6 questions to ask yourself before starting your Pilates business
Karen decides to run a marathon. She has chatted to her work colleagues and they’re all going to do it together. They’ve signed up for an online program and will train during their lunch break. They’ve bought new running shoes; they are super pumped. It’s going to be terrific. A few weeks into training and Karen is a bundle of aches and pains as she limps into your studio. She’s in a bad way.
Trevor wants to lose weight so he joins F45; he’s heard it works fast. He pumps the weights, he skips, he does every one of the “nerve-busting, vein-popping exercises” in all the classes. In his enthusiasm he and some of the people at his F45 signed up to do Tough Mudder together. Today Trevor can hardly walk up the stairs to your Pilates studio as he seeks relief from his injuries. He’s in a bad way.
Chances are you’ve seen someone similar to Karen or Trevor in your studio, and if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard about them.
It’s so easy for people to be caught up in the enthusiasm of a new exercise program especially when the end result is 10kgs of lost weight, running a marathon or competing in an extreme event like Tough Mudder.
As professional Pilates instructors, you know the importance of injury prevention through education and planning.
You just wish that Karen and Trevor had been clients before they started on their training regime. A few simple preventative measures would have made all the difference to both of them.
You can relate to their enthusiasm, you’ve worked with dozens of clients to help them achieve their goals. You know what it takes to prepare someone to make this sort of significant change in their lives.
Starting a business is similar in a number of ways to preparing for a marathon, for an extreme sport event or any other major health change. With the right education and planning, mistakes and injuries can be avoided. When you are working with your clients, sometimes you need to ask tough questions so that you can best help them recover, rehabilitate and prepare for their fitness and wellness goals. You ask the questions with care and empathy.
The same is true in business. There are key questions to consider before starting a Pilates studio business. In the past 10 years I’ve worked with dozens of health professionals and here are six of the tough questions we discuss as they prepare to start a business and my practical suggestions for each:
I really enjoy Pilates, will I still enjoy it when I have the financial pressure of running a business and being responsible for all the bills?
There is a big difference between working as a Pilates instructor in a studio that belongs to some one else and running your own business. Having to pay the rent every month and all the other bills can change how you feel about teaching Pilates. Being worried about money is a sure fire way to drain your energy.
Practical suggestion: For many instructors, working in an established Pilates studio is a terrific option while they learn, observe and study what is really involved in running a business.
Am I able to put a price on myself?
One of the toughest things for most health professionals is to ask a price they feel they deserve, vs the price they feel their clients can or will pay. Can you sell yourself and your skills at a price they are worth? Believing in yourself and setting a price that reflects what you are worth – and not discounting – are some of the challenges that Pilates instructors face when getting started in their own studio.
Practical suggestion: Know your worth and feel confident in asking for a fair price for the value you provide. When you are really clear about the value your clients receive and help them to understand the value they will gain, the shift to the focus on client value makes a big difference to money conversations.
I also recommend that anyone who wants to start their own business find a way to sell – sell some thing for some one and learn as much as possible about how people make purchasing decisions. Even helping out a friend at the local markets can give the experience of sales and selling, which can be extremely valuable for preparing to be in business.
Signing a lease for a studio can often mean a five year commitment; do I have what it takes to stick at it for five years?
This is one of the most difficult aspects when creating and starting a Pilates studio. If it involves a commercial lease, that will probably mean finding the $$ every week, every month for the next five years. Breaking a commercial lease can be very expensive, if impossible. Five years can be a long time. Having a home based studio is different, although it still requires a steady stream of new clients and retaining existing clients.
Practical suggestion: Do the financial calculations to establish total costs of setup, running costs and revenue to ensure financial viability of the studio. Create a business plan and marketing plan to find the client base that will generate the necessary revenue to pay for the lease.
Do you know how many clients you need every week? every month? in order for the business to be financially viable?
One of the most common reasons that businesses fail is because they do not have enough clients and so do not have sufficient cash flow.
Practical suggestion: Identify your niche market, create and identify ideal client avatars and prepare a solid marketing strategy to create a flow of new clients. This can include establishing relationships with other businesses for referral partnerships and finding ways to create value for existing clients that keep people coming back. Understanding the importance of client retention is essential. It costs seven times more to find a new client than it does to retain existing clients.
Who takes care of your clients when you go on holiday? Or if you are sick? Or when you want to take a break?
Being in a health based business means that your clients depend on you. I’ve been working with a surgeon who has not had a holiday in almost ten years. He is involved in a very narrow specialty and his patients need his personalised care post op. As he has a steady flow of new patients, he is never without people who need his personalised care.
This is true of many health professionals, although perhaps not to this extreme. Your clients will rely on you for their ongoing well being. Taking a break can leave clients with nowhere to go.
Practical suggestion: Identify reliable people who can step in and take the same level of care of your clients as you do. Building a team of instructors around you who are involved in your business on a regular basis can develop a level of trust between your clients and those instructors.
Have you ever worked in another studio and thought to yourself: “I really don’t like the way the only thing they think about is money”?
Over the past ten years I have met many health professionals who want to escape the practice, studio or consulting rooms they are working in to set up on their own because they don’t like that “they only think about money” atmosphere.
As a health professional this can be one of the most challenging aspects of the balance between providing care to clients and actually running a business
Practical suggestion: Learn as much as you can about running a business before you get started so that you can create a business that is successful, viable and has the right balance between client care and sustainability.
As a health professional you constantly update your knowledge and skills regarding new health developments and potential client issues. You place high importance on knowing and understanding how the human body works. You appreciate the value of education and instruction and the important role of mentors within the Pilates community.
Starting a business is similar to working with a client. For a client, it’s better they learn techniques properly and thoroughly, rather than having to spend hours in pain and a fortune in time, effort and money fixing preventable injuries. Wellness is about preparation and prevention; not repairing and rehabilitation. Your business is the same.
When it comes to creating and growing your Pilates business, you’ll appreciate the importance of having access to the right information, education and mentoring to prevent potential business mistakes and ‘injuries” and to give you and your business the best chance of success.
By Ingrid Thompson
Ingrid Thompson is a business trainer and mentor who specialises in working with health professionals to create and grow their business. Ingrid’s business, Healthy Numbers www.healthynumbers.com.au, provides business startup training and business mentoring through both face to face workshops and online programs.
Members of the PAA receive 25% discount at the checkout for the “So You Want to Start a Pilates Business” online program option 1. This program covers all aspects of creating and growing a Pilates Business and is also suitable for existing studios which need a little rehabilitation.
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