOU need to keep the boat afloat by working when all the employees are sleeping
9. YOU need to be a problem solver with immediate effect
10. YOU need to create an environment that your employees want to come to
11. YOU need to be good at all kinds of damage control
12. YOU need to know that everyone gets paid first then you get paid🤔
13. YOU need to spend money on effective marketing for you and you HAVE TO SPEND THE MONEY.
Let’s not tippy toe around the truth. A studio doesn’t just grow cause you are that good. It grows because you know how to run it and you learn from your mistakes.
A studio is not a place where employees enjoy their hobby of teaching, it is a BUSINESS that puts bread on your and their table, that means that it needs to be treated that way.
How serious are you about doing month end? Is it a quick process or do you really sit and look at the stats of the company.
Are you running a sausage mill of clients or is there a RELATIONSHIP between YOU, the owner, and your staff and clients?
Does your studio have a policy and procedure document that your staff can refer back to? Does your studio have a code of conduct?
Can you deal with Instructors resigning at the drop of a hat because they want to open up their own studio with very little experience.
Truth…I have had so many instructors contact me to apologize for their conduct, for resigning or just for acting like they know it all. Why? Because when they were faced with the truth of owning a facility of their own….reality hit them hard and they realized how much work goes into running a profitable studio.
That age old saying of …’I told you so’ comes to mind.
NB: In summary, if you do not have balls of steel, serious determination, back-up and people skills then make sure you take the easier route. What is that? Be the stellar employee and go home in the evenings with absolutely no worries. Get rewarded when your good performance is noted and pat yourself on the back.
Leave the background happenings of the business that you walk into everyday to the people who run it 24/7. But always be grateful for the effort that those people put into it. Because you will never know what that effort is until you try it yourself. Only then is there the rude awakening.
For the business owners, you know what you do, how you do it and how much you have learnt. You also know that you now have balls of TITANIUM 👍🏻.
Keep up the great work. And keep educating yourself on how to…..
THAT IS THE HEALTHY TRUTH!
Tanya Thompson – Business owner of Pilates Unlimited South Africa and Of-CourseOnline.
