Pilates Business Podcast

Profit Isn’t a Dirty Word: The Financial Foundations for Studio Success

• Seran Glanfield • Season 23 • Episode 225

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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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Speaker 1:

Let me guess you didn't open your studio because you love spreadsheets. You opened it because you love teaching, building community and probably sharing this thing you love most with others and seeing it change their life like it changed yours. But the truth is, if you are avoiding your finances, first I want you to know you're not alone, but I also want you to know that you might be making less than you deserve, because the truth is that if you're avoiding your finances, you're avoiding looking at numbers. You're probably building your business more on gut and intuition, and not necessarily on a strong and stable foundation. So what I'm here to say is that it's time to stop hiding from the numbers, and in this episode I'm digging deeper into the financial foundations that every studio owner needs, not to become a bookkeeper, but to become the leader of your business and to take control of its growth. Well, hi there, I'm Saren Glanfield. 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:

This is the Pilates Business Podcast. Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saran Glanfield and I'm so thrilled that you're here with me today. This is where we talk about all the things you can do in your boutique fitness business to simplify, to systematize and to scale with confidence. And today I'm diving into a topic that is often the last thing on a studio owner's to-do list but honestly, it probably should be pretty close to the top. Recently, inside of Thrive, I hosted a workshop on numbers, on KPIs, and I covered, like I do in all of my trainings, the insights, the tips, the best practices that I want all of the studio owners that I get to work with to embrace in their business. And it's always so eye-opening to have conversations with studio owners around numbers, because I think we all come into this game and it is a big game of business right with different ideas about what numbers are and what they mean to us.

Speaker 1:

Now, you probably didn't get into this to enjoy, to want to spend hours and hours and hours a day looking at spreadsheets. Perhaps you're not that interested in income statements or balance sheets or profit margins. You got into this probably because you love to help people to move and you love to move too. But the catch is that as a business owner, if you want to keep teaching, if you want to keep your doors open and if you want to continue to make the impact that you want to make, you do have to know your numbers, because having confusion around your numbers only creates more anxiety and stress in your business. Because what I often see is that when we avoid looking at the numbers, we often feel we know there's a part of our skill set that's missing. We know there's a missing piece of this puzzle and it often creates this sort of the shadow anxiety that sort of is always right behind you and you're always wondering what's missing and why it's happening that way and why perhaps you aren't taking home as much as you want. And so when we have that type of ongoing sort of worry or anxiety in the back of our minds, that like even low-lying level perhaps of stress, it does tend to wear on you and it can often lead ultimately to a place of burnout, but typically always a place of some level of stagnation in the business. So today I'm not going to turn you into a CPA. That is not the goal here at all, but I do want to walk you through some of the key things when it comes to finances and having a strong financial foundation in your business that I want to share with you today to help you to feel more confident and to get a lot of clarity around some of this. So we're talking big picture, not number crunching today.

Speaker 1:

It's not very easy to do number crunching on a podcast, let me tell you, but I do want to share with you some of the mistakes that I often see studio owners make that keep them very, very stuck comes up when we start talking about numbers, and you know, in business, this is one of the very first questions that I ask the studio owners that I work with. I want to know what is your revenue number? What are you? What does your business look like? Give me a sense of your business from a numbers perspective.

Speaker 1:

And so many studio owners treat finances and numbers a bit like that. You know that scary closet you don't want to open. You know. Perhaps you avoid looking at them. Perhaps you avoid really spending a lot of time in your numbers and you perhaps guesstimate how much you're making. You perhaps hope that your revenue covers your expenses. Perhaps you're not really sure if it does, and you know, perhaps you know when tax time rolls around and you have to actually take a look and understand to see what's going on. Perhaps there is a little bit of a pit in your stomach, right?

Speaker 1:

And the problem is that when we avoid our numbers and we avoid finances, looking at the finances, it doesn't actually protect us. Actually, it actually takes away from your power as a leader in your business, because when you don't know your numbers, you can't make confident decisions. This is often the same studio owners that underprice and wonder why they're working so hard for so little. But when you understand the financial picture, you can plan for growth, you can raise your prices with confidence, you can avoid making costly mistakes, you can hire help without wondering if it's going to cost too much or whether you can afford it. So I encourage you first of all to, instead of avoiding the money stuff, think of it as a leadership skill. Being fluent in your finances for your studio business doesn't require you to become an accountant, and it isn't just for accountants. Any business owner in every industry needs to have a handle on their numbers every single CEO and if you own your studio. You are the CEO of your studio, you make the decisions and that's why you get to keep the profit, and your profit will be higher if you're tracking your numbers and you understand what drives them. So let's talk about tracking your numbers and the key numbers that I recommend you track.

Speaker 1:

Now, when it comes to tracking the numbers, there are usually sort of a few different camps of people. There's those folks who, or perhaps, are avoiding the numbers completely. We've already spoken about that. And then there are some folks who rely on that little dashboard that pops up when they open up their booking software. And when I say to people, are you looking at numbers regularly? They'll say yes, I look at them every day, whenever that dashboard pops up. And I open up my booking software and I can see on that landing page that pops up right there, on whatever software you're using, it tells me what my revenue is and it tells me, relative to last year or last month, whether it's up or down. And then we've got the camp who are drowning in data and they track every single number and they look at every single number and they perhaps don't, despite having all of that data, don't really know what actually matters and what is actually telling them about their business.

Speaker 1:

Financial numbers that you should probably have a really strong handle on and sense of for your business, that you should be able to sort of share very, very easily. It should be top of mind for you and that is your sort of average revenue, your average expenses and what you're making each and every month, right, and these are sort of the big numbers that when we think about business and we think about business growth and what to track. These are the big numbers that when we think about business and we think about business growth and what to track, these are the core numbers that most businesses track. I'm sure everyone listening to some level is tracking these three at least. But those numbers don't tell you what's happening underneath the hood of your business, because these three numbers the revenue expenses the hood of your business, because these three numbers the revenue expenses, your compensation profit don't tell you the whole picture. They can tell you what's happening right now. They're also telling you a little bit about what is happening as a result of something else that may have happened in your business last month or many months ago, but they don't always tell you why the revenue number. If it's up or it's down, it doesn't tell you why it's up or it's down. It's a result of something else that's happening in your business, and that's where KPIs come in. And so when I talk about numbers and tracking numbers and understanding the metrics in your business, I'm talking about many of these other numbers that indicate the health of your business underneath the hood. And so you've heard me talk about KPIs before.

Speaker 1:

I hope If you're new here and this is the first time you're hearing this, your KPIs are your key performance indicators. They are like vital signs for your business. They give you insight into performance, they help you to spot problems early, they help you to spot trends, they show you seasonality in your business, but they also help you to keep focused on the activities that actually drive growth, and I think one of the key things that many studio owners miss when it comes to tracking the data is that your a solopreneur Pilates studio with private clients is going to have very different KPIs than a group-based yoga studio with a team of instructors. So the KPIs that you're going to track for your business is going to be pretty unique to your business structure and your business model and your business goals. So you're probably wondering, saran, that makes sense. How do I choose what numbers to track?

Speaker 1:

So I would encourage you to start off by thinking about what it is that you're trying to grow, what's most important to you in your business when it comes to your numbers, what measure of success would you like to continue to measure and would show that you are being successful? Right, so, maybe that is revenue, maybe that is retention what is it that you're trying to grow? And then you want to make sure that you are also tracking KPIs that are aligned with your business model. So do you offer privates, do you offer small groups, large groups, an online business, and you're going to want to track numbers for those different types of offers and those different sort of business models within your business. And then you want to think about the structure of your business. Are you a solo studio owner and it's just you on your team and you are the team? Or do you have a team of instructors, maybe a front desk person as well, and perhaps for many of you, you have some multiple? You have other locations. You may have more than one location that you're tracking for as well, and so you want to make sure that you're tracking data that shares and shows and is aligned with the structure, your business model and what it is you are trying to grow.

Speaker 1:

So a few examples of KPIs that might be important, depending on your goals and also on your stage of business as well, right? So, for example, if you have been in business for a long time, you might care about your client retention rate, that is, how many clients stick around month after month, maybe even year after year. This KPI might be less relevant to a studio owner that's just opened. If you're opening your studio this month, the retention rate year after year doesn't even exist yet, so this is not going to be a number that you're going to be tracking. You might care about the intro offer conversion rate, which is how many people who try your intro offer become members or package holders. Right, this is generally one we tend to track and can show a lot of information about your business.

Speaker 1:

You might also want to know about how much money your clients are spending in your business. How much are they spending, perhaps on average, over a month or per class, or over their whole lifetime? And then, as you think about how you want to grow your studio and add classes or add to the schedule. You might want to think about how full your classes are and are they profitable, and that means you want to make sure you're tracking their capacity total capacity, as well as the average utilization. How many people are in your classes, right?

Speaker 1:

And then, of course, payroll is really, really important. It's usually quite one of I should one of the most significant expenses that you have in your business. It's a necessary expense for you to get overwhelmed by tracking everything, so you certainly want to track those three core financial numbers, and then I'd encourage you to select a handful of KPIs that align most with your business goals right now. And these KPIs aren't about tracking everything because you can. They're actually about focus. They help you to stay focused on where you put your energy, where you want to tighten things up a little bit and where your next big opportunity might be hiding. And the most wonderful thing is that once you're tracking just a few of the right numbers, so much starts to feel a lot more manageable and way less chaotic. And let me tell you, there's never a month that goes by where we don't see opportunity or perhaps save a studio owner from making a costly mistake not one that necessarily can never be undone, but making perhaps not making the most optimal choice when it comes to pricing or offers or structure or pay, and we only know that because we look at the numbers.

Speaker 1:

So one of the things that we that always comes up when we have these conversations is your teacher your sorry, not your teacher compensation, your compensation as the owner of the business, and when it comes to your take-home income, everyone tends to sort of have their way of compensating themselves. Some people pay themselves a fixed amount. They'll pay themselves by the hour. Some people pay themselves a mix of both. Some people pay themselves via a draw. Some people don't pay themselves at all as well.

Speaker 1:

Right, but even when I see studio owners making money and most of the studio owners, all the studio owners in Seller Thrive make money they often find that they still feel broke. They still feel like they're on the hamster wheel of continuing to wanting to make more and more and more and more and more. And there is a lot to the association that we make between the income that we are creating for ourselves in our business and what we make that mean about ourselves. And very often I find that studio owners often almost sabotage their own success, because those fuller classes, the bigger revenue months, the waitlisted classes tend to leave studio owners often feeling more chaotic and more overwhelmed. And it's kind of interesting because when we have these conversations and we talk about the growth and we look at the numbers, it's the association between success and what continued success might look like is really interesting. And so people often find themselves just as anxious when they're making and hitting their goals as they were when they weren't, and that's really an interesting mindset that we should be aware of and curious about.

Speaker 1:

And so if you're someone who is doing well and you still feel like you're on the hamster wheel and you still feel like there's a sense of chaos in your business, you still feel overwhelmed, then this is probably nothing to do with what is actually happening in your business and it probably has a lot to do with the way that you're associating success and income and what that means about who you are. It's really interesting and I'd love to do another episode about all of that. It's not where I want to head today, but I did want to raise it to you because if you're in that place, I want you to know you're not alone, and I also want to give you perhaps this mindset shift, which is that more money and more income and a bigger business doesn't equal more stress unless you don't know how to manage it. And what we do know is that success brings new decisions, new responsibilities, and so having a little bit of structure and being prepared for that and having some systems in place and a lot of support will help you to make that evolution of yourself within your business and to grow with your business so much easier. So we I see often studio owners who have grown their businesses and been so incredibly successful then almost sabotage this their own success because there is a lack of structure and because they perhaps haven't had the opportunity to work through some of these mindset shifts that we have to embrace, the more successful that we get. So systems and structure is really really powerful for you as you grow and as you develop your financial success.

Speaker 1:

You want to make sure that you have got systems in place to help and to help you to grow with your business, and so I'd always encourage you to look for ways to implement systems in your business, especially when it comes to your numbers and especially when it comes to money and profit, and I always want you to pay yourself, and that's why the profit first philosophy is so helpful. The profit first philosophy, if you haven't heard of it, is a system that invites you to divide your profit each month into various buckets and the one that you fill first is your profit bucket and that you use that to determine how you price, et cetera, and you're allocating money for taxes there. You're allocating money for profit, you're allocating money for continued investment and so on, but you're also paying yourself a consistent and predictable income, and I encourage you to think about how you can do that in your business as well, so that you are not perhaps left with whatever's left at the end of the day, but that you are leading your business forward knowing exactly what it is that you want. And it's okay to want to make money, all right.

Speaker 1:

So numbers and money, when unmanaged, can trigger all sorts of stories, stories of who am I to be this successful? Or gosh? I don't know if I deserve this. This is a lot, or what if I mess this up? Or is this something I can continue to do? And often that's when we see folks unconsciously underpricing or looking to avoid numbers entirely. So I'm inviting you, if this is something that resonates with you, to just have awareness for it. First of all, that's always the first step, but creating a system to manage your money is pretty smart, and it helps you to perhaps step into that success with a little bit of confidence and take you out of a place of fear.

Speaker 1:

So that system is really important, and I don't think you need a fancy accounting degree to get comfortable with your numbers, and I don't want you to be spending, you know, 10 hours every day on looking at your bank accounts, looking at your spreadsheets, looking at your reports. But I do encourage you to carve out at least an appointment each month with yourself and your KPIs to look at them, to track them and to understand what is driving them, and that can be done with a basic Google sheet that tracks those key numbers for your business. And then you may want to, if you're really focused on specific numbers, also have a money date each week where you're looking at your numbers as well, because what we do know is that where you put your focus, you will put your energy as well, and if you are looking to grow your business, your growth is going to be determined by what the numbers are telling you, and so this is an important 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 of momentum as well. So, to wrap this up, quick recap you don't need to be a financial wizard all right to run a successful, profitable studio, but you do need to be confident and comfortable with the numbers that you need to track and understand in your business. So avoiding your finances is probably holding you back, and you only need to track a handful of numbers to get clarity around what's happening in your business and confidence to make really smart data-driven decisions. Okay, I also want you to think about how your success is impacting the way that you think about your business and what's next, but also how and when you pay yourself, because paying yourself first isn't selfish, it's actually really smart. It helps to ensure that you are energized to continue to do what you do, and so a simple system will help with that as well.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're ready to finally feel more in control of the numbers within your studio, with those data points, with the metrics, with those KPIs, without drowning in spreadsheets, I would like to invite you to join Thrive. Inside, we talk about numbers all the time and I show you how to get started and then how to elevate your numbers game and track only the data that really matters to you and your studio growth, so that you have the tools at your fingertips that you need to make the decisions that work for you. Hey, if this episode helps you to see money a little bit differently, please, please, please, share it with another studio owner, who might need to hear it too. We are certainly better when we grow together. Until next time, keep showing up, keep leading your business forward, and remember profit is not a dirty word. It's actually what allows you to serve more people more powerfully every single week.

Speaker 1:

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.