5 Steps to Studio Success Today, I am going to share a fundamental formula for running a successful business – it works for just about ANY type of business. It works for IBM and Chevrolet, and it also works for the restaurant down the street. In fact, I use it with most yoga studios.
Very simply, there are five steps to running a successful business:
1. Decide who will you serve
2. Find out what they want
3. Get it
4. Let them know you have it AND how it will help them
5. Give it to them
That's it. Class dismissed. Okay, so you want some explanation? Let's take it one step at a time. This will take a few minutes to go though, but I promise it's worth it. And, at the end, I'll give you a way to evaluate your own studio. I'll use an example of Kona's sandwich shop, a restaurant near where I live, then we'll also apply it to a studio.
1. Decide who you will serve. You will do far better in business if you can narrow down your audience. Select a niche (or a number of them). I like to consider three criteria in choosing a niche:
a) Can they comfortably afford my products or services?
b) Can I easily reach them (advertise & market to them)?
c) Are they likely to be interested in what I'm selling (Does
it ease some discomfort or provide some pleasure or benefit)?
Kona's sandwich shop is near a state university. They aim to serve students – this is their primary target market. Here's how they do on the niche criteria. First, students are often low on cash, so they sell low-priced sandwiches. You can get a good sandwich and a drink for under $5.00 (they probably couldn't make it selling sandwiches for $12.95, as downtown restaurants do). Next, students are mostly located on the university campus. They can be reached through on-campus ads, university newspaper, etc. Finally, students need to eat, and a take-out/eat-in place like Kona's fits their lifestyle well.
What are successful niches for a yoga studio? Back pain relief yoga, pre-natal yoga, weight-loss yoga, stress relief yoga, etc. Many studio owners feel they serve everyone. This may be true, but your students want to feel like you specialize in their needs. If you offer weight-loss yoga, you can probably find potential students at Weight Watchers, Overeaters Anonymous, a local gym, etc. There are clear ways to contact them. If they are already participating in another program to help with weight loss, they can quite possibly afford yoga too.
2. Find out what they want. Kona's tried serving everything from pizza to baked potatoes over the years, but again and again, they found that students just want a basic sandwich. A low-priced one that is freshly made. So this is just what they serve.
Looking at a studio, even though the class might be the same for some of the niches we've talked about, the reason people come is different. You MUST clearly know why these people might want to come to your studio. This means that you want to put coupons that say “Easier Childbirth and Less Pain – Try Pre-natal Yoga” in an OB/GYN's office. But the therapist's office gets the ones that say “Did you know that yoga can relieve stress and anxiety?”
3. Get it. This means get whatever you need to provide the product or service to your customers. Kona's got the ingredients and hired a staff of sandwich-makers. This is all they need.
For a studio, this step means that you need qualified teachers and a space to teach yoga. If you sell products, it means buying inventory. That's it (It's much easier after doing steps 1 & 2).
4. Let them know you have it AND what it will do for them. The folks at Kona's are great at this. They advertise in just about everything that the university students read. They provide coupons, because students always want to save a buck. They let students know that the sandwiches are freshly made, taste great and will fill them up. We all seek to avoid pleasure an pain (though most people will do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure). For Kona's, this means letting students know they will avoid the “pain” of spending lots of money. And, they will have the “pleasure” or benefit of having a fresh sandwich that tastes great.
Notice that when we talked about pre-natal and stress-relief yoga, we addressed this too. Pregnant women spend time in Ob/Gyn offices, so we want to put coupons or postcards there. And, we don't use generic ones either – they are simple and specific. Basically, they say “you won't feel as much childbirth pain if you come to our studio and do yoga!” That's all it takes to persuade many women to give it a try.
5. Give it to them. This means that you have to provide whatever your selling in a comfortable and convenient way. No one wants to wait in line too long for a sandwich, nor do they want to have no place to sit and eat it. Kona's has a sandwich assembly line with one person putting on each layer of the sandwich, so the customer gets it quickly. They provide lots of indoor and outdoor seating so customers receive a positive dining experience.
Kona's has been one of the most successful sandwich restaurants in town for over 20 years.
In our sample studio, this is where the “rubber meets the road.” I believe in giving students an “Exceptional Experience” (as I've talked about in past newsletters). When a students leaves your studio feeling like they are truly a being of spirit and light (or their back hurts less, or they are losing weight, etc.) then you have successfully delivered what you promised. Not only will they be back, but they will bring their friends.
Now let's apply it to your studio. Ask yourself the following questions:
1. What niches do I serve? Do I advertise or market to them specifically (or do you just post generic yoga fliers everywhere)?
2. What is the real reason they might want yoga? What pain or discomfort in their life do they hope it will ease? What positive benefit will it provide?
3. Now that you know what they want, ask yourself: Do I have the staff and space I need to serve these people's wants and needs?
4. How am I targeting these potential students? Where do they spend time? Am I clearly letting them know what results they will see in their life from yoga (or do I just let them know they can come to my studio for yoga, but figuring out the results are their business)?
5. Am I providing an exceptional experience to my students and clients? Do they leave my studio feeling “Wow, that was great!”
It takes some patience to go through these (and some brutal honesty), but I have yet to see a studio that has completed these steps thoroughly and is not successful.
Namasté,
Al Lipper
Coach Al Lipper
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