Episode 294: Should Your Studio Take a Break? The Pros and Cons of Summer (or Winter) Shutdowns
Release Date: 06/19/2025
Episode 315: When to Cancel vs When to Keep a Class
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What We Cover In This Episode: Why knowing the financial baseline, and “break-even point” when evaluating class profitability and fixed costs is crucial for studio owners [5:08] How to approach evaluating attendance trends and what to track [6:09] The way that balancing instructor versus owner-led classes will indicate financial risk [7:24] A reminder to always consider the ripple effect of cancellations and the full impact doing this can have [7:59] How to communicate class changes proactively by presenting them as a strategy to better serve members [9:09] What you...
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Episode 314: Decision Fatigue Is Real: How to Keep Making Smart Choices When You’re Tapped Out
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Episode 313: The Features You Didn’t Know You Needed (and Already Have)
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What We Cover In This Episode: Why Spot Booking is now free for all studios and how it can be used for safety, accessibility, and improving the client experience [3:27] The way to offer a premium experience to your top-tier clients by using Spot Booking early access for priority class registration [10:55] A new functionality that helps studio owners save on credit card processing fees [12:52] How to restrict classes based on experience level (using tag-based restrictions [24:11] Quotes: “Any report that is technically a client facing list, so your sales report, client...
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Episode 312: New Year, New Vibes — Prepping Your Studio for a Fresh Start
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What We Cover In This Episode: Tips for maximizing the end of the year by strategically treating December like an “off-season” [5:15] How to create maximum impact with minimal effort during this time [5:45] Why it's essential view your business as a marathon, and reset expectations before the January rush hits [6:20] What you can do to visually revitalize your space and the reasons this is such an important process [9:46] How to retain staff and optimize performance as you approach a brand-new year [10:19] Why you must test your funnels and ensure the client...
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Episode 311: Manager or Master Multitasker
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What We Cover In This Episode: The key indicators that signal your business is ready for a manager, moving you from being the bottleneck to stepping back and focusing on growth [3:36] Some of the red flags that will indicate it is not the right time for you to hire a manager [10:36] Actionable advice on finding the right leader who will multiply your impact, not just manage your current chaos [14:16] The way that listing specific daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities prevents confusion and ensures you hire a manager who manages, not a co-owner who creates [16:10] How to...
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Episode 310: Small Core Staff vs. Large Staff — Which Is Right for Your Studio?
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What We Cover In This Episode: How to assess your financials by analyzing what percentage of your monthly revenue is dedicated to payroll [3:16] What clients really value and prefer in the studio in terms of staffing [4:07] What happens when you define your ideal allocation for teaching, managing staff, and business growth [6:08] How to approach growth and what you need to be evaluation and questioning as an owner [14:36] The main reasons why owners prefer small core staff over a larger one and the things to watch out for with this sort of model [17:32] Why owners...
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Episode 309: Studio Safety Basics
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What We Cover In This Episode: Why you must ensure every studio has the core safety tools on site [3:17] The key reasons that your staff should be equipped with basic emergency training [3:32] What to consider when building a culture of awareness and prevention [4:09] How to identify the non-negotiables that every studio should keep in its space [7:42] The importance of providing baseline training for all staff [8:01] The way to create clear protocols so safety becomes second nature, not an afterthought [9:11] A reminder to make sure to have the must-have tools on-site, such as a...
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Episode 308: Holiday Marketing Campaigns That Actually Work
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What We Cover In This Episode: What you can do to make gifting easy for your members [4:45] How launching campaigns by late October can help you avoid the "holiday noise" that starts around Thanksgiving [5:33] The key reasons why campaigns should be designed with tight retention dates [7:24] What to consider when doing a gift card push around the holidays [15:20] How creating a referral challenge can boost engagement and get you new clients [15:40] Things studio owners can do to leverage Black Friday and Small Business Saturday [16:00] Why pre-selling January memberships can be a...
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Episode 307: Why We Removed Chat (and What It Means for Your Studio)
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What We Cover In This Episode: Why the chat feature was removed from the FitDegree app, and how it strayed from the original goal we had for it [3:12] The timeline and impact of the chat feature's removal, including details on what will and won't be affected by the change [11:26] How studios can find alternatives for client communication now that the in-app chat is being removed [13:20] The best platforms for internal communication, and why they are better than in-app chat for staff [14:41] How to communicate this change to your members to keep the transition professional and...
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Episode 306: Hiring & Training Seasonal Staff
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What We Cover In This Episode: How to decide between seasonal hires or a skeleton schedule during busy periods [3:44] What to consider when building a streamline training plan for your team [9:27] Why you should use reporting tools to check last year's attendance data for better planning [11:56] The way to utilize onboarding cheat sheets to get new staff up to speed quickly [12:43] Why considering “shadow shifts” is an effective strategy when onboarding seasonal staff [13:09] The benefits of offering staff incentives for less desirable shifts [13:26] How announcing...
info_outlineWhat We Cover In This Episode:
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What “taking a break” means and does not mean and why this is important to understand as a studio owner [4:21]
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Proactive things you can do during a pause or break to keep the momentum going for your business [6:41]
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Steps to take in the studio to get your clients excited upon your return [8:08]
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How taking a break could result in being a big win for you [10:26]
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A few of the main drawbacks in taking a seasonal break to keep in mind [15:38]
Quotes:
“Having a short staff retreat, it could be somewhere local, it could be a day thing, it could be an overnight thing that is just a drive away, or you could take the time to do one-on-one check-ins. Just get aligned with your instructors and get their pulse on the studio.” [Nick, 11:29]
“This time off is either a true rest because you are burnt out, or you are actually saying that you need to tackle a big item that you need all your focus on and you’re not going to let yourself get distracted with small day-to-day things.” [Nick, 18:16]
“Taking a seasonal break is not lazy, it is considered leadership. Done right, this pause can create space to repair, reflect and reignite your passion for the studio.” [19:48]
LINKS:
Episode 293: The Power of Feedback: Listening Without Losing Yourself
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