October 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Female emPOWERED Podcast | Episode 307
🎙️ How to Ramp Up New Hires Without Killing Your Profit Margin
Are you staring at your new team member’s half-empty schedule and wondering, “Did I make a mistake?” You’re not alone — and you’re not losing money (even if it feels like it). In this episode, Christa Gurka walks you through how to set realistic utilization expectations for new instructors or clinicians, how to design smart compensation structures, and what you can do if your new hire isn’t meeting targets.
Whether you’ve just hired a Pilates instructor, yoga teacher, or physical therapist, this episode will show you how to onboard and ramp up new hires strategically — so they become profitable, long-term team members that fuel your business growth.
👉 Download Christa’s Free New Hire Utilization Roadmap
https://www.christagurka.com/newhire
💡 What You’ll Learn:
- What "utilization rate" actually means in boutique wellness & cash-based PT
- Healthy benchmarks for new team members (and what’s not realistic)
- Why new hires aren’t profitable on day one — and why that’s OK
- How to structure compensation during ramp-up periods
- 30-60-90 day onboarding plans that actually work
- Common hiring mistakes that kill your profit margin
- How to diagnose whether it’s a marketing, ops, or retention problem
- The math behind profitability (yes, Christa breaks it down for you!)
- When it’s time to start your next hiring search
đź“Ś Mentioned Episodes:
- Ep 305 – Transitioning Clients Off Your Schedule
- Ep 304 – Compensation Models for Your Team
📣 Want Christa’s help building a profitable, sustainable team?
Apply for the Inner Circle or attend the upcoming CEO Summit this November.
Visit https://www.fitbizstrategies.com
to learn more.
📱 DM Christa: @christagurka
đź“Ą Download the free roadmap: https://www.christagurka.com/newhire
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (00:01):
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and today's episode Piggybacks
off of a more recent episode,which was I think it was two
episodes ago.
episode number, let me checkthis for you.
(00:22):
3 0 5, where we talked abouttransitioning patients or
clients off of your schedule.
So this piggybacks off that alittle bit about how.
To look at utilization rates foryour new team members, so your
new Pilates instructors, yournew yoga instructors, your new
physical therapists that you'rehiring.
(00:44):
And so if you wanna see orreview what, what I recommend in
terms of getting people off ofyour schedule or transitioning
people from one PT to the newerpt, go back and listen to
episode 3 0 5.
But today what we're actuallygonna be talking about is.
When you bring on a new Pilatesinstructor, physical therapist,
(01:06):
you're super excited to havethem on your team.
You're onboarding and thenThree, four weeks later, you're
staring at their half emptyschedule and wondering oh no,
I'm paying them so much morethan they're bringing in.
But I, what I want us to talkabout today is looking at this
in a, from a, a 30,000 foot viewand looking at this in long term
and setting really goodexpectations for how to build
(01:31):
their schedule, how to get themto optimal utilization.
This is one of the most commonfrustrations I see in studio and
clinic owners, and it comes downto setting realistic utilization
expectations and preparing for anatural ramp up when you have a
new person on your team,especially for cash-based
(01:54):
physical therapy practices orPilates studios where it's not
we have a wait list of 4, 5, 6weeks, which sums.
Places do.
So if that's the case, the rampups gonna be a lot less.
Okay?
So today what we're gonna betalking about is what healthy
utilization actually looks like,how to structure payment in
those early days, and how toreframe our own, Personal
(02:16):
mindset so that we don't feellike we're losing money, but
we're really,'cause what we'rereally doing is investing in
long-term growth.
So that's what we're gonna talkabout.
So first, let's talk about whatutilization is.
Utilization is simply thepercentage of a staff members
available hours that are filled.
So if you have 10 hours a weekand eight session, eight hours
(02:41):
are filled with client orclasses, then they're 80%
utilized.
If they have five hours filledout of 10 hours available,
they're 50% utilized.
That's what we talk about.
That's what we mean when we talkabout utilization rates.
In boutique fitness andwellness, healthy benchmarks
look anywhere from, you know,65, 70% to 85%.
(03:05):
same in physical therapy.
Physical therapy, 70 to 85.
When utilization is too low, ourprofit margins will sink, and
when our utilization is toohigh, it's just not sustainable.
So I don't recommend people,Need or require a 90 to 95 or a
hundred percent utilizationbecause it's just not realistic.
(03:29):
I to see our benchmarks at 75 to80% and usually what, what
that's tied to is very specificmetrics.
So we know that at 75%utilization, we'll be generating
X amount of money per month, Xamount of profit per month, and
then.
Extrapolate that over a, a yearannually, and we know what we're
(03:49):
gonna be bringing in annually interms of revenue and profit.
So this is something that webuild out when we have the
people in our inner circlespecifically.
And also when we have thesummit, which is coming up now,
in November, that's what we'regonna be doing with the women
that are attending the summit,is showing them what utilization
they actually need to hit toachieve their revenue and profit
(04:10):
goals.
Okay, so.
Where do owners get tripped upin this scenario of ramping up
new staff members?
Well, usually what happens is wehire a person and we assume that
an overnight they're gonna bethe.
Booked out and busy, which isjust not realistic.
So what we really want tounderstand, and we can learn
(04:32):
this from previous experience,how long on average does it take
a team member to ramp up theirschedule?
I believe that if all of ourprocesses are in place, our
marketing, our sales, ouroperations, that a.
New clinician or instructorsshould be ramped up within 90
(04:55):
days, generally speaking.
Okay?
So we have to understand thatour new hires are not going to
be profitable day one.
That's just not a realisticexpectation, and that's okay as
long as we plan for it.
So what I like to teach and whatI used was a 30, 60, 90 day
(05:15):
roadmap, and it was somethingthat I delivered.
To the new hire.
I talked about it with them fromday one of onboarding, even
pre-hire, these are ourexpectations.
And so really what I do is sitdown with them on day one, and
say, listen, and the first 30days, here are my expectations
(05:38):
of you.
We wanna see you at 25 to 30%utilization by the end of 30
days.
At the end of 60 days, we'reexpecting that you're gonna be
closer to 50 or 60, and by theend of 90 days, you're gonna be
between 60 and 70% utilize.
I communicate this very clearly,even in a written format and
(05:59):
show them what the expectationis, how they have to, what they
have to do, and the step-by-stepframework so they can get there.
In a reasonable amount of time.
We are also meeting weekly, sothat we're talking about, yep,
we're on track to hit this goal,we're off track.
And why?
(06:20):
So we cannot forget.
That our job is to, as CEOs, isto make sure that there are
enough clients coming through,through our marketing and our
operations, not to solely burdenthat new hire to find clients.
And if, if your expectation isthat they're gonna be bringing
their own clients in, I suggestthat you make that very clear
(06:46):
when you hire them.
Okay.
So how can we.
Help our bottom line.
How can we look at differenttypes of pay structures while
somebody is onboarding?
Now, usually when we bring on inthe Pilates yoga world and
(07:06):
boutique fitness and wellness,usually the pay structures are
like hourly, so people get paidwhen they work.
People get paid when they teach,and so you're usually bringing
them on as an hourly, even ifit's an employee.
They're getting paid when theywork, when they teach.
Now.
For PTs, oftentimes it's alittle different because PTs
(07:28):
usually are paying off a lot ofstudent loans and they're
looking for more full-timestability.
So there are a variety ofdifferent ways that you can
approach a.
Compensation package, especiallyas people are starting to ramp
up.
If you're interested in learningmore about what I teach about
different compensation models,you can go back and listen to
episode 3 0 4, where I talkedall about the variety of
(07:52):
compensation models that areavailable for us in our business
and in our industry.
But.
It can be scary when you'rebringing on a new person and
you're wow, how much do I haveto put out before they're
producing and adding to thebottom line?
So one of the best models, Isay, is usually giving someone a
(08:13):
small hourly floor.
This is something that we usedfor.
Our PT hires people, ourphysical therapists that needed
more stability, and were lookingfor more of kind of like a
full-time or even a part-time,but more of a salary structure.
We said, we are gonna guaranteeyou$25 an hour for, let's just
(08:35):
make even numbers 10 hours aweek.
So you're going to guarantee$250a week, and then we're gonna pay
you an additional$20 every timeyou see a client.
Okay, so a 2020$5 or$250 basesalary, and again, I'm just
(08:56):
using even numbers, right?
So a base salary, you're gonnabe guaranteed$250 a week, and
every time you see a patient orteach a class or whatever their
responsibility is, we're gonnagive you an additional amount
over that.
So that would usually be for thefirst 30 days or the first 60
days.
Okay.
Then usually from 60 days to 90days, what we would do is we
(09:18):
would decrease their guaranteedand we would increase their
hourly so that by the time weare on.
90 days, four months, fivemonths, six months, depending on
what works best for your,business and your studio, and
your clinic, we would then getto a full hourly pay.
(09:40):
All of my physical therapistsand Pilates instructors were
full, were hourly employees, sothey didn't get paid.
$20 an hour or$40 an hour nomatter what.
They got paid a a rate when theysaw a client or when they taught
a class, and then they got avery, very small.
Administrative rate if they werenot seeing someone.
(10:01):
So that is just how we did it atPilates in the Grove.
there's other ways that you canalso do it, where you're gonna
say, we're gonna guarantee you athousand dollars a week, and
every time you see a patient,we're gonna give you an
additional$20.
Okay?
and then as they grow that athousand dollars a week maybe
(10:21):
comes down to like$500 a week,right?
Or.
Eventually$100 a week and theirper patient goes up.
So maybe it's$50 per patient,right?
So if someone's getting$50 perpatient and they have a full
schedule of 30, let's even putit on the down and they see 30
(10:44):
patients a week.
So it's 50 times 30.
Okay, that's$1,500 a week times52 weeks a year.
That's 78,000 plus they get ahundred dollars a week in
additional administrative rateplus$5,200.
That's an annual salary of about$83,000.
(11:07):
Okay.
So just so that you can kind ofsee the math.
So that's a way to, that is alsoa way to do it.
Now, I.
The thought, and I hear yourwheels turning.
People are well, what if I'mpaying'em a thousand dollars a
week and they're seeing threepeople, I'm losing money.
Well, I want you to reframethat.
(11:28):
I really do.
I want you to reframe thatbecause I know many of you are
thinking that I'm losing moneyon them.
I need them to be productive.
I want you to reframe that andthink I'm just investing.
In the lifetime value of a goodemployee.
Okay, so the same way we mightspend a thousand dollars a month
(11:50):
on ads to get in.
20 new clients, you're gonnaspend a thousand dollars, 2003,
do thousand dollars to get andtrain and keep and retain a very
high producing great employee.
It's the same kind of thing.
So the lifetime value of a goodinstructor or a good physical
therapist far outweighs.
(12:13):
The three to four to five monthramp up that you will be
spending.
So yes, we are spending on thefront end, but if we really have
our metrics right, our profitmargins right on the back end,
they will be producing.
Great.
Okay, so let me, let's me showyou that math.
(12:34):
So that math that we just hadwhere we just had a PT that was
making$83,000 a year.
Okay.
In order to make that workwithin a good profit margin, we
want them to produce three timeswhat they're bringing in.
So if, so, that means if theyproduce basically$250,000 a
(12:58):
year, they.
Helping you stay in a healthyprofit margin.
All right, so let's see ifthat's even doable.
So we divide that.
I even say we divide.
So if we get two weeks vacation,we divide that by 50 weeks.
Okay?
And then they're seeing 30patients a week.
We divide that by 30.
As long as they're, you'recharging 166 or so dollars per
(13:22):
session, and they're seeing 30sessions a week, they can do
that.
Okay, so if they go to 32sessions one week, if they go to
28 another week, so on average,they should be seeing 30
sessions a week at$166.
If they're generating 83, ifthey're earning$83,000 a year.
Okay?
So if you're charging over$200,then you're in a sweet spot.
(13:45):
You're good.
Okay, so I hope you understandthat math.
I know math sometimes makespeople ooze outta their ears,
their brains, but.
It's important to understandthat it's just important to
understand and really have asolid objective understanding of
(14:06):
how much it costs to bring on anew person.
How much does it cost to rampthem up, and what eventually
will be the long lifetime valueof that employee.
Moving forward.
Okay.
The other thing I say is, thisis why it's important to have a
profit margin in our business.
Because if, if you know, you'regoing to hire, one of the things
(14:29):
that you could do is you couldstart to create a new hire fund
where you're saving 5, 6, 8,$10,000 to set aside for ramping
up that employee for the first90 days.
So, you know, right.
You know, I'm starting to hire,I wanna start putting this money
away, which is why it'simportant to have profit so that
(14:52):
you can prep for when this newperson comes, that you're gonna
be out of pocket a little bit.
Alright, so now we talked aboutsetting good expectations.
Designing different paystructures, understanding that
this will pay off in perpetuityon the backend.
Now, what happens if they'refalling short?
(15:13):
What happens if they're not hithitting their utilization
targets?
What happens if you're gettingto 90 days and they're still
only at 25% utilization?
The next step is to take a stepback and figure out what is the
actual problem.
Is the problem a marketingproblem?
Are you not getting enoughpeople in the business and
(15:34):
that's a you problem.
Okay.
You need to have a process as abusiness, as an owner of how
you're getting leads into thebusiness, how you're getting
people into their classes, howyou're getting them onto their
schedule.
So you need to have a solidmarketing problem, a marketing
funnel and process.
So you wanna see is it amarketing problem, is it a, an
(15:56):
operations problem?
Is your front desk not.
Converting the, new leads, onthe phone or over an inquiry or
not giving to the new clinicianor the new instructor, or
talking about going into thatnew class.
Is it an operations problem?
Right, a sales problem?
Okay.
Is it a, I don't wanna sayperformance, a service delivery
(16:20):
problem.
So is this new instructor orclinician not retaining people?
Okay, are they struggling tokeep people on their schedule?
So if that's the case, what canyou do to work with them on?
Here are strategies to keeppeople coming back to your
classes.
Here are strategies to keeppeople on your one-on-one
(16:43):
schedule.
Here are strategies to, toconvert people from an intro
offer into coming to yourclasses.
So it really is important, andthis is why it's important that
you're meeting with your newhires weekly.
To let them know Hey, we'resupposed to be at, you know, 10
patients this week, or 10clients, or you're supposed to
have 50% utilization in yourclasses and it's not happening.
(17:06):
Where's that disconnect?
So you shouldn't get to 90 daysand have no plan in place for
them.
You should be meeting with themeach and every week so they know
what they need to be doingbetter.
To keep people on theirschedule.
So if it's a marketing problem,that's a you problem as a
business owner.
If it's an operations problem,something with your front desk
(17:26):
that's like you need trainingand if it's a retention problem,
a service delivery problem, youneed to talk to the clinician or
the practitioner.
So how can we now prepare forthis kind of growth?
So.
I recommend once our schedulesget to about 80% utilized and
we're pushing closer between 80and 85%, whether that's in
(17:48):
classes or whether that's in,physical therapy services, then
we start looking for growth.
If we, if we want to grow, arewe going to start looking for
someone to come on our team?
Are we gonna start saving?
Some additional resources andcapital so that when this new
(18:11):
team member starts, we have theappropriate amount of funds to
fund the ramp up period.
Okay, this is where we want tokeep the momentum going and keep
the growth going.
Once you start getting on a waitlist, it's time to look to start
hiring.
And also hiring is difficult.
So you want to plan for 30 or 60days, sometimes even 90 days,
(18:34):
to, advertise, promote.
Interview, find the rightperson, check references, all of
that stuff.
So it is a process, but I hopethat this takeaway shows you how
to set clear expectations foryour new hires as they ramp up
to hopefully be 70% utilizedbetween, three and four months
(19:00):
after being hired, but alsorecognize that part of that.
Is your responsibility as anowner?
Okay.
Utilization for a new teammember isn't immediate, right?
There's not an immediate ROIusually, it's about progress.
Okay.
Those new hires usually are notprofitable day one, but if
(19:21):
they're the right hires, theywill be profitable in perpetuity
going forward, setting clearexpectations, having a
structured pay model andshifting your mindset, you can
build a team that growssustainably and profitably.
Okay.
(19:42):
I want you to consider the nexttime you hire somebody, what
are, what is that?
30, 60, 90 day.
Check-in process, okay?
So that you can make sure tohave a clear roadmap for this
person.
Now, the other part of that isyou holding them accountable and
(20:05):
you meeting with them regular orhaving your manager meet with
them regularly.
Somebody that they report toshould be giving them Hey, we're
doing great, or We're a littlebit off.
How can we improve this?
Or, we're way off.
What can we do to get back ontrack?
All right.
It is totally doable, and I alsocreated a nice, fun, free
(20:25):
resource for you, which I love.
I love giving people freeresources, so I created this new
hire utilization roadmap for allof you that you can download for
free by visiting my website.
All you have to do is go tochristagurka.com/newhire and
(20:46):
you'll be able to download this,benchmark this roadmap for you
and use it in your own business.
And as always, I love it whenyou all DM me over on Instagram.
So I would love if you DM me andlet me know what you think, if
you have questions.
or just to say hi.
I love it.
Maybe share this podcast withsomebody that you know could use
(21:06):
it.
It really helps me get mymessage in front of more women
so that we can create apowerhouse industry of amazing
women owned businesses, and I'dlove for you to help me in that
mission.
All right?
All right, ladies.
I hope you garnered someinformation from this episode
(21:27):
that you can put into practiceimmediately.
And until next time, my friends.
Bye for now.
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and today's episode Piggybacks
off of a more recent episode,which was I think it was two
episodes ago.
episode number, let me checkthis for you.
(00:22):
3 0 5, where we talked abouttransitioning patients or
clients off of your schedule.
So this piggybacks off that alittle bit about how.
To look at utilization rates foryour new team members, so your
new Pilates instructors, yournew yoga instructors, your new
physical therapists that you'rehiring.
(00:44):
And so if you wanna see orreview what, what I recommend in
terms of getting people off ofyour schedule or transitioning
people from one PT to the newerpt, go back and listen to
episode 3 0 5.
But today what we're actuallygonna be talking about is.
When you bring on a new Pilatesinstructor, physical therapist,
(01:06):
you're super excited to havethem on your team.
You're onboarding and thenThree, four weeks later, you're
staring at their half emptyschedule and wondering oh no,
I'm paying them so much morethan they're bringing in.
But I, what I want us to talkabout today is looking at this
in a, from a, a 30,000 foot viewand looking at this in long term
and setting really goodexpectations for how to build
(01:31):
their schedule, how to get themto optimal utilization.
This is one of the most commonfrustrations I see in studio and
clinic owners, and it comes downto setting realistic utilization
expectations and preparing for anatural ramp up when you have a
new person on your team,especially for cash-based
(01:54):
physical therapy practices orPilates studios where it's not
we have a wait list of 4, 5, 6weeks, which sums.
Places do.
So if that's the case, the rampups gonna be a lot less.
Okay?
So today what we're gonna betalking about is what healthy
utilization actually looks like,how to structure payment in
those early days, and how toreframe our own, Personal
(02:16):
mindset so that we don't feellike we're losing money, but
we're really,'cause what we'rereally doing is investing in
long-term growth.
So that's what we're gonna talkabout.
So first, let's talk about whatutilization is.
Utilization is simply thepercentage of a staff members
available hours that are filled.
So if you have 10 hours a weekand eight session, eight hours
(02:41):
are filled with client orclasses, then they're 80%
utilized.
If they have five hours filledout of 10 hours available,
they're 50% utilized.
That's what we talk about.
That's what we mean when we talkabout utilization rates.
In boutique fitness andwellness, healthy benchmarks
look anywhere from, you know,65, 70% to 85%.
(03:05):
same in physical therapy.
Physical therapy, 70 to 85.
When utilization is too low, ourprofit margins will sink, and
when our utilization is toohigh, it's just not sustainable.
So I don't recommend people,Need or require a 90 to 95 or a
hundred percent utilizationbecause it's just not realistic.
(03:29):
I to see our benchmarks at 75 to80% and usually what, what
that's tied to is very specificmetrics.
So we know that at 75%utilization, we'll be generating
X amount of money per month, Xamount of profit per month, and
then.
Extrapolate that over a, a yearannually, and we know what we're
(03:49):
gonna be bringing in annually interms of revenue and profit.
So this is something that webuild out when we have the
people in our inner circlespecifically.
And also when we have thesummit, which is coming up now,
in November, that's what we'regonna be doing with the women
that are attending the summit,is showing them what utilization
they actually need to hit toachieve their revenue and profit
(04:10):
goals.
Okay, so.
Where do owners get tripped upin this scenario of ramping up
new staff members?
Well, usually what happens is wehire a person and we assume that
an overnight they're gonna bethe.
Booked out and busy, which isjust not realistic.
So what we really want tounderstand, and we can learn
(04:32):
this from previous experience,how long on average does it take
a team member to ramp up theirschedule?
I believe that if all of ourprocesses are in place, our
marketing, our sales, ouroperations, that a.
New clinician or instructorsshould be ramped up within 90
(04:55):
days, generally speaking.
Okay?
So we have to understand thatour new hires are not going to
be profitable day one.
That's just not a realisticexpectation, and that's okay as
long as we plan for it.
So what I like to teach and whatI used was a 30, 60, 90 day
(05:15):
roadmap, and it was somethingthat I delivered.
To the new hire.
I talked about it with them fromday one of onboarding, even
pre-hire, these are ourexpectations.
And so really what I do is sitdown with them on day one, and
say, listen, and the first 30days, here are my expectations
(05:38):
of you.
We wanna see you at 25 to 30%utilization by the end of 30
days.
At the end of 60 days, we'reexpecting that you're gonna be
closer to 50 or 60, and by theend of 90 days, you're gonna be
between 60 and 70% utilize.
I communicate this very clearly,even in a written format and
(05:59):
show them what the expectationis, how they have to, what they
have to do, and the step-by-stepframework so they can get there.
In a reasonable amount of time.
We are also meeting weekly, sothat we're talking about, yep,
we're on track to hit this goal,we're off track.
And why?
(06:20):
So we cannot forget.
That our job is to, as CEOs, isto make sure that there are
enough clients coming through,through our marketing and our
operations, not to solely burdenthat new hire to find clients.
And if, if your expectation isthat they're gonna be bringing
their own clients in, I suggestthat you make that very clear
(06:46):
when you hire them.
Okay.
So how can we.
Help our bottom line.
How can we look at differenttypes of pay structures while
somebody is onboarding?
Now, usually when we bring on inthe Pilates yoga world and
(07:06):
boutique fitness and wellness,usually the pay structures are
like hourly, so people get paidwhen they work.
People get paid when they teach,and so you're usually bringing
them on as an hourly, even ifit's an employee.
They're getting paid when theywork, when they teach.
Now.
For PTs, oftentimes it's alittle different because PTs
(07:28):
usually are paying off a lot ofstudent loans and they're
looking for more full-timestability.
So there are a variety ofdifferent ways that you can
approach a.
Compensation package, especiallyas people are starting to ramp
up.
If you're interested in learningmore about what I teach about
different compensation models,you can go back and listen to
episode 3 0 4, where I talkedall about the variety of
(07:52):
compensation models that areavailable for us in our business
and in our industry.
But.
It can be scary when you'rebringing on a new person and
you're wow, how much do I haveto put out before they're
producing and adding to thebottom line?
So one of the best models, Isay, is usually giving someone a
(08:13):
small hourly floor.
This is something that we usedfor.
Our PT hires people, ourphysical therapists that needed
more stability, and were lookingfor more of kind of like a
full-time or even a part-time,but more of a salary structure.
We said, we are gonna guaranteeyou$25 an hour for, let's just
(08:35):
make even numbers 10 hours aweek.
So you're going to guarantee$250a week, and then we're gonna pay
you an additional$20 every timeyou see a client.
Okay, so a 2020$5 or$250 basesalary, and again, I'm just
(08:56):
using even numbers, right?
So a base salary, you're gonnabe guaranteed$250 a week, and
every time you see a patient orteach a class or whatever their
responsibility is, we're gonnagive you an additional amount
over that.
So that would usually be for thefirst 30 days or the first 60
days.
Okay.
Then usually from 60 days to 90days, what we would do is we
(09:18):
would decrease their guaranteedand we would increase their
hourly so that by the time weare on.
90 days, four months, fivemonths, six months, depending on
what works best for your,business and your studio, and
your clinic, we would then getto a full hourly pay.
(09:40):
All of my physical therapistsand Pilates instructors were
full, were hourly employees, sothey didn't get paid.
$20 an hour or$40 an hour nomatter what.
They got paid a a rate when theysaw a client or when they taught
a class, and then they got avery, very small.
Administrative rate if they werenot seeing someone.
(10:01):
So that is just how we did it atPilates in the Grove.
there's other ways that you canalso do it, where you're gonna
say, we're gonna guarantee you athousand dollars a week, and
every time you see a patient,we're gonna give you an
additional$20.
Okay?
and then as they grow that athousand dollars a week maybe
(10:21):
comes down to like$500 a week,right?
Or.
Eventually$100 a week and theirper patient goes up.
So maybe it's$50 per patient,right?
So if someone's getting$50 perpatient and they have a full
schedule of 30, let's even putit on the down and they see 30
(10:44):
patients a week.
So it's 50 times 30.
Okay, that's$1,500 a week times52 weeks a year.
That's 78,000 plus they get ahundred dollars a week in
additional administrative rateplus$5,200.
That's an annual salary of about$83,000.
(11:07):
Okay.
So just so that you can kind ofsee the math.
So that's a way to, that is alsoa way to do it.
Now, I.
The thought, and I hear yourwheels turning.
People are well, what if I'mpaying'em a thousand dollars a
week and they're seeing threepeople, I'm losing money.
Well, I want you to reframethat.
(11:28):
I really do.
I want you to reframe thatbecause I know many of you are
thinking that I'm losing moneyon them.
I need them to be productive.
I want you to reframe that andthink I'm just investing.
In the lifetime value of a goodemployee.
Okay, so the same way we mightspend a thousand dollars a month
(11:50):
on ads to get in.
20 new clients, you're gonnaspend a thousand dollars, 2003,
do thousand dollars to get andtrain and keep and retain a very
high producing great employee.
It's the same kind of thing.
So the lifetime value of a goodinstructor or a good physical
therapist far outweighs.
(12:13):
The three to four to five monthramp up that you will be
spending.
So yes, we are spending on thefront end, but if we really have
our metrics right, our profitmargins right on the back end,
they will be producing.
Great.
Okay, so let me, let's me showyou that math.
(12:34):
So that math that we just hadwhere we just had a PT that was
making$83,000 a year.
Okay.
In order to make that workwithin a good profit margin, we
want them to produce three timeswhat they're bringing in.
So if, so, that means if theyproduce basically$250,000 a
(12:58):
year, they.
Helping you stay in a healthyprofit margin.
All right, so let's see ifthat's even doable.
So we divide that.
I even say we divide.
So if we get two weeks vacation,we divide that by 50 weeks.
Okay?
And then they're seeing 30patients a week.
We divide that by 30.
As long as they're, you'recharging 166 or so dollars per
(13:22):
session, and they're seeing 30sessions a week, they can do
that.
Okay, so if they go to 32sessions one week, if they go to
28 another week, so on average,they should be seeing 30
sessions a week at$166.
If they're generating 83, ifthey're earning$83,000 a year.
Okay?
So if you're charging over$200,then you're in a sweet spot.
(13:45):
You're good.
Okay, so I hope you understandthat math.
I know math sometimes makespeople ooze outta their ears,
their brains, but.
It's important to understandthat it's just important to
understand and really have asolid objective understanding of
(14:06):
how much it costs to bring on anew person.
How much does it cost to rampthem up, and what eventually
will be the long lifetime valueof that employee.
Moving forward.
Okay.
The other thing I say is, thisis why it's important to have a
profit margin in our business.
Because if, if you know, you'regoing to hire, one of the things
(14:29):
that you could do is you couldstart to create a new hire fund
where you're saving 5, 6, 8,$10,000 to set aside for ramping
up that employee for the first90 days.
So, you know, right.
You know, I'm starting to hire,I wanna start putting this money
away, which is why it'simportant to have profit so that
(14:52):
you can prep for when this newperson comes, that you're gonna
be out of pocket a little bit.
Alright, so now we talked aboutsetting good expectations.
Designing different paystructures, understanding that
this will pay off in perpetuityon the backend.
Now, what happens if they'refalling short?
(15:13):
What happens if they're not hithitting their utilization
targets?
What happens if you're gettingto 90 days and they're still
only at 25% utilization?
The next step is to take a stepback and figure out what is the
actual problem.
Is the problem a marketingproblem?
Are you not getting enoughpeople in the business and
(15:34):
that's a you problem.
Okay.
You need to have a process as abusiness, as an owner of how
you're getting leads into thebusiness, how you're getting
people into their classes, howyou're getting them onto their
schedule.
So you need to have a solidmarketing problem, a marketing
funnel and process.
So you wanna see is it amarketing problem, is it a, an
(15:56):
operations problem?
Is your front desk not.
Converting the, new leads, onthe phone or over an inquiry or
not giving to the new clinicianor the new instructor, or
talking about going into thatnew class.
Is it an operations problem?
Right, a sales problem?
Okay.
Is it a, I don't wanna sayperformance, a service delivery
(16:20):
problem.
So is this new instructor orclinician not retaining people?
Okay, are they struggling tokeep people on their schedule?
So if that's the case, what canyou do to work with them on?
Here are strategies to keeppeople coming back to your
classes.
Here are strategies to keeppeople on your one-on-one
(16:43):
schedule.
Here are strategies to, toconvert people from an intro
offer into coming to yourclasses.
So it really is important, andthis is why it's important that
you're meeting with your newhires weekly.
To let them know Hey, we'resupposed to be at, you know, 10
patients this week, or 10clients, or you're supposed to
have 50% utilization in yourclasses and it's not happening.
(17:06):
Where's that disconnect?
So you shouldn't get to 90 daysand have no plan in place for
them.
You should be meeting with themeach and every week so they know
what they need to be doingbetter.
To keep people on theirschedule.
So if it's a marketing problem,that's a you problem as a
business owner.
If it's an operations problem,something with your front desk
(17:26):
that's like you need trainingand if it's a retention problem,
a service delivery problem, youneed to talk to the clinician or
the practitioner.
So how can we now prepare forthis kind of growth?
So.
I recommend once our schedulesget to about 80% utilized and
we're pushing closer between 80and 85%, whether that's in
(17:48):
classes or whether that's in,physical therapy services, then
we start looking for growth.
If we, if we want to grow, arewe going to start looking for
someone to come on our team?
Are we gonna start saving?
Some additional resources andcapital so that when this new
(18:11):
team member starts, we have theappropriate amount of funds to
fund the ramp up period.
Okay, this is where we want tokeep the momentum going and keep
the growth going.
Once you start getting on a waitlist, it's time to look to start
hiring.
And also hiring is difficult.
So you want to plan for 30 or 60days, sometimes even 90 days,
(18:34):
to, advertise, promote.
Interview, find the rightperson, check references, all of
that stuff.
So it is a process, but I hopethat this takeaway shows you how
to set clear expectations foryour new hires as they ramp up
to hopefully be 70% utilizedbetween, three and four months
(19:00):
after being hired, but alsorecognize that part of that.
Is your responsibility as anowner?
Okay.
Utilization for a new teammember isn't immediate, right?
There's not an immediate ROIusually, it's about progress.
Okay.
Those new hires usually are notprofitable day one, but if
(19:21):
they're the right hires, theywill be profitable in perpetuity
going forward, setting clearexpectations, having a
structured pay model andshifting your mindset, you can
build a team that growssustainably and profitably.
Okay.
(19:42):
I want you to consider the nexttime you hire somebody, what
are, what is that?
30, 60, 90 day.
Check-in process, okay?
So that you can make sure tohave a clear roadmap for this
person.
Now, the other part of that isyou holding them accountable and
(20:05):
you meeting with them regular orhaving your manager meet with
them regularly.
Somebody that they report toshould be giving them Hey, we're
doing great, or We're a littlebit off.
How can we improve this?
Or, we're way off.
What can we do to get back ontrack?
All right.
It is totally doable, and I alsocreated a nice, fun, free
(20:25):
resource for you, which I love.
I love giving people freeresources, so I created this new
hire utilization roadmap for allof you that you can download for
free by visiting my website.
All you have to do is go tochristagurka.com/newhire and
(20:46):
you'll be able to download this,benchmark this roadmap for you
and use it in your own business.
And as always, I love it whenyou all DM me over on Instagram.
So I would love if you DM me andlet me know what you think, if
you have questions.
or just to say hi.
I love it.
Maybe share this podcast withsomebody that you know could use
(21:06):
it.
It really helps me get mymessage in front of more women
so that we can create apowerhouse industry of amazing
women owned businesses, and I'dlove for you to help me in that
mission.
All right?
All right, ladies.
I hope you garnered someinformation from this episode
(21:27):
that you can put into practiceimmediately.
And until next time, my friends.
Bye for now.
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