July 7, 2025 • 25 mins
In this eye-opening episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield pulls back the curtain on one of the most avoided—but essential—topics in boutique fitness businesses: finances.
If you’ve ever felt stressed looking at your revenue or unsure if you’re even paying yourself enough, you’re not alone. Seran dives into the financial foundations every studio owner needs to feel confident, empowered, and in control—without becoming a CPA.
From tracking the right KPIs to the mindset shifts around money and success, this episode is packed with must-hear insights to help you simplify your studio’s financial strategy and grow sustainably. Whether you're just getting started or scaling up, this episode is your permission slip to stop avoiding the numbers and start leading like a true CEO.
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~~~
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let me guess you didn't open your studio because
you love spreadsheets.
You opened it because you loveteaching, building community and
probably sharing this thing youlove most with others and
seeing it change their life likeit changed yours.
But the truth is, if you areavoiding your finances, first I
(00:23):
want you to know you're notalone, but I also want you to
know that you might be makingless than you deserve, because
the truth is that if you'reavoiding your finances, you're
avoiding looking at numbers.
You're probably building yourbusiness more on gut and
intuition, and not necessarilyon a strong and stable
(00:43):
foundation.
So what I'm here to say is thatit's time to stop hiding from
the numbers, and in this episodeI'm digging deeper into the
financial foundations that everystudio owner needs, not to
become a bookkeeper, but tobecome the leader of your
business and to take control ofits growth.
(01:06):
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you.
If you're ready to be inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
in the right place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
(01:27):
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to the PilatesBusiness Podcast.
I'm Saran Glanfield and I'm sothrilled that you're here with
(01:48):
me today.
This is where we talk about allthe things you can do in your
boutique fitness business tosimplify, to systematize and to
scale with confidence.
And today I'm diving into atopic that is often the last
thing on a studio owner's to-dolist but honestly, it probably
(02:10):
should be pretty close to thetop.
Recently, inside of Thrive, Ihosted a workshop on numbers, on
KPIs, and I covered, like I doin all of my trainings, the
insights, the tips, the bestpractices that I want all of the
studio owners that I get towork with to embrace in their
(02:31):
business.
And it's always so eye-openingto have conversations with
studio owners around numbers,because I think we all come into
this game and it is a big gameof business right with different
ideas about what numbers areand what they mean to us.
Now, you probably didn't getinto this to enjoy, to want to
(02:54):
spend hours and hours and hoursa day looking at spreadsheets.
Perhaps you're not thatinterested in income statements
or balance sheets or profitmargins.
You got into this probablybecause you love to help people
to move and you love to move too.
But the catch is that as abusiness owner, if you want to
(03:15):
keep teaching, if you want tokeep your doors open and if you
want to continue to make theimpact that you want to make,
you do have to know your numbers, because having confusion
around your numbers only createsmore anxiety and stress in your
business.
Because what I often see isthat when we avoid looking at
(03:37):
the numbers, we often feel weknow there's a part of our skill
set that's missing.
We know there's a missing pieceof this puzzle and it often
creates this sort of the shadowanxiety that sort of is always
right behind you and you'realways wondering what's missing
and why it's happening that wayand why perhaps you aren't
taking home as much as you want.
(03:58):
And so when we have that typeof ongoing sort of worry or
anxiety in the back of our minds, that like even low-lying level
perhaps of stress, it does tendto wear on you and it can often
lead ultimately to a place ofburnout, but typically always a
place of some level ofstagnation in the business.
(04:19):
So today I'm not going to turnyou into a CPA.
That is not the goal here atall, but I do want to walk you
through some of the key thingswhen it comes to finances and
having a strong financialfoundation in your business that
I want to share with you todayto help you to feel more
confident and to get a lot ofclarity around some of this.
(04:39):
So we're talking big picture,not number crunching today.
It's not very easy to do numbercrunching on a podcast, let me
tell you, but I do want to sharewith you some of the mistakes
that I often see studio ownersmake that keep them very, very
stuck comes up when we starttalking about numbers, and you
(05:04):
know, in business, this is oneof the very first questions that
I ask the studio owners that Iwork with.
I want to know what is yourrevenue number?
What are you?
What does your business looklike?
Give me a sense of yourbusiness from a numbers
perspective.
And so many studio owners treatfinances and numbers a bit like
that.
You know that scary closet youdon't want to open.
You know.
Perhaps you avoid looking atthem.
(05:25):
Perhaps you avoid reallyspending a lot of time in your
numbers and you perhapsguesstimate how much you're
making.
You perhaps hope that yourrevenue covers your expenses.
Perhaps you're not really sureif it does, and you know,
perhaps you know when tax timerolls around and you have to
actually take a look andunderstand to see what's going
(05:46):
on.
Perhaps there is a little bitof a pit in your stomach, right?
And the problem is that when weavoid our numbers and we avoid
finances, looking at thefinances, it doesn't actually
protect us.
Actually, it actually takesaway from your power as a leader
in your business, because whenyou don't know your numbers, you
(06:11):
can't make confident decisions.
This is often the same studioowners that underprice and
wonder why they're working sohard for so little.
But when you understand thefinancial picture, you can plan
for growth, you can raise yourprices with confidence, you can
avoid making costly mistakes,you can hire help without
wondering if it's going to costtoo much or whether you can
afford it.
So I encourage you first of allto, instead of avoiding the
(06:36):
money stuff, think of it as aleadership skill.
Being fluent in your financesfor your studio business doesn't
require you to become anaccountant, and it isn't just
for accountants.
Any business owner in everyindustry needs to have a handle
on their numbers every singleCEO and if you own your studio.
(06:59):
You are the CEO of your studio,you make the decisions and
that's why you get to keep theprofit, and your profit will be
higher if you're tracking yournumbers and you understand what
drives them.
So let's talk about trackingyour numbers and the key numbers
that I recommend you track.
(07:21):
Now, when it comes to trackingthe numbers, there are usually
sort of a few different camps ofpeople.
There's those folks who, orperhaps, are avoiding the
numbers completely.
We've already spoken about that.
And then there are some folkswho rely on that little
dashboard that pops up when theyopen up their booking software.
(07:43):
And when I say to people, areyou looking at numbers regularly
?
They'll say yes, I look at themevery day, whenever that
dashboard pops up.
And I open up my bookingsoftware and I can see on that
landing page that pops up rightthere, on whatever software
you're using, it tells me whatmy revenue is and it tells me,
relative to last year or lastmonth, whether it's up or down.
And then we've got the camp whoare drowning in data and they
(08:06):
track every single number andthey look at every single number
and they perhaps don't, despitehaving all of that data, don't
really know what actuallymatters and what is actually
telling them about theirbusiness.
(08:28):
Financial numbers that youshould probably have a really
strong handle on and sense offor your business, that you
should be able to sort of sharevery, very easily.
It should be top of mind foryou and that is your sort of
average revenue, your averageexpenses and what you're making
each and every month, right, andthese are sort of the big
numbers that when we think aboutbusiness and we think about
business growth and what totrack.
These are the big numbers thatwhen we think about business and
we think about business growthand what to track, these are the
(08:50):
core numbers that mostbusinesses track.
I'm sure everyone listening tosome level is tracking these
three at least.
But those numbers don't tellyou what's happening underneath
the hood of your business,because these three numbers the
revenue expenses the hood ofyour business, because these
three numbers the revenueexpenses, your compensation
(09:15):
profit don't tell you the wholepicture.
They can tell you what'shappening right now.
They're also telling you alittle bit about what is
happening as a result ofsomething else that may have
happened in your business lastmonth or many months ago, but
they don't always tell you whythe revenue number.
If it's up or it's down, itdoesn't tell you why it's up or
it's down.
It's a result of something elsethat's happening in your
business, and that's where KPIscome in.
(09:38):
And so when I talk aboutnumbers and tracking numbers and
understanding the metrics inyour business, I'm talking about
many of these other numbersthat indicate the health of your
business underneath the hood.
And so you've heard me talkabout KPIs before.
I hope If you're new here andthis is the first time you're
hearing this, your KPIs are yourkey performance indicators.
(10:00):
They are like vital signs foryour business.
They give you insight intoperformance, they help you to
spot problems early, they helpyou to spot trends, they show
you seasonality in your business, but they also help you to keep
focused on the activities thatactually drive growth, and I
(10:23):
think one of the key things thatmany studio owners miss when it
comes to tracking the data isthat your a solopreneur Pilates
studio with private clients isgoing to have very different
(10:52):
KPIs than a group-based yogastudio with a team of
instructors.
So the KPIs that you're goingto track for your business is
going to be pretty unique toyour business structure and your
business model and yourbusiness goals.
So you're probably wondering,saran, that makes sense.
(11:14):
How do I choose what numbers totrack?
So I would encourage you tostart off by thinking about what
it is that you're trying togrow, what's most important to
you in your business when itcomes to your numbers, what
measure of success would youlike to continue to measure and
would show that you are beingsuccessful?
Right, so, maybe that isrevenue, maybe that is retention
(11:36):
what is it that you're tryingto grow?
And then you want to make surethat you are also tracking KPIs
that are aligned with yourbusiness model.
So do you offer privates, doyou offer small groups, large
groups, an online business, andyou're going to want to track
numbers for those differenttypes of offers and those
(11:57):
different sort of businessmodels within your business.
And then you want to thinkabout the structure of your
business.
Are you a solo studio owner andit's just you on your team and
you are the team?
Or do you have a team ofinstructors, maybe a front desk
person as well, and perhaps formany of you, you have some
(12:18):
multiple?
You have other locations.
You may have more than onelocation that you're tracking
for as well, and so you want tomake sure that you're tracking
data that shares and shows andis aligned with the structure,
your business model and what itis you are trying to grow.
So a few examples of KPIs thatmight be important, depending on
(12:39):
your goals and also on yourstage of business as well, right
?
So, for example, if you havebeen in business for a long time
, you might care about yourclient retention rate, that is,
how many clients stick aroundmonth after month, maybe even
year after year.
This KPI might be less relevantto a studio owner that's just
(13:02):
opened.
If you're opening your studiothis month, the retention rate
year after year doesn't evenexist yet, so this is not going
to be a number that you're goingto be tracking.
You might care about the introoffer conversion rate, which is
how many people who try yourintro offer become members or
package holders.
Right, this is generally one wetend to track and can show a
(13:22):
lot of information about yourbusiness.
You might also want to knowabout how much money your
clients are spending in yourbusiness.
How much are they spending,perhaps on average, over a month
or per class, or over theirwhole lifetime?
And then, as you think abouthow you want to grow your studio
and add classes or add to theschedule.
You might want to think abouthow full your classes are and
(13:45):
are they profitable, and thatmeans you want to make sure
you're tracking their capacitytotal capacity, as well as the
average utilization.
How many people are in yourclasses, right?
And then, of course, payroll isreally, really important.
It's usually quite one of Ishould one of the most
significant expenses that youhave in your business.
(14:06):
It's a necessary expense foryou to get overwhelmed by
tracking everything, so youcertainly want to track those
three core financial numbers,and then I'd encourage you to
(14:27):
select a handful of KPIs thatalign most with your business
goals right now.
And these KPIs aren't abouttracking everything because you
can.
They're actually about focus.
They help you to stay focusedon where you put your energy,
where you want to tighten thingsup a little bit and where your
(14:47):
next big opportunity might behiding.
And the most wonderful thing isthat once you're tracking just
a few of the right numbers, somuch starts to feel a lot more
manageable and way less chaotic.
And let me tell you, there'snever a month that goes by where
we don't see opportunity orperhaps save a studio owner from
(15:12):
making a costly mistake not onethat necessarily can never be
undone, but making perhaps notmaking the most optimal choice
when it comes to pricing oroffers or structure or pay, and
we only know that because welook at the numbers.
So one of the things that wethat always comes up when we
(15:34):
have these conversations is yourteacher your sorry, not your
teacher compensation, yourcompensation as the owner of the
business, and when it comes toyour take-home income, everyone
tends to sort of have their wayof compensating themselves.
Some people pay themselves afixed amount.
(15:56):
They'll pay themselves by thehour.
Some people pay themselves amix of both.
Some people pay themselves viaa draw.
Some people don't paythemselves at all as well.
Right, but even when I seestudio owners making money and
most of the studio owners, allthe studio owners in Seller
Thrive make money they oftenfind that they still feel broke.
(16:18):
They still feel like they're onthe hamster wheel of continuing
to wanting to make more andmore and more and more and more.
And there is a lot to theassociation that we make between
the income that we are creatingfor ourselves in our business
(16:39):
and what we make that mean aboutourselves.
And very often I find thatstudio owners often almost
sabotage their own success,because those fuller classes,
the bigger revenue months, thewaitlisted classes tend to leave
(17:05):
studio owners often feelingmore chaotic and more
overwhelmed.
And it's kind of interestingbecause when we have these
conversations and we talk aboutthe growth and we look at the
numbers, it's the associationbetween success and what
continued success might looklike is really interesting.
(17:25):
And so people often findthemselves just as anxious when
they're making and hitting theirgoals as they were when they
weren't, and that's really aninteresting mindset that we
should be aware of and curiousabout.
And so if you're someone who isdoing well and you still feel
(17:46):
like you're on the hamster wheeland you still feel like there's
a sense of chaos in yourbusiness, you still feel
overwhelmed, then this isprobably nothing to do with what
is actually happening in yourbusiness and it probably has a
lot to do with the way thatyou're associating success and
income and what that means aboutwho you are.
It's really interesting and I'dlove to do another episode
(18:08):
about all of that.
It's not where I want to headtoday, but I did want to raise
it to you because if you're inthat place, I want you to know
you're not alone, and I alsowant to give you perhaps this
mindset shift, which is thatmore money and more income and a
bigger business doesn't equalmore stress unless you don't
(18:30):
know how to manage it.
And what we do know is thatsuccess brings new decisions,
new responsibilities, and sohaving a little bit of structure
and being prepared for that andhaving some systems in place
and a lot of support will helpyou to make that evolution of
(18:50):
yourself within your businessand to grow with your business
so much easier.
So we I see often studio ownerswho have grown their businesses
and been so incrediblysuccessful then almost sabotage
this their own success becausethere is a lack of structure and
because they perhaps haven'thad the opportunity to work
(19:12):
through some of these mindsetshifts that we have to embrace,
the more successful that we get.
So systems and structure isreally really powerful for you
as you grow and as you developyour financial success.
You want to make sure that youhave got systems in place to
(19:32):
help and to help you to growwith your business, and so I'd
always encourage you to look forways to implement systems in
your business, especially whenit comes to your numbers and
especially when it comes tomoney and profit, and I always
want you to pay yourself, andthat's why the profit first
(19:52):
philosophy is so helpful.
The profit first philosophy, ifyou haven't heard of it, is a
system that invites you todivide your profit each month
into various buckets and the onethat you fill first is your
profit bucket and that you usethat to determine how you price,
(20:13):
et cetera, and you'reallocating money for taxes there
.
You're allocating money forprofit, you're allocating money
for continued investment and soon, but you're also paying
yourself a consistent andpredictable income, and I
encourage you to think about howyou can do that in your
business as well, so that youare not perhaps left with
(20:36):
whatever's left at the end ofthe day, but that you are
leading your business forwardknowing exactly what it is that
you want.
And it's okay to want to makemoney, all right.
So numbers and money, whenunmanaged, can trigger all sorts
of stories, stories of who am Ito be this successful?
Or gosh?
I don't know if I deserve this.
(20:56):
This is a lot, or what if Imess this up?
Or is this something I cancontinue to do?
And often that's when we seefolks unconsciously underpricing
or looking to avoid numbersentirely.
So I'm inviting you, if this issomething that resonates with
you, to just have awareness forit.
First of all, that's always thefirst step, but creating a
(21:17):
system to manage your money ispretty smart, and it helps you
to perhaps step into thatsuccess with a little bit of
confidence and take you out of aplace of fear.
So that system is reallyimportant, and I don't think you
need a fancy accounting degreeto get comfortable with your
numbers, and I don't want you tobe spending, you know, 10 hours
(21:39):
every day on looking at yourbank accounts, looking at your
spreadsheets, looking at yourreports.
But I do encourage you to carveout at least an appointment
each month with yourself andyour KPIs to look at them, to
track them and to understandwhat is driving them, and that
(22:00):
can be done with a basic Googlesheet that tracks those key
numbers for your business.
And then you may want to, ifyou're really focused on
specific numbers, also have amoney date each week where
you're looking at your numbersas well, because what we do know
is that where you put yourfocus, you will put your energy
(22:21):
as well, and if you are lookingto grow your business, your
growth is going to be determinedby what the numbers are telling
you, and so this is animportant part of your role as a
business owner.
So the goal is not perfection,but it is a bit of clarity and
help to create a little bit ofmomentum as well.
So, to wrap this up, quickrecap you don't need to be a
(22:44):
financial wizard all right torun a successful, profitable
studio, but you do need to beconfident and comfortable with
the numbers that you need totrack and understand in your
business.
So avoiding your finances isprobably holding you back, and
you only need to track a handfulof numbers to get clarity
(23:08):
around what's happening in yourbusiness and confidence to make
really smart data-drivendecisions.
Okay, I also want you to thinkabout how your success is
impacting the way that you thinkabout your business and what's
next, but also how and when youpay yourself, because paying
(23:28):
yourself first isn't selfish,it's actually really smart.
It helps to ensure that you areenergized to continue to do
what you do, and so a simplesystem will help with that as
well.
Now, if you're ready to finallyfeel more in control of the
numbers within your studio, withthose data points, with the
(23:49):
metrics, with those KPIs,without drowning in spreadsheets
, I would like to invite you tojoin Thrive.
Inside, we talk about numbersall the time and I show you how
to get started and then how toelevate your numbers game and
track only the data that reallymatters to you and your studio
growth, so that you have thetools at your fingertips that
(24:11):
you need to make the decisionsthat work for you.
Hey, if this episode helps youto see money a little bit
differently, please, please,please, share it with another
studio owner, who might need tohear it too.
We are certainly better when wegrow together.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep leading your business
forward, and remember profit isnot a dirty word.
(24:33):
It's actually what allows youto serve more people more
powerfully every single week.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you run a profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
(24:58):
do what you do, only your way.
So, whatever it is that youwant to do, create or offer,
you've got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
Let me guess you didn't open your studio because
you love spreadsheets.
You opened it because you loveteaching, building community and
probably sharing this thing youlove most with others and
seeing it change their life likeit changed yours.
But the truth is, if you areavoiding your finances, first I
(00:23):
want you to know you're notalone, but I also want you to
know that you might be makingless than you deserve, because
the truth is that if you'reavoiding your finances, you're
avoiding looking at numbers.
You're probably building yourbusiness more on gut and
intuition, and not necessarilyon a strong and stable
(00:43):
foundation.
So what I'm here to say is thatit's time to stop hiding from
the numbers, and in this episodeI'm digging deeper into the
financial foundations that everystudio owner needs, not to
become a bookkeeper, but tobecome the leader of your
business and to take control ofits growth.
(01:06):
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you.
If you're ready to be inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
in the right place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
(01:27):
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to the PilatesBusiness Podcast.
I'm Saran Glanfield and I'm sothrilled that you're here with
(01:48):
me today.
This is where we talk about allthe things you can do in your
boutique fitness business tosimplify, to systematize and to
scale with confidence.
And today I'm diving into atopic that is often the last
thing on a studio owner's to-dolist but honestly, it probably
(02:10):
should be pretty close to thetop.
Recently, inside of Thrive, Ihosted a workshop on numbers, on
KPIs, and I covered, like I doin all of my trainings, the
insights, the tips, the bestpractices that I want all of the
studio owners that I get towork with to embrace in their
(02:31):
business.
And it's always so eye-openingto have conversations with
studio owners around numbers,because I think we all come into
this game and it is a big gameof business right with different
ideas about what numbers areand what they mean to us.
Now, you probably didn't getinto this to enjoy, to want to
(02:54):
spend hours and hours and hoursa day looking at spreadsheets.
Perhaps you're not thatinterested in income statements
or balance sheets or profitmargins.
You got into this probablybecause you love to help people
to move and you love to move too.
But the catch is that as abusiness owner, if you want to
(03:15):
keep teaching, if you want tokeep your doors open and if you
want to continue to make theimpact that you want to make,
you do have to know your numbers, because having confusion
around your numbers only createsmore anxiety and stress in your
business.
Because what I often see isthat when we avoid looking at
(03:37):
the numbers, we often feel weknow there's a part of our skill
set that's missing.
We know there's a missing pieceof this puzzle and it often
creates this sort of the shadowanxiety that sort of is always
right behind you and you'realways wondering what's missing
and why it's happening that wayand why perhaps you aren't
taking home as much as you want.
(03:58):
And so when we have that typeof ongoing sort of worry or
anxiety in the back of our minds, that like even low-lying level
perhaps of stress, it does tendto wear on you and it can often
lead ultimately to a place ofburnout, but typically always a
place of some level ofstagnation in the business.
(04:19):
So today I'm not going to turnyou into a CPA.
That is not the goal here atall, but I do want to walk you
through some of the key thingswhen it comes to finances and
having a strong financialfoundation in your business that
I want to share with you todayto help you to feel more
confident and to get a lot ofclarity around some of this.
(04:39):
So we're talking big picture,not number crunching today.
It's not very easy to do numbercrunching on a podcast, let me
tell you, but I do want to sharewith you some of the mistakes
that I often see studio ownersmake that keep them very, very
stuck comes up when we starttalking about numbers, and you
(05:04):
know, in business, this is oneof the very first questions that
I ask the studio owners that Iwork with.
I want to know what is yourrevenue number?
What are you?
What does your business looklike?
Give me a sense of yourbusiness from a numbers
perspective.
And so many studio owners treatfinances and numbers a bit like
that.
You know that scary closet youdon't want to open.
You know.
Perhaps you avoid looking atthem.
(05:25):
Perhaps you avoid reallyspending a lot of time in your
numbers and you perhapsguesstimate how much you're
making.
You perhaps hope that yourrevenue covers your expenses.
Perhaps you're not really sureif it does, and you know,
perhaps you know when tax timerolls around and you have to
actually take a look andunderstand to see what's going
(05:46):
on.
Perhaps there is a little bitof a pit in your stomach, right?
And the problem is that when weavoid our numbers and we avoid
finances, looking at thefinances, it doesn't actually
protect us.
Actually, it actually takesaway from your power as a leader
in your business, because whenyou don't know your numbers, you
(06:11):
can't make confident decisions.
This is often the same studioowners that underprice and
wonder why they're working sohard for so little.
But when you understand thefinancial picture, you can plan
for growth, you can raise yourprices with confidence, you can
avoid making costly mistakes,you can hire help without
wondering if it's going to costtoo much or whether you can
afford it.
So I encourage you first of allto, instead of avoiding the
(06:36):
money stuff, think of it as aleadership skill.
Being fluent in your financesfor your studio business doesn't
require you to become anaccountant, and it isn't just
for accountants.
Any business owner in everyindustry needs to have a handle
on their numbers every singleCEO and if you own your studio.
(06:59):
You are the CEO of your studio,you make the decisions and
that's why you get to keep theprofit, and your profit will be
higher if you're tracking yournumbers and you understand what
drives them.
So let's talk about trackingyour numbers and the key numbers
that I recommend you track.
(07:21):
Now, when it comes to trackingthe numbers, there are usually
sort of a few different camps ofpeople.
There's those folks who, orperhaps, are avoiding the
numbers completely.
We've already spoken about that.
And then there are some folkswho rely on that little
dashboard that pops up when theyopen up their booking software.
(07:43):
And when I say to people, areyou looking at numbers regularly
?
They'll say yes, I look at themevery day, whenever that
dashboard pops up.
And I open up my bookingsoftware and I can see on that
landing page that pops up rightthere, on whatever software
you're using, it tells me whatmy revenue is and it tells me,
relative to last year or lastmonth, whether it's up or down.
And then we've got the camp whoare drowning in data and they
(08:06):
track every single number andthey look at every single number
and they perhaps don't, despitehaving all of that data, don't
really know what actuallymatters and what is actually
telling them about theirbusiness.
(08:28):
Financial numbers that youshould probably have a really
strong handle on and sense offor your business, that you
should be able to sort of sharevery, very easily.
It should be top of mind foryou and that is your sort of
average revenue, your averageexpenses and what you're making
each and every month, right, andthese are sort of the big
numbers that when we think aboutbusiness and we think about
business growth and what totrack.
These are the big numbers thatwhen we think about business and
we think about business growthand what to track, these are the
(08:50):
core numbers that mostbusinesses track.
I'm sure everyone listening tosome level is tracking these
three at least.
But those numbers don't tellyou what's happening underneath
the hood of your business,because these three numbers the
revenue expenses the hood ofyour business, because these
three numbers the revenueexpenses, your compensation
(09:15):
profit don't tell you the wholepicture.
They can tell you what'shappening right now.
They're also telling you alittle bit about what is
happening as a result ofsomething else that may have
happened in your business lastmonth or many months ago, but
they don't always tell you whythe revenue number.
If it's up or it's down, itdoesn't tell you why it's up or
it's down.
It's a result of something elsethat's happening in your
business, and that's where KPIscome in.
(09:38):
And so when I talk aboutnumbers and tracking numbers and
understanding the metrics inyour business, I'm talking about
many of these other numbersthat indicate the health of your
business underneath the hood.
And so you've heard me talkabout KPIs before.
I hope If you're new here andthis is the first time you're
hearing this, your KPIs are yourkey performance indicators.
(10:00):
They are like vital signs foryour business.
They give you insight intoperformance, they help you to
spot problems early, they helpyou to spot trends, they show
you seasonality in your business, but they also help you to keep
focused on the activities thatactually drive growth, and I
(10:23):
think one of the key things thatmany studio owners miss when it
comes to tracking the data isthat your a solopreneur Pilates
studio with private clients isgoing to have very different
(10:52):
KPIs than a group-based yogastudio with a team of
instructors.
So the KPIs that you're goingto track for your business is
going to be pretty unique toyour business structure and your
business model and yourbusiness goals.
So you're probably wondering,saran, that makes sense.
(11:14):
How do I choose what numbers totrack?
So I would encourage you tostart off by thinking about what
it is that you're trying togrow, what's most important to
you in your business when itcomes to your numbers, what
measure of success would youlike to continue to measure and
would show that you are beingsuccessful?
Right, so, maybe that isrevenue, maybe that is retention
(11:36):
what is it that you're tryingto grow?
And then you want to make surethat you are also tracking KPIs
that are aligned with yourbusiness model.
So do you offer privates, doyou offer small groups, large
groups, an online business, andyou're going to want to track
numbers for those differenttypes of offers and those
(11:57):
different sort of businessmodels within your business.
And then you want to thinkabout the structure of your
business.
Are you a solo studio owner andit's just you on your team and
you are the team?
Or do you have a team ofinstructors, maybe a front desk
person as well, and perhaps formany of you, you have some
(12:18):
multiple?
You have other locations.
You may have more than onelocation that you're tracking
for as well, and so you want tomake sure that you're tracking
data that shares and shows andis aligned with the structure,
your business model and what itis you are trying to grow.
So a few examples of KPIs thatmight be important, depending on
(12:39):
your goals and also on yourstage of business as well, right
?
So, for example, if you havebeen in business for a long time
, you might care about yourclient retention rate, that is,
how many clients stick aroundmonth after month, maybe even
year after year.
This KPI might be less relevantto a studio owner that's just
(13:02):
opened.
If you're opening your studiothis month, the retention rate
year after year doesn't evenexist yet, so this is not going
to be a number that you're goingto be tracking.
You might care about the introoffer conversion rate, which is
how many people who try yourintro offer become members or
package holders.
Right, this is generally one wetend to track and can show a
(13:22):
lot of information about yourbusiness.
You might also want to knowabout how much money your
clients are spending in yourbusiness.
How much are they spending,perhaps on average, over a month
or per class, or over theirwhole lifetime?
And then, as you think abouthow you want to grow your studio
and add classes or add to theschedule.
You might want to think abouthow full your classes are and
(13:45):
are they profitable, and thatmeans you want to make sure
you're tracking their capacitytotal capacity, as well as the
average utilization.
How many people are in yourclasses, right?
And then, of course, payroll isreally, really important.
It's usually quite one of Ishould one of the most
significant expenses that youhave in your business.
(14:06):
It's a necessary expense foryou to get overwhelmed by
tracking everything, so youcertainly want to track those
three core financial numbers,and then I'd encourage you to
(14:27):
select a handful of KPIs thatalign most with your business
goals right now.
And these KPIs aren't abouttracking everything because you
can.
They're actually about focus.
They help you to stay focusedon where you put your energy,
where you want to tighten thingsup a little bit and where your
(14:47):
next big opportunity might behiding.
And the most wonderful thing isthat once you're tracking just
a few of the right numbers, somuch starts to feel a lot more
manageable and way less chaotic.
And let me tell you, there'snever a month that goes by where
we don't see opportunity orperhaps save a studio owner from
(15:12):
making a costly mistake not onethat necessarily can never be
undone, but making perhaps notmaking the most optimal choice
when it comes to pricing oroffers or structure or pay, and
we only know that because welook at the numbers.
So one of the things that wethat always comes up when we
(15:34):
have these conversations is yourteacher your sorry, not your
teacher compensation, yourcompensation as the owner of the
business, and when it comes toyour take-home income, everyone
tends to sort of have their wayof compensating themselves.
Some people pay themselves afixed amount.
(15:56):
They'll pay themselves by thehour.
Some people pay themselves amix of both.
Some people pay themselves viaa draw.
Some people don't paythemselves at all as well.
Right, but even when I seestudio owners making money and
most of the studio owners, allthe studio owners in Seller
Thrive make money they oftenfind that they still feel broke.
(16:18):
They still feel like they're onthe hamster wheel of continuing
to wanting to make more andmore and more and more and more.
And there is a lot to theassociation that we make between
the income that we are creatingfor ourselves in our business
(16:39):
and what we make that mean aboutourselves.
And very often I find thatstudio owners often almost
sabotage their own success,because those fuller classes,
the bigger revenue months, thewaitlisted classes tend to leave
(17:05):
studio owners often feelingmore chaotic and more
overwhelmed.
And it's kind of interestingbecause when we have these
conversations and we talk aboutthe growth and we look at the
numbers, it's the associationbetween success and what
continued success might looklike is really interesting.
(17:25):
And so people often findthemselves just as anxious when
they're making and hitting theirgoals as they were when they
weren't, and that's really aninteresting mindset that we
should be aware of and curiousabout.
And so if you're someone who isdoing well and you still feel
(17:46):
like you're on the hamster wheeland you still feel like there's
a sense of chaos in yourbusiness, you still feel
overwhelmed, then this isprobably nothing to do with what
is actually happening in yourbusiness and it probably has a
lot to do with the way thatyou're associating success and
income and what that means aboutwho you are.
It's really interesting and I'dlove to do another episode
(18:08):
about all of that.
It's not where I want to headtoday, but I did want to raise
it to you because if you're inthat place, I want you to know
you're not alone, and I alsowant to give you perhaps this
mindset shift, which is thatmore money and more income and a
bigger business doesn't equalmore stress unless you don't
(18:30):
know how to manage it.
And what we do know is thatsuccess brings new decisions,
new responsibilities, and sohaving a little bit of structure
and being prepared for that andhaving some systems in place
and a lot of support will helpyou to make that evolution of
(18:50):
yourself within your businessand to grow with your business
so much easier.
So we I see often studio ownerswho have grown their businesses
and been so incrediblysuccessful then almost sabotage
this their own success becausethere is a lack of structure and
because they perhaps haven'thad the opportunity to work
(19:12):
through some of these mindsetshifts that we have to embrace,
the more successful that we get.
So systems and structure isreally really powerful for you
as you grow and as you developyour financial success.
You want to make sure that youhave got systems in place to
(19:32):
help and to help you to growwith your business, and so I'd
always encourage you to look forways to implement systems in
your business, especially whenit comes to your numbers and
especially when it comes tomoney and profit, and I always
want you to pay yourself, andthat's why the profit first
(19:52):
philosophy is so helpful.
The profit first philosophy, ifyou haven't heard of it, is a
system that invites you todivide your profit each month
into various buckets and the onethat you fill first is your
profit bucket and that you usethat to determine how you price,
(20:13):
et cetera, and you'reallocating money for taxes there
.
You're allocating money forprofit, you're allocating money
for continued investment and soon, but you're also paying
yourself a consistent andpredictable income, and I
encourage you to think about howyou can do that in your
business as well, so that youare not perhaps left with
(20:36):
whatever's left at the end ofthe day, but that you are
leading your business forwardknowing exactly what it is that
you want.
And it's okay to want to makemoney, all right.
So numbers and money, whenunmanaged, can trigger all sorts
of stories, stories of who am Ito be this successful?
Or gosh?
I don't know if I deserve this.
(20:56):
This is a lot, or what if Imess this up?
Or is this something I cancontinue to do?
And often that's when we seefolks unconsciously underpricing
or looking to avoid numbersentirely.
So I'm inviting you, if this issomething that resonates with
you, to just have awareness forit.
First of all, that's always thefirst step, but creating a
(21:17):
system to manage your money ispretty smart, and it helps you
to perhaps step into thatsuccess with a little bit of
confidence and take you out of aplace of fear.
So that system is reallyimportant, and I don't think you
need a fancy accounting degreeto get comfortable with your
numbers, and I don't want you tobe spending, you know, 10 hours
(21:39):
every day on looking at yourbank accounts, looking at your
spreadsheets, looking at yourreports.
But I do encourage you to carveout at least an appointment
each month with yourself andyour KPIs to look at them, to
track them and to understandwhat is driving them, and that
(22:00):
can be done with a basic Googlesheet that tracks those key
numbers for your business.
And then you may want to, ifyou're really focused on
specific numbers, also have amoney date each week where
you're looking at your numbersas well, because what we do know
is that where you put yourfocus, you will put your energy
(22:21):
as well, and if you are lookingto grow your business, your
growth is going to be determinedby what the numbers are telling
you, and so this is animportant part of your role as a
business owner.
So the goal is not perfection,but it is a bit of clarity and
help to create a little bit ofmomentum as well.
So, to wrap this up, quickrecap you don't need to be a
(22:44):
financial wizard all right torun a successful, profitable
studio, but you do need to beconfident and comfortable with
the numbers that you need totrack and understand in your
business.
So avoiding your finances isprobably holding you back, and
you only need to track a handfulof numbers to get clarity
(23:08):
around what's happening in yourbusiness and confidence to make
really smart data-drivendecisions.
Okay, I also want you to thinkabout how your success is
impacting the way that you thinkabout your business and what's
next, but also how and when youpay yourself, because paying
(23:28):
yourself first isn't selfish,it's actually really smart.
It helps to ensure that you areenergized to continue to do
what you do, and so a simplesystem will help with that as
well.
Now, if you're ready to finallyfeel more in control of the
numbers within your studio, withthose data points, with the
(23:49):
metrics, with those KPIs,without drowning in spreadsheets
, I would like to invite you tojoin Thrive.
Inside, we talk about numbersall the time and I show you how
to get started and then how toelevate your numbers game and
track only the data that reallymatters to you and your studio
growth, so that you have thetools at your fingertips that
(24:11):
you need to make the decisionsthat work for you.
Hey, if this episode helps youto see money a little bit
differently, please, please,please, share it with another
studio owner, who might need tohear it too.
We are certainly better when wegrow together.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep leading your business
forward, and remember profit isnot a dirty word.
(24:33):
It's actually what allows youto serve more people more
powerfully every single week.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you run a profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
(24:58):
do what you do, only your way.
So, whatever it is that youwant to do, create or offer,
you've got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
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