3 Key Roles You Need in Your Pilates Studio Business
When you start or expand your Pilates studio business, one of the important decisions you will make is which key roles will be needed to make your studio successful. Running and growing a successful studio business requires a host of skills, talents, and responsibilities. It’s incredibly important to have a clear understanding of what those different roles are and who will be filling them on a day-to-day basis.
Every studio business is unique and the needs of the business will naturally change over time. However, there are a few key positions that are needed in virtually every single Pilates studio business. Those three roles are: a Pilates instructor, a studio or operations manager, and a marketing and sales specialist. Let’s dive a bit deeper into the responsibilities and purpose of these three key positions.
Pilates Instructor
A knowledgeable and skilled Pilates instructor is absolutely essential to the success of a Pilates business. In fact, many thriving studio businesses begin with just a single instructor who starts building a client base. In such cases, it is not a stretch to say that the Pilates instructor herself is the entire basis for the business.
In other cases, a talented and qualified instructor is recruited into a business by another person who is the business founder. An entrepreneur, for example, may fund the start up of a studio business without any intention of being the instructor herself. In these cases, the business owner will need to find a highly trained and qualified teacher to deliver sessions.
The instructor is responsible for designing and leading classes that challenge and motivate clients, helping them to achieve their fitness goals. This person will align their sessions with the studio’s values and aim to help each client achieve the benefits that the studio brand promises.
On top of class design and delivery, there may be other tasks and duties required of the instructor that should be clearly explained and agreed upon at hiring. Working the front desk as clients arrive, conducting studio tours with new clients, checking clients in or accepting payment for classes, entering class data into the studio software system, and cleaning up after classes are some typical tasks and responsibilities of the instructor.
Studio or Operations Manager
The studio manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Pilates business. This role is critical to ensuring that all the behind-the-scenes activities of the business are taken care of with the ultimate goal of the studio business running smoothly. Areas of responsibility may include scheduling classes, managing staff, handling customer service, taking care of studio maintenance, and a host of administrative tasks.
A successful studio manager will be able to juggle a wide variety of tasks, prioritising which need attention at the right time. They are highly organised individuals who can create processes and systems to ensure that things run smoothly in the studio, even when key studio players are away. A keen attention to detail is a must as well as a high degree of comfort and skill with technology.
People skills are just as important, though, as the studio manager will be in charge of customer service. Many successful studio managers seem to just have a knack for wowing clients, even when navigating tricky or sticky situations that require some smoothing over. That being said, the studio manager needs to be well versed in the brand promises of the studio, all of the offerings, and what expectations the studio owner has for delivering on all of those values and more.
Marketing and Sales Specialist
A marketing specialist is essential to the success of a Pilates business, as they are responsible for creating and implementing effective marketing strategies that attract new clients and retain existing ones. This role is what brings and keeps revenue coming into the studio so the importance of this position cannot be overstated!
The marketing and sales person may be responsible for social media management, email marketing, advertising, website maintenance, and coordinating other promotional activities, such as special events, local collaborations, workshops, teacher training programs and more.
Successful marketing and sales specialists have that perfect mix of creative and analytical skills. They are great at coming up with ideas, writing effective marketing copy and putting marketing materials together, meeting deadlines, making big pushes to launch programs or offers, and looking back at data and analytics to see if what they are doing is actually working. They enjoy looking at the big picture and the gritty details in equal measure.
Who Fills these 3 Key Roles in Your Studio Business
As you were reading the descriptions of the three key roles you need in your Pilate studio business, you may have been thinking, “Wait! I’m the one who does all of this!” You are not alone. It is extremely common for the studio owner to wear all of these hats and more in their studio business, especially in the beginning.
You teach the classes, you run all of the behind-the-scenes operations, and you design and roll out all things marketing for your studio, too. This is a very common set up and for many studio owners, it works. Until it doesn’t.
As your business grows, you will inevitably need support and help from others. Wearing all the hats and juggling all the things becomes unsustainable at some point and if you don’t recruit some of these key positions, you risk overwhelm and burnout. This is something that we talk about and find solutions for within our Thrive community, which supports studio owners just like you with growing a sustainable, profitable studio business with greater ease and less stress. (Learn more about Thrive here.)
When and Who to Hire for Your Pilates Studio
The studio owners I work with often wonder when the right time is to hire in these key roles and which roles are the ones that they should fill first. I wish there was one straight answer I could offer but this is typically unique to every studio business and every studio owner.
You may find that you absolutely love doing the marketing side of your business but cringe when it comes time to run financials or rearrange the class schedule. Other studio owners avoid marketing tasks because it’s just not what they love doing and they’d much rather be in sessions with their clients.
Look at gaps that need to be filled. Notice parts of your business that you avoid or fall through the cracks because you can’t seem to find the time or you avoid them because you really don’t enjoy those activities. Consider hiring some help for those things first.
In addition to these key roles, most studio owners find it very helpful to have a bookkeeper, accountant, and legal counsel on an as-needed contractual basis. Check out a list of tried and tested industry resources and providers that can help and come highly recommended.
As your Pilates studio grows and evolves, keep an eye on which areas you may need support in. Whether you are filling each role yourself or recruit a key team member to fill them, make sure you have these three key positions covered so your studio business can Thrive.
Seran created her business Thrive in 2020 to support studio owners as they made enormous change in their business. Covering everything from next-level strategies, personalised support, accountability and resources. “I can honestly say that every studio who has joined the program and shown up for their business has seen a tremendous change in their business and also themselves as a business owner!” For me - yes, it’s a lot of work but I get to support these inspiring individuals every day of the week and it’s amazing to see them go from strength to strength!” – said Seran.
You can find Seran here.