Pilates Business Podcast

Step-by-Step Guide to Opening a Boutique Fitness Studio

• Seran Glanfield • Season 21 • Episode 201

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Are you dreaming of opening your very own Pilates, yoga, or barre studio?

In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield walks you through the essential steps to turn your dream studio into a thriving reality. From refining your vision and finding the perfect space to ensuring your financials are on point and nailing your marketing strategy, Seran shares a practical roadmap for success.

Whether you're overwhelmed by startup logistics or nervous about taking the leap, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you avoid common pitfalls, streamline your planning, and launch with confidence. 

Tune in to learn how to build a studio that aligns with your vision, attracts your ideal clients, and sets you up for long-term success.


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Speaker 1:

Are you thinking of opening your very own studio? Well, before you go ahead and hang that open sign on the door, there is a lot to consider, from finding the perfect space to managing legalities. The process, I know, can feel a little overwhelming, and so, before you dive in, I want to share with you the key steps to make sure that your new space is set up for long-term success. In this episode, I am walking you through the foundational steps, from selecting the right space to aligning your budget with your vision. So, whether you are dreaming big or about to open up that new location, you will have everything you need to get started. 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. Hey there and welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Sarah Glanfield, and today we're driving into a brand new topic that I don't think I've ever really spoken about any great depth before on the podcast, and it's a super exciting topic, but it's also often a topic that is filled with nerves and questions and anxieties, and that is the topic of opening your very own studio. Now, over the years, I've had the great fortune of getting to work with many studio owners who get in touch with me before they even find that perfect location and early in the stages of planning for a new studio. And I have to say I love working with people at this stage of business, because what happens when we get to work together early on in the process is that it saves a lot of time and frustration and sometimes even some very costly mistakes and sometimes even some very costly mistakes. So if you're thinking about opening a Pilates or yoga or bar or movement studio anytime in the next, say, 12 months, then this is the episode for you, because where you're at today, and if you're in the space where you're thinking about opening a studio of your very own, you've probably poured your heart into becoming the teacher that you are today. You've probably poured your so many hours into your training countless hours of training and you probably are enjoying working with clients.

Speaker 1:

But maybe you're also wondering okay, but what's next? What's next for me? And I've got a few ideas for the things that I want to do for myself in my career and I want to develop my own business and be able to do the things the way that I want to do them, and that's super exciting, because, although the idea of opening your studio might feel both exhilarating and a little bit terrifying, what I want you to know is that it's because of people like you that our clients get to experience incredible movement spaces, workplaces that they can go where they feel like they found a home for their movement practice, and so I'm going to encourage you and tell you that this is a pretty good time to be thinking about opening a studio, because all of the signs that we're seeing in our industry right now point to an exceptional level of interest in health and wellness and movement, and it's not a trend that we see changing anytime soon. So if you're thinking about opening a studio, you probably have a mix of feelings, and one of the perhaps nagging feelings that is in the back of your head might be something that sounds a bit like can I really do it? And so, if you are thinking about taking the leap, but you also feel the weight of responsibility, I want you to know that you're not alone, and that is a very common place to be, and, in fact, it's exactly where you should be, because starting your own business and committing to your own space is a big step forward.

Speaker 1:

Space is a big step forward, but it is a step forward that can be so incredibly fulfilling for you and for how you are able to interact with the people around you everyone from your clients to team members to other local business owners that you get to collaborate with. This is your chance to really build something that's yours and yours alone, and take all that knowledge and love that you've poured into developing your skills as a teacher and turn it into a business that truly aligns with your vision and your values, and it can be the incredible, the beginning of a really incredible journey. So what I want you to know is that, unfortunately, opening a studio isn't just about choosing paint colors or buying equipment. There is a bit more to it than that, because the more informed and educated you can be early on in your business journey, the better equipped and prepared you are to be able to handle and embrace any and all of the likely challenges and road bumps that will inevitably pop up along the way. This is about you taking that next step in your business, in your career, and I want to tell you exactly how you can do that.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to take you through some steps, and I do want to give you a bit of a disclaimer before we dive in. Obviously, there is a lot to consider when you're starting a business, and I'm going to endeavor today to share with you as much as I possibly can about how to start your own boutique fitness studio business. However, I cannot cover everything that has to be covered, and so there might be things that I've missed, but I'm hoping today is going to share with you or listening to this today is going to share with you is a few things that you might not have otherwise been aware of that might help you to move forward a little bit quicker than if you hadn't perhaps listened in today. Okay, so I'm a big, big, big, big big believer in planning and researching, and I think that the sooner that you can start to get some ideas down on paper and formulated around what you want your business to look like and feel like and do, the better equipped you are to then move to that next step of making it a reality. So I want you to start with just getting clear on your vision and what it is you want your business to do, what is going to make your studio unique, what you will offer in your studio, who will offer it and how you will offer it. This is also a good time to think about who your target audience is, and when you define these elements of your business early on, it really becomes the foundation for so many of the decisions that you will ultimately end up making Decisions about pricing, decisions about marketing decisions, about scheduling and teachers. So this really is one of the most foundational building blocks of your business. This really is defining your value proposition and who it is you're targeting with your value proposition. So this is about how you stand out from the crowd. This is about how you do what you do, but also why you're doing it. The way that you are doing it and the way that you do this honestly is.

Speaker 1:

I'd encourage you just to put a pen to paper and to get all of those ideas and all of those thoughts about this from out of your head and onto paper. Quick side note a few years back, I discovered a little notebook that I had had in the bag that I would carry from my apartment in New York to my teacher training center in New York I used to have to take the subway every day for about 30 to 40 minutes and every day I got on the subway and I would write down ideas that I have about things I wanted to do when I eventually opened my studio, things that I wanted to, the experience I wanted to give to my clients and I have to say I'm so glad I did that, because that really helped shape so many of the things that I do even today in the business that I am in right now. And so getting ideas out of your head onto paper is sort of really the first step in making it become real. So that's really a very simple getting started kind of first quick step for you. If you're in the place where you're not really sure yet, just find your favorite notebook, open it up and start writing.

Speaker 1:

Now, early in this planning and research stage, you also want to make sure that you're very, very, very familiar with the options that your target audience has for getting a similar or same value proposition. What that means is you want to look at your competition. You want to look at what are they doing. What are they doing well, what are they not doing so well and that can perhaps open up opportunities for you in terms of gaps that you can fill. So this is a good time to just get the lay of the land. Is what you're looking to offer? Is it something that a lot of other people are offering in your town and, if so, how can you make sure that you are differentiating yourself, sure that you are differentiating yourself? Also, be aware of local demographics, trends, growing and developing neighborhoods which will sort of feed into a conversation we're going to have in a minute about location, and even think about surveying some of your potential clients, some friends or people who are sort of fit your ideal client profile. Ask them what they're looking for and what they're looking for that you can deliver them. So this market research element is kind of helpful just to get an understanding of where you're going to sit in the landscape of competition.

Speaker 1:

Okay, now the third component of this planning and research stage is the most important to do well and to really get your head around, and that is the financial feasibility on your startup costs. That is, things like what you can afford to pay in terms of your lease, how much equipment is going to cost you, what marketing is going to look like and cost you and any other renovations and startup costs you might have. But I also want you to really dive into your projections for your business. So it's very common for a studio to have startup costs, costs that are specific to that startup phase, so just getting the doors open. But you also want to make sure that your business is financially feasible and viable on an ongoing basis. Get to know those numbers, understand your expenses, understand what your profit margin is going to look like, so that you go into this eyes wide open in terms of what's possible for you in terms of income and revenue and what your business needs to do in order to reach those levels and those goals that you have for yourself. So what I recommend you do is to play with some different scenarios in terms of growth so that you've got some base cases, perhaps some midline kind of goals, but also perhaps that big sort of target that you might try to shoot for.

Speaker 1:

If you've got the ambition and I recommend that you have this projection cashflow, specifically projection for the first 12 months and I would be I would really encourage you to build in a little bit of a buffer, because what we found is that typically, things, things tend to be more expensive than expected. They tend to be more costs rather than less. Those surprise expenses do seem to always pop up. Okay so, financial feasibility there's no way of avoiding this. When it comes to running a business, you have to know your numbers, and it starts on day one. Okay. So this is the sort of the first step. Once you've kind of gotten through this planning stage, you will have a really good idea as to what you want your studio to look like and how it is going to generate income for you and revenue for you. So the next stage is kind of that stage which we probably all are not excited about, which is those legal and admin stuff.

Speaker 1:

Now, depending on where you are in the world, in the country, you're going to have to go to your local town, city, state, country and understand the rules and regulations around opening a business wherever you are in the world. We have listeners listening in in this podcast from almost every country around the globe, and so you are going to. I can't tell you what you need to do for wherever you are, but I want you to go and do and know that, and you should get to know those rules really really well as well. Part of being a business owner is understanding the legalities of where, what you are required to do as a business owner where you're at, and then also making sure that you're keeping up to date with all of those things. Okay, now, with the same thing in mind, you also want to choose the right structure for your business, the right legal structure, and I do recommend, if you can, to work with a professional to support you on this, to make sure that you are setting up your entity correctly, that you're in line with all of your local regulations and requirements, and making sure that you're registered in all the right ways, with perhaps even specific licenses that may be required of you depending on what you're offering and where you are in the world. Okay, so that business structure and registration with all of the entities and organizations and that's required is going to be quite an important part of getting your business started in the right way. So working with a small business lawyer up front, someone who's local to you, who knows what you need to do, will really help you to prevent those legal headaches down the line, and I really recommend you do that.

Speaker 1:

The second part is you're going to want to get very familiar with permits and zoning. So, depending on how you're going to go about finding your space whether you're buying a space or you're leasing a space you're going to want to understand what the permits and the zoning looks like, what the zoning laws are for boutique fitness studios as well, and understand how those permits work for any renovations, for signage and so on. These are all things again, that sort of fall under things you now need to know that you never knew you needed to know, so get familiar with those. Again, they're going to vary from town to town, city to city, state to state, country to country, okay. Finally, you want to also get familiar with your insurance needs. This will again vary. However, you probably are going to need some level of liability insurance, property insurance, need some level of liability insurance, property insurance, employer's insurance or worker's compensation and any others that are required by law or best practice for wherever you are in the world. Okay, and finally, I do recommend that you work with a lawyer to develop contracts and waivers for your business early on, so you have them and you can get started. You're not waiting on those to be created for you when you're itching to start working with clients. So that means you want to draft clear terms and conditions for the relationship that you're developing with your clients and with your team members or employees, and also any liability waivers that are necessary as well. Again, a small business lawyer who understands your industry, understands where you're at in the world, will be able to tell you exactly what you need to be completely covered. Okay, so now that we've got some of those legal and admin parts out of the way, we've got our plan.

Speaker 1:

The next part is kind of the fun part maybe for some of you. This is where you start to see things come to life, and this is often where people find themselves first, and then we kind of have to backtrack and do parts one and two. But it's all good, because part the third part of opening a studio is finding and preparing the perfect space. Now it's going to be no surprise for me to tell you that location really does matter. The ideal scenario is that you're in a spot that is highly visible, is easily accessible, super convenient for your target audience, has parking, has beautiful lighting and is pretty close to being able to be move-in ready. Now, obviously, that's the ideal. That's often not the reality, and so you will want to spend some time looking at all the different options and getting familiar with what is available in your area for the price point that you are able to reach, and think about what and get really familiar with it and don't rush this part. I have to say this is something that you want to feel really good about.

Speaker 1:

Typically, when we sign a lease, we're in there for a while, so you want to make sure it is the right choice for you and your business. You also want to make sure that you are able to cover the costs. We see that rent is one of the most significant costs you will have as a business. The next significant cost is going to be your teacher costs, and so it's pretty important to make sure that this is a cost that you know is going to be easy for you to meet with the revenue you plan and know how to generate.

Speaker 1:

Now you may also need to be thinking about renovations and design. So, as you're looking at spaces, you might also want to be talking to a construction company or renovation company to help you to think about the expenses behind any renovations, and that might mean that you might want to spend a bit of time thinking about your layout materials, for example, what you're going to put on the floor, mirrors, soundproofing and so on. And this is obviously when you want to start to build your brand, your beautiful brand, into the decor as well. Build your brand, your beautiful brand, into the decor as well. And, as we know, competition is on the rise and what will set you apart is going to be investing in your unique brand. So I encourage you to make sure you're thinking about some of the small details that you want to include as part of your customer experience. That's going to help you to really stand out, make the space feel like you, make sure that your space feels good to you and is going to be able to deliver that experience that you really want.

Speaker 1:

And then there's also the question of equipment, and when it comes to equipment, you certainly want to be mindful of the lead time it takes to get equipment delivered. This varies and has varied quite significantly from provider to provider, and you may want to start with fewer spots in your classes or fewer pieces of equipment, with the idea that you can add over time. So that is always an option if you are trying to keep your startup costs low, and then you want to be able to add and expand space in your classes later on. Be mindful of the lead times. Make sure that this is a great time to reach out to equipment manufacturers. Get really clear on the lead times and the process involved in making so. Finding and repairing the space is the next step. Now, once you have all of that, we really want to make sure and we want to circle back and kind of make sure that once we have that location, we have those equipment. We now know how big our classes or our space is going to be. We perhaps have a better idea of the cost involved.

Speaker 1:

And this is a good time to really come back to those financial, the financials again, and just make sure everything makes sense. And so this is a good time to think about your budget, think about your pricing structure and make sure that you have some of that sort of ironed out and built into those projections and that it still all makes sense. If it does, then you want to make sure you're moving forward with choosing your software for your studio. So, boy, oh boy. This is a whole, many, many, many whole podcast episodes in and of itself, but choosing the right studio management software is absolutely critical. You have some great options out there to choose from. You can find my recommendations on my website under the resources section. I do have some favorites and I'll let you go and check those out. I'm always happy to talk through different options and my experiences as well.

Speaker 1:

But you want to make sure that you're choosing a software not just based on price. You want to think about what your business is going to do over the first 12 to 24 months in terms of size and number of clients, and how much you want it to really support you in developing and growing your business. So some of the software providers will be able to give you a lot of support in terms of extra marketing add-ons and automations and being able to sell online in studio gift cards, vouchers, coupons, referral codes and all of those amazing bells and whistles. And so if that's something that you know that you want, you're going to want to make sure that your software provides that. Know that you want, you're going to want to make sure that your software provides that. Likewise, if you are starting small perhaps you're opening just a solo studio, you're planning on it being you and you alone then it's perfectly okay to start with a software that is designed more for that type of a business as well. But the most important thing is that you're picking the software that best matches your business model and your budget. All right, so once you have all of that lined up and nailed down, you're going to start to think about marketing.

Speaker 1:

Okay Now, depending on how quickly you're able to progress through the location and the ordering of your equipment and the setting up of your systems and software, you may have already started to market your studio, and that is fantastic. But the first thing you're going to want to make sure you have when you come to the marketing kind of component of opening a studio, is, obviously you want to have a great name and you want to have a logo and colors and fonts that reflect the brand that you want to create. A cohesive brand aesthetic is going to really help you to stand out. You want it to be very consistent within your marketing. So if you're switching from one color to the next every single time you post an Instagram or send an email, it's going to make it very difficult, or more difficult, for you to be memorable to your target audience. When you're new, you want to be super consistent, so it's not boring, it's actually helping.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you want to have a brand aesthetic. You want to have that means a logo and some colors and some fonts and some keywords, that or slogan or tagline or mission statement and a brand promise that is going to help you to stand, help to describe exactly what you do, why you do it, how you do it in a way that is really compelling to your target audience. And once you have that, you're then really ready to develop that website. And the website should be optimized for local SEO and it should truly again represent your brand, who you are and what you do. Now. Websites can take time to build and, I'll be honest, quite often the time comes from you crafting that copy and getting comfortable with what is being said on the website. So just keep that in mind as you're planning your timeline for opening your brand new studio. But this is also the time to grab your social media handles and obviously, that domain and any other places for platforms where you want to be present. Make sure that you set up those accounts early on so that you have grabbed that name for your business.

Speaker 1:

And as you think about the next steps, once you come to closer and closer to opening, you're going to want to start to build the buzz right, and that means that you're going to want to start posting, you're going to want to start sharing. You're going to also want to start networking, networking in your local community, letting everyone you know that, letting everyone, letting everyone you know know that you are opening a business right. And that might mean hosting soft opening for friends and family. It might help to test a little bit some of your systems, your pricing and your marketing. But then, as you come closer to the big day and to opening even more, you might want to have to offer some pre-launch or pre-opening specials to create a little bit of cash flow ahead of your opening date. And then, of course, perhaps hosting many I would say not just one, but many events over the early days of opening your studio to really create the buzz, to get people in the door as many people as possible and then to showcase exactly what it is that you have to offer.

Speaker 1:

I really wanted to share those kind of before you open steps when it comes to opening a studio and to give you a bit of a guide as to what to be aware of, because opening a studio really is a huge, huge step and when you've got a bit of a checklist and a timeline, it can be very manageable and doable. I've sat side by side helping studio owners do this. I've watched them overcome those questions of can I do this? Is this the right thing, am I doing the right thing? And when they have continued to take action and move forward and work through it all, it has all come to the most beautiful ending where they have a beautiful full studio in a very short space of time and in fact it's sort of like this six months later they kind of come back to me and they say, wow, okay, now what do I do? I have it, it's working and it's almost as they're in a place of almost shock. But we keep moving forward and keep growing from there.

Speaker 1:

So today I really did just cover the essentials, from defining your vision, doing your homework on the local competition, on what the market looks like, on what your ideal client wants, and then getting your financial and legal ducks in a row. I also talked a little bit about finding and creating that perfect space. You want to make sure it gives you the capacity that you need to be able to create the revenue that you need and that we, of course, couldn't finish this episode without talking a little bit about the importance of marketing and creating buzz. So just remember that you should not do not, I should say, expect to know exactly what to do. A little bit of building and growing a business is figuring it out as you go, but I hope that you can see how every step of this process is a building block to the next. So take your time, stay focused and trust the plan. I really do think that when you have a plan, your studio isn't just a dream. It actually becomes a reality and it's very, very doable.

Speaker 1:

So thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Pilates Business Podcast. I hope it was helpful to you as you go about dreaming about what your business endeavor in our industry could look like. And if you found it helpful, don't forget to share it with a fellow teacher or studio owner or leave a review. It truly means the world to me. It truly means the world to me. 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.