The Growth Gameplan: Your New Year Roadmap

Are you ready to catapult your studio business into the future? 

In this insightful episode, Seran Glanfield takes you on a transformative journey to explore the balance between success and personal well-being in studio businesses. She focuses on breaking free from the cycle of merely reacting to present issues and redirect our energies towards creating a clear vision for our business

You will learn from Seran how to shed outdated strategies, set realistic goals, and develop a detailed, actionable plan leading to business aspirations. 

So, let's get started and stay true to YOUR vision and principles while growing your studio business into the success story you want it to be!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What comes to mind when I ask you what you want from your studio business next year More revenue, more clients, more joy, less stress, more ease, or all of the above? I hear you. So the question is how do we get from where we are today to where we want to go? On today's episode of the Pilates Business Podcast, I'm going to be talking about how to get super clear on what you want out of your business and exactly how to make it all happen. Well, hi there, I'm Sarah in Glenfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for Boutique Fitness Studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio.

Speaker 1: 1:03

This is the Pilates Business Podcast. Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Sarah and I'm thrilled that you're here with me today. I want to take you on a bit of a journey into the future.

Speaker 1: 1:21

In this episode, I've got a few questions that I would love for you to think about. This is the time of year to think about them. Now, let's say you could wave a magic wand and, just like that, you are in your world 12 months forward. Look around and think about what would be the difference and what would be the same. How might your business look even further down the road, perhaps two years from now? Perhaps, in that business two years from now, what are you doing? What are you doing that is the same as you're doing today? What are you doing that is different? Because here's the thing sometimes it's not about doing more. Sometimes it's also about letting go of certain things or stopping doing certain things. The first question I have for you is what will you perhaps let go of this year or next year to allow more space for growth, to allow you to build the business that you really want? This is an important question to consider, because oftentimes one of the most overwhelming things about growth for many studio owners is this concept of well, we have to just do more In order to grow, in order to make more revenue, we have to do more. The reality is that often that is not the case. Often we have to stop doing certain things in our business that then allow you the space for more growth.

Speaker 1: 2:59

Now, what I also see is, as is the case for many small businesses, you're often very focused on the immediate problems, on putting out those fires, on solving what is right in front of you, and when you do this, you're in that constant state of reaction. And, yes, your business does need you to solve those problems absolutely. But I'm sure there is also a part of you that would like to perhaps step off of that hamster wheel and perhaps step into a place where there is more flow for your business, more ease in your business, and when you are able to step out of the path that you're on right now and get really clear about what your vision is for your business, what you really want to achieve in your business, that's when you can start to make very strategic decisions about what you're going to let go of and how you can make sure that you're not in that constant state of reaction. Now, this does take some reflection, it takes some planning and it might be that it takes a little bit of reorganization of time, people and resources to get you there right. But when we think about how you're going to grow from here, these are all things to consider.

Speaker 1: 4:23

Okay, now, there are some pretty awful stats out there when it comes to small businesses. We know that 20% of all small businesses fail within the first 12 months and that 50% of businesses fail within the first five years. So when you see those studios closing around you, if you're seeing those studios close around you and you're concerned, it means something for your business. It may not at all, and I often do hear this when there is a studio that's closed down the street. Sometimes your reaction is not necessarily positive and thinking, oh my goodness, that gives me a whole slew of new clients. Often that is oh my goodness, it does this mean that my studio is at risk of closure too, because we're in the same town? And the reality is that, even though it may make you feel that way, this is data that is out there. These are real numbers that exist and you have the ability and the choice honestly to decide where you spend your energy and focus in your business.

Speaker 1: 5:33

And, depending on how you plan your business and structure your business and how you spend your time, your energy and your focus will determine whether or not you are in the 50% that succeed in the first five years or that fail in the first five years. More often than not. When studios or any small businesses fail, there's a whole slew of reasons why that could be. Truly, there are so many different reasons, which is why it's really important not for you to perhaps think about the reasons why you might be in the same boat as someone else who has decided to close their studio, but actually to think about what you can do to shore up your business and to make your success more certain. Okay Now, as the old quote goes right failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail, and so you do need to have that direction and that goal and that clarity around where you're heading, because it will help you to not get distracted and spend your time doing things that are not supportive of your business. But it is really hard sometimes to say no, and it is really hard to make change in your business.

Speaker 1: 6:41

But when we make change in our business, we want to make sure we're doing the right thing, which means that we do not want to be doing it quickly, overnight. We want to make sure that we've thought this through. So the first step to think about for you to take some time to carve out on your calendar over the course of the next few weeks to think about these questions. First of all, I want you to think about what your version of success looks like in your business. Okay, strategic planning really begins with a vision for the future of what you want your studio to look like, and I'm not necessarily thinking that you should be looking five years ahead at this point, but you should absolutely be clear on what you want your business to achieve 12 months from now. Okay, when you have clarity around what that looks like, when you are clear about what you want your studio to look like 12 months from now, then you can reverse engineer all of the milestones and the steps and the action items you need to do to get there. I am doing that this week with my Thrive members and this month, actually for the pretty much the month of December every year, instead of Thrive.

Speaker 1: 7:55

We take the time to do this and to get super clear, and boy does it make a big difference when you have a roadmap to follow that is specifically designed for your business, because the truth of the matter is is that no two studio businesses are the same. Every single one of you out there that owns your business has your own version of success in your head, has your own vision of what success looks like, and so we can't just keep pulling strategies that we've seen other people do, because they're not going to work necessarily in your business, because you have a different version of what success looks like, right? So the strategies, the tactics, what you're, the action that you're taking in your business, will be probably a unique combination that is specifically unique to your business. So it's important for you to get clear about what you care about and what you want for your business, and, again, you can't steal that from someone else either. All right, clarity around that and then clarity around that path will take you towards that vision, and then the actual tasks and to-dos and responsibilities will form the bridge between where you are now and your future ideal.

Speaker 1: 9:11

Okay, so the first question I encourage you to ask yourself is what is that vision that you have 12 months from now that would make you feel like the last 12 months was a success in your business? Now the second question is what do you want for yourself? Right? Because it may be one thing to have a vision of success for your business, but it might be quite a different thing to think about what you want to be doing in that business 12 months from now. So planning and structuring your business perhaps effectively for more revenue or more profit is really really important. But where we sort of avoid that burnout, where we avoid the overwhelm, where we avoid being on that hamster wheel, is when we are able to get super clear around the boundaries that we want to set for ourselves as individuals of what we want our businesses, how we want to participate in our business and how we want to lead our business forward.

Speaker 1: 10:13

And that might mean that perhaps you don't want to be in the driving seat. It might mean that you need to hire someone else to take on some tasks and responsibilities and take some things off of your plate. It might mean that you need to develop systems that facilitate you taking vacation. Or it might mean that you need to perhaps bring someone on to teach those afternoon spots, because you want to go and pick up your kids from school every day of the week, because that's what matters to you. And in order for you to build a business that is sustainable and truly sustainable for you as a business owner and the leader of the business, you have to be able to participate in that business in the way that you want in the way that energizes you, right? Because if you show up every day and you're exhausted by your business, oh my goodness, that is contagious to the people around you. You'll find your team like energy, you'll find your clients like energy and you will perhaps find yourself not being as excited about the future in your business as you once were or as you could be.

Speaker 1: 11:16

And setting boundaries is not easy, but it is absolutely vital for the success of your studio and the sustainability of your studio and its growth. So designing your business to bring you what you want is really really important, right? And we want to make sure that the life that you're building with your business in it is what you want it to be, okay, and it can be really hard to draw that line between what you feel is work and what may not be work, right? So everyone will have a different idea of what this looks like. And again, this comes back to your building and designing your business for you and the life that you want, and what your version of success looks like, okay. So the first question is what do you want for your business and what do you want for yourself 12 months from now? Okay, when you have those two things figured out. Only then are you able to set goals for your business. Okay, before that, if you aren't clear on those two things, then you are just pulling goals out of the sky and they are not aligned with what you're looking to achieve in your life and in your business. Okay, so once you have those two things, then we are going to be setting some smart goals for your business, and it's really important that you do set goals that are smart and smart. Goals are specific, are measurable, are achievable, are realistic and have a specific timeline associated with them. And sometimes these goals are actually broken down into milestones or even smaller smart goals associated with your larger smart goal. All right Now.

Speaker 1: 13:07

What I often see when it comes to setting goals in your business, especially when it comes to growth, is that I see folks will just pick a number and say well, you know, I'm making this much each month. I'm making $20,000 a month right now in my business. I want to make $30,000 a month on average next year. Or I want to make $30,000. That's my goal for next year to make $30,000 a month in my business.

Speaker 1: 13:32

And already, unfortunately, we are somewhat setting ourselves up for failure when we set goals like this, because of a few different things. Number one is that goal is not really tied to a specific measurable action your clients are taking in your business, oftentimes by just taking a revenue number and just making a multiple of it as your goal really hinders your success more than it facilitates it. Because often I find when I back out those numbers, when I work at the studio and it comes to me and says you know, my goal is to make $30,000 a month in my studio next year, I'll say okay, great, let's bracket out what does that look like in terms of the number of clients or the number of members or the number of classes or the number of sessions you need your clients to buy or to take. And oftentimes what we find is we bump up against studio capacity issues and sometimes a studio will come to me and they're already 90% full and they have no way of growing the capacity, but yet they want to rate to make more money, and there's significantly more than they could make if they simply just raise their prices. So then we end up in a different problem, right, and then have a different challenge to solve. That may make it such that we never reach that goal right.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Maybe the only way to reach $30,000 in revenue in your business is to add a second location right and to make that the goal versus that $30,000. And so we want to make sure that these goals are realistic and they are achievable, which means you need to understand what is getting you to that point, especially if you're picking a number or a revenue number you want to generate next year. Okay, so we want to make sure that we are picking goals, or we are deciding on goals, that facilitate you building that version of your business that is, that it means success to you, but also that you are choosing goals that allow you to have a sustainable lifestyle alongside your business, that you are able to perhaps pick up your children from school every day, or perhaps work out three times a week with the person that you want to most move with, or perhaps because you want to take time out of your business, if you are looking to take six weeks off next summer to travel the world, that's an amazing would be an amazing thing for you to achieve. But if you're also planning on perhaps running a one-on-one challenge for your clients, where they have to come and take a ton of sessions with you, a 30-day challenge where they're taking one-on-one sessions with you over the summer, then it might not be such a good timing, right? So we want to make sure that we are building goals that match your business success and the life that you want for yourself. So, as you go about thinking about what you are looking to achieve next year, I want you to put pen to paper. I want you to think 12 months forward about how your business looks, what you're doing, who else is there. It's really helpful to just brainstorm this out and put pen to paper. You'll find things become more real that way and you have a starting point for working backwards from that point of that, from that version of success, and breaking each of those goals down into milestones and steps along the way.

Speaker 1: 16:47

Okay, but the key thing, the most important thing that you can do over the course of the next few weeks as we move into the new year, is to take the time to think about where you're heading. It's really an amazing. It's an amazing thing to be, to do, to get everything out of your head and onto paper, and then you truly are not just one step closer, but one really big step closer to making it a reality. It's a great habit to get into and if you've never done anything like this before, it can be hugely clarifying, especially after, perhaps, a lot of uncertainty and chaos of the last year or two. Okay, so there you have it. When you take the time to plan your vision of success, your version of success, then you'll have a better idea about where you should focus the action that might need to happen in your business and how you might need to think differently about your role in your business. Maybe there are things you need to let go of or stop doing to make space for this new phase of business growth. When you work with this level of clarity and direction, you are continually and consistently working towards your vision.

Speaker 1: 18:04

Inside of Thrive, we are very focused on creating a sustainable and doable action plan for every single one of our members, and we do it on a 90-day cadence. Anyone who joins Thrive has a 90-day plan set out for them, with specific goals that are unique to their business, and every single month I see the achievements and accomplishments and progress rolling into my inbox from our members to letting me know how much progress they have made towards their goals. It's such a momentum creator for your business. So I hope this was helpful to you as you go about building your boutique fitness studio business. If it was, I'd love it.

Speaker 1: 18:44

If you could go to wherever you're listening to this and rate and review this podcast. It would mean so much to me and so much To all of the listeners out there, all the folks out there, I should say, who don't yet have the support and guidance they need to find the success they're looking for in this industry. Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder there is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.