Ever feel like you’re doing too much work to keep your dance studio running?
Surprise, that’s because you are!
If you know anything about me personally, you probably already know that I own and operate a traditional dance studio, a Brazilian martial arts school, and have an aerial circus arts program. I obviously run a consulting business, and I also own a dance studio management software company and a tuition billing service.
More important than that, I’m a husband, and a father of two amazing kids. I love to travel. I love to read and to study, and I’m a sucker for good movies. I also train falcons and wrestle alligators. (really!)
Now, I’m not pointing this out to brag. I’m hoping that you’re starting to ask yourself, “how does he have the time to do all of this?”
I cracked a code about a decade ago that I’d like to share with you. It’s been the key to helping me accomplish more work in less time, with less of my personal input.
“. . . How does he have the time to do all of this?”
1. Learn how to do something well.
2. Write down the steps to get it done.
3. Hand it off to someone else or automate it.
4. Don’t mess with it until it stops working.
5. Repeat.
That’s too simple, right?
Nope, that’s really all there is to it. Lemme give you an example.
Let’s say that your studio isn’t doing a good job of attracting a whole bunch of new student prospects. You need to get a ton of new students in the door to reach the goals you’ve set for the next year.
We start with learning how to do one kind of advertising really well. Let’s say we’re going to set up paid Facebook ads. We learn how to create Facebook audiences. We learn how to set the right budget. We get the Facebook pixel installed on our website landing page, and we start our first test. (This all might take you two days at the most, from learning to execution.)
To prove that it works we just need to track the stats. Facebook makes this really easy. We can know very quickly if our ad is translating into phone calls, website visits, and new student enrollments.
Once that’s working Facebook makes it easy to automate this ad and keep it running. NOW I DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE TO MAINTAIN THIS SYSTEM. Then I’m going to move on to the next advertising technique and start a snowball effect until I have at least 10 advertising methods automated or outsourced just like this. Does that make sense?
What Comes First?
It’s important to know how to decide what work to automate or outsource first, and here’s a little trick to know where to start.
Ask yourself the question “Where do I feel like I’m repeating myself from one day to the next, or one week to the next?” Is it that you’re answering the phone at the studio and always fielding the exact same questions? Is it that you’re constantly cleaning the studio? Do you find yourself constantly making orders for student leotards, or uniforms?
Write down as clearly as possible the steps you take to accomplish this repetitive task.
Now, does it make more sense to have a software program automate this, or to hand it off to a human being? Do that. Rinse and repeat.
Before you know it, your entire studio will be on autopilot.
The Trap
Don’t fall into the trap of trying to automate or outsource the most complicated tasks on your list first. I know you might want to get rid of those the most, but you should get good at handing off the simple little stuff first.
Very quickly you’ll be freeing up more and more time, and then eventually have enough time and money to get rid of the really big complicated tasks. Start with small bites. I promise it will snowball quickly.
How to Get Help
I’ve done this a bunch of times for myself and others. I have my marketing outsourced or automated. My front desk staff is all trained and independent. My studio artistic director understands her responsibilities and handles everything from instructor training to the studio recital.
I am not going to lie to you, this is going to take some time. Especially if you don’t have a large budget up front. You don’t want to screw this up!
That being said, you need to get started on this right away. The longer you wait, the longer it takes.
Fill out the form at this link and let me know some more about your studio. Then, let’s get on the phone and talk about how we’re going to tackle this, and in what order.