Does your studio have a plan to succeed? If you do the same things that you have always done you will receive the same results year after year. If you are looking to take your studio to the next level then it is time to dig in and start to make the changes you need to succeed.
Remember: It All Starts With You!
Goal setting: Personal, business, staff and students! They are all important if you are going to get to the next level. I believe the most important thing to tackle first are your personal goals because that will guide you to all of your business goals. Lay out today what you want out of your business and start to make plans on how you can achieve all that you want. Then your business plans should be in line with your personal goals. Of course to help you get to where you want to go you will have to help others, like your staff and students to get where they want to go. Keep in mind that if you have high maintenance people either working for you or as customers, think carefully as to whether they are really worth the trouble. We have been lucky over the years to have a team at our studio that is great and customers that are mostly wonderful people but we have had to tell a few of them that we feel are not the right fit for our studio that they should go elsewhere to teach or train. If anyone is pulling you down then it is time to break free and move on.
Your team, your dream: Here is where the rubber meets the road. The right team will lift you higher in record time! Tell everyone about where you envision your studio to be in the coming months and years. Find out how they can help you get to where you want to go. Don't have the right people in place? No worries start to spread the word and watch how the right people will be led towards you. Part of your team I believe is also your customers. Great customers will lift you up and talk you up! They become fans of what you do and what you are all about. Communicate and educate your best customers so they can become your team of studio ambassadors
Marketing: Your plan is the key to success. Don't have a plan? No worries you can start today. If you think you don't have the finances to get started, think again! Sit down and figure out how you can get in front of prospective customers. I really like postcards, emails, social media and local community events where you can promote your program. Not everything is expensive. Keep in mind that the cheaper the cost might mean that you need to supply the man power or do a lot of the legwork. You may want to consider doing some joint marketing with other local businesses in your community. It is really great if the other company also caters to children as well. You could share the cost on an oversized post card and split the card in half or do a mailer in an envelope that says next to their address "Open today for a great offer for area families!"
Tracking: Where are you today? What will you do to get to where you want to go? I love charts. They are a road map for you to see where you are and where you are trying to get to. Put them up in areas where you can see them every day. Think to yourself each day: Does this help me to achieve some of the goals I have set for myself and my business? How about my staff or students? It is easy to get bogged down in the everyday mundane tasks of running a studio. Don't forget that the most important part of your studio is your vision and directing not just the training, shows and choreography but the overall running of your business!
One More Thing to Remember…. Dream BIG!!! If You Don't Who Will?
One Last Thought To Think About When You Are Having One Of Those Days:
"In every adversity lies equal or greater opportunity!" Napoleon Hill
