NEXTSTEPPAD

By Paul Henderson.

The biggest “aha moment” for my dance studio happened in 2006 when I noticed that our students never came to class naked.

In all my years as the son of a dance studio owner, the brother of dancers, the manager of a dancewear retail store, the husband of a dance studio owner and as the owner of seven dance studios with over 3,500 students, not once have I seen a dancer naked in class. Not only that, but for the most part, all dancers seem to also be wearing shoes in class! They also clog up the hallway with dance bags stuffed with apparel, hats and accessories. The stuff is EVERYWHERE! The lost and found department in my studio is overflowing with ballet shoes, sweaters, jackets, warm-ups, pants (not sure why pants are in there) and various electronic devices left mostly by siblings.

Dancers buy stuff. They buy lots of stuff. They wear the stuff. They lose the stuff, or grow out of it, and then they buy it again and again and again…for years.

Back in 2006, when a potential student’s parents would call in to inquire about our classes, I was the one answering the studio’s office phone. Once I registered them, they always asked me the following question: “What should she wear to class?” When I say “always,” I mean ALWAYS. Not once did a student register for class where the parent just assumed they could wear whatever they wanted to class.

When a client or customer of yours asks what they should wear to class, it is your opportunity (dare I say obligation) to earn the equivalent profit of an extra month and a half of tuition per season. Let me say that again… earn the equivalent profit of an extra month and a half of tuition. At our studios, we’ve figured out how to earn approximately $100 extra profit per dancer, per class, per season.

Before I explain how I did it, I’ll give you a brief history lesson of how I know this. In 1997, I was filling in for my mother at her dancewear store. I went from the U.S. Navy to fitting pointe shoes in the blink of an eye. I learned that the retail dancewear business is horrid – mostly because the inventory simply does not turn over fast enough. That means that you have to buy a lot of inventory and then it mostly sells only twice a year (for back to school and recital.) In comparison, a well-known retail store called Gap turns over its entire inventory every 45 days! For a retail dancewear store, the cost of carrying so much inventory is high, which means profits are low or non-existent.

Dancers came to our store in droves, but only in September and May. For the rest of the months, I occupied my time by creating a website to sell off our vast pointe shoe inventory. That was in 1997, before the Internet was such a huge part of our lives. It was called Getpointe.com and it still exists today; although, I don’t own it anymore.

Fast-forward to 2006 and my wife’s studio in Northern California had exploded from 300 students to nearly 800, and she was completely overwhelmed. I was the Director of Sales for a software company that sold management software to dentists.

My experience in dance retail taught me that I could earn a profit selling dancewear to my own studio’s dancers if I opened a small boutique in my studio and sold only the basics…the dress code. I quit my sales job and started selling dancewear again. But, again, inventory eventually crushed me.

Inventory equals death, as far as I’m concerned. It’s a toxic line item on the balance sheet. I don’t like it. It wastes space. It costs real money. It never goes away completely. [Note: Inventory can go away if you run a “sale,” but the “sale” cannibalizes your future sales to your dancers.]

Before too long, studio-run dance boutiques have hundreds of pairs of tights in various odd sizes and colors that they don’t need, leotards that went out of style with the first iPod, shoe boxes covered in a nice, thick layer of dust and booty shorts stuffed into drawers and boxes on sad, drooping shelves.

Sure, there are companies that will sell dance products to your studio on an “as-needed” basis, but the critical flaw is that you have to pay in advance and they don’t take returns. They offer deals on shipping costs if you order a certain number of items. It’s a trap! The natural inclination is to order extra to lower cost and save money on shipping, but the end result is excess inventory that won’t ever go away. Inventory is money. Inventory is your money sitting on a sad, dusty, drooping shelf. It’s your money that could be used for a dozen other things… like marketing, fresh paint under the barres or a raise for your office manager.

This picture illustrates all of the products a dancer needs just to get on stage for a performance. Why not help your dancer buy these products and help your bottom line at the same time?

There are other dancewear companies that will allow you to create lists of products for your students to buy online, but they only give you a tiny percentage of the sale in store credit or a smaller percentage in cash. In short, it’s not worth the hassle unless you can set the price and control your profit margin.

Still, I thought, these dancers are spending a couple hundred dollars of their parent’s hard-earned money every season for each class. They are buying at least two pairs of shoes, two leotards, 4-5 pairs of tights, skirts, pants, shorts, hair-accessories, make-up, jewelry, costumes and headpieces. The list goes on and on and on. Yet, the studio owner who “owns” these customers is not earning a penny on their purchases. Why is that? Without the studio owner, there would be no dancers. The studio owner is the gateway to the student. The studio owner has immense power, yet they mostly do not wield their power. Why?

There are a lot of reasons, but these three stand out. First, studio owners opened their business because they wanted to teach kids how to dance. They are focused on earning their revenue through tuition. Secondly, the studio owner quickly becomes overwhelmed with the amount of administrative duties a dance studio requires and is reluctant to take on another project. Thirdly, and most importantly, studio owners are afraid. They are afraid of that one parent who complains about everything. Fear is a big motivator and it prevents studios from reaching their full potential.

I wanted to prove to studio owners that their fear was unfounded.

I commissioned two separate surveys of over 650 parents of dancers located all over the United States and Canada. The results were virtually identical so I’ll include results from one of the surveys below.

The take-away from this question is that 98.62% of respondents think it is important for your studio to succeed financially. I’ll bet that’s shocking to you. It means if you have 200 families at your studio, only three of them will complain, but you know these three. They already complain about everything anyway, right? Get over it and focus on the 197 other families that want you to succeed.

This question prepares the survey taker for the next question. It is meant to start them thinking about what they buy and how. Note that 92% of the respondents are interested in buying from you or your website.

Roughly 97% of your customers would be interested in buying dancewear directly from you. If you have 200 families at your studio, 194 would buy what you tell them to buy from your website. I’ll put it another way… if you could profit $100 per dancer per season that would equal pure profit of $19,400 in a season. What would you do with $19,400?

I wanted to prove that studio owners’ fear of customers not wanting them to be profitable was unfounded. Here is the proof. Less than 2% of your customers will be annoyed if they know you are profiting on the sale of dancewear. Why? I believe that most customers want the small, local business that they entrust with their child’s dance education to be financially stable. They would rather the profits benefit you and their local community rather than a large national corporation to which they have no ties. If you explain to your dancers that a percentage of their purchases benefit the studio, 197 out of 200 will be okay with it. It’s nothing to hide.

I introduced the word “fundraise” here because one way for a studio to explain “profit” is to call it a “fundraiser” for the studio. It’s just an option. If you made the dress code and accessory product sales to your dancers a fundraiser, 195 out of 200 customers would be supportive.

That’s incredible!

So, figure out how to implement a dress code. Figure out everything that a dancer needs to wear in an entire season. Make the dress code required. Call it a fundraiser if you want. Call it a “new paint” or “new ballet barre” or “master class” or “National Competition” fundraiser. It doesn’t make a difference as long as the customer sees that the studio looks nice, has great instructors and runs smoothly.

Start wielding your immense power today. Remember, without you there are no dancers.

If you want to earn $100 per student, per season, per class use CostumeManager.com’s Storefront. Do it now or you’ll miss out on one of the most amazing benefits of owning a dance studio.

Click on the image above for more information and to create an account.

Paul Henderson

About Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is an expert on administrative technologies for the dance industry and has been around the business for almost 30 years. His sisters were elite state champion gymnasts and dancers and his mother owned a dance studio and eventually a dancewear store. He managed the dancewear store for a few years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife, Tiffany, currently own and operate Twinkle Star Dance – an online choreography and curriculum system for recreational dancers ages 2-11; seven successful dance studios in Northern California (www.tiffanydance.com) and one in Southern California. Tiffany’s Dance Academy’s annual enrollment of over 4,500 students caused Paul to invent ways to automate most of the day-to-day business transactions that take up so much of a studio owner/instructor’s time. Paul’s goal has always been to smooth out the business side of the dance studios so that his wife can spend more time in the studio doing what she loves…teaching. Automating online registration and monthly automatic tuition payments was achieved eight years ago but perhaps the most revolutionary invention is his web-based application – CostumeManager.com.

About CostumeManager.com
For the past six years, Paul Henderson has worked tirelessly with most of the major costume and dancewear manufacturers to consolidate their catalogs into one searchable website. Developing relationships with these companies has been crucial to the success of CostumeManager.com and his efforts have paid off for studios all across the United States and Canada. By creating one searchable website, it is possible for a studio owner to browse all catalogs simultaneously, assign items that they like to a dance class, establish their profit margin, create an online store or print a color worksheet for dancers explaining how they can order their required and or/optional items online or via toll free telephone. Dancers purchase their items securely online and CostumeManager.com orders, receives, sorts and ships the individually packaged items to the studio owner. The studio owner or instructor cashes their “commission” check, hands the bags of goods to the dancer and goes back to teaching. CostumeManager.com eliminates 90% of the work and all the worry associated with distributing costumes and dancewear to dancers while preserving all of the profit margin…if not more.

To connect with Paul Henderson and CostumeManager visit www.CostumeManager.com, www.TwinkleStarDance.com, or www.TiffanyDance.com.

The post Are your dancers coming to class naked? appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

By Steve Sirico of DanceTeacherWeb.com and Dance Teacher Web LIVE Conference & Expo.

Teaching over the long haul can be a drain, especially if you are teaching a lot of classes and are pushed to create. One of the toughest things teachers face throughout the season is to stay motivated and energized. You are constantly giving and if you are not careful you can drain your battery and teaching can become a struggle.

One way to keep motivated is to constantly be focusing on yourself and your needs. This may sound a bit selfish or egotistical but you are the key to protecting yourself. Don’t wait until you get to that tipping point! Know what makes you frustrated and when you need to relax, what makes you happy outside of dance and when you will make time for you.

That is one of the reasons we created DanceTeacherWeb.com. We have talked to many teachers and so many times they have told us that they feel exhausted and never seem to have any time for themselves. But, as we all know, it is more than just ideas and steps. It is about the energy it takes to give and then give some more.

Most dance teachers have to teach many different styles and levels. One minute you are on the floor with preschoolers, then you are teaching a tap class and next up is an advanced ballet, jazz or modern class. Sound familiar? The other problem is that dance teachers have a hard time saying no. We do privates and choreograph for our shows, competition teams or company. So we keep on adding more and more onto our plate until we feel overwhelmed, exhausted and just slightly resentful. This is something I think we are all familiar with, so the question is, what do we do about it?

The first thing I would recommend is to get a daily planner. Write in it everything that you have planned for each day, week and month. Try to build the whole season into the planner.

Next, take a look at where you can and will build in your “down time”. Write in your vacations and days off. Next, get a piece of paper and write at least five things down that you love to do outside of dance and studio business. It may be getting a massage, walking your dog, reading a book, taking a swim, playing tennis or golf, getting in the car and going for a day trip. Whatever it is that you like to do and that you find relaxing must go on this list. Now go to your daily planner and see how you can work these things into your schedule. Try to do at least two of these things each month.

Once they are on your schedule try not to let anything get in the way of this important time. Now when you take a look at your schedule it won’t look so bad after all. There is another element that is so important to these downtime moments. You will find that your creativity is enhanced. Some of the best ideas we have come up with have been away from the studio. Your mind is free to think and sometimes even the smallest or most unexpected idea can be the igniter for your creativity. It really is just giving ourselves that much needed space that enables us to come up with some great thoughts. It also puts us in the position where we can step back and really look at everything in a better and more positive perspective. We know how hard it is to get away from teaching and not think or talk about everything that is happening at the studio. By giving yourself these times when you are away from your work, it is so much easier to clearly find solutions to any situations.

One very important factor in all of this is to use your downtime in the most positive mode as possible. Try not to dwell on any negative things that may be happening. This is not an easy thing to do but these times away will be of no use to you if that is your focus. When these thoughts come into your mind you must push them out and refocus on the creative thoughts. If you are having a hard time, then try not to think about dance at all. Get away from it, mentally and physically.

Have fun trying these methods and see if they make your life a bit easier. The goal is to keep you feeling fresh, motivated and invigorated for the whole season. 

A great way to get inspired and ready for the new season is to attend Dance Teacher Web Live Conference and Expo in Vegas this July!  First day highlights include a special Master Class, Pre-Conference Business Seminar exclusively for Studio Owners, the start of Dance Teacher University UNLV Teacher Training Certification Level I and II, PLUS the grand opening night Expo party….And that is just day one! Visit www.dtwconference.com for more information and to register. The Early Bird Discount runs out on May 16, so book now.

Steve Sirico and Angela D’Valda Sirico.

Steve Sirico and Angela D’Valda Sirico have been teaching, choreographing and producing shows for over thirty years. In 1979 they formed the Adagio team of D’Valda & Sirico after performing in shows and on television worldwide as individual dancers. Their performing credits include “Scala” Barcelona, Spain, Casino Estoril, Portugal, Theatre Royal, Oxford, England, Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Hotel Tequendama, Bogota, Columbia, Teatro Nacional, Buenos Aires, Argentina,and as Guest Artists for Wayne Sleep’s smash hit “Dash”, Dominium Theatre, London.

They were featured artists in Royal Command performances in Spain and had the privilege of performing for Princess Diana of Wales. D’Valda & Sirico’s many television credits include “David Letterman”, “Star Search”, and “Tarde Para Todos” as well as variety shows in the U.S.A, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal , Italy and Argentina. Their combination of explosive choreography and exciting partner work has been given rave reviews both nationally and internationally. Their choreography for the acclaimed “Brother Can you Spare A Dime” was commissioned by Boston Ballet II and performed by the company. Angela and Steve have owned and directed a very successful dance studio in Fairfield, Connecticut since 1987. Their students have received scholarships and contracts to American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Hartford Ballet as well as the National tours of “Fosse”, “Fame” and “We Will Rock You” and on Broadway in “Chorus Line”.

Angela and Steve have been on the faculty of Dance Educator’s of America’s Teacher Training program. Steve is the author of his Jazz Dance syllabus and together they authored their Partner syllabus both used for Teacher Training worldwide. Angela served as Chairperson for the tri state panel of the Royal Academy of Dancing and they have taught as guest faculty for Mt. Holyoke College, Michigan State University, The University of Arkansas, Yale University and Fairfield University. They teach Master Classes in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical Jazz and Partner work all over the world including residencies in England, Spain, Costa Rica and Mexico. From 2003-2005 they were presenting faculty for Dance Teacher Magazine’s Summer Teacher’s Conference in NYC.

They continue to be active as adjudicators for major dance competitions and recently choreographed the opening production number for the National Speaker’s Association at their annual convention on Broadway in New York City. In 2007 Steve and Angela launched Dance Teacher Web, an online creative and business resource for teachers and dance studio owners worldwide and each year they produce Dance Teacher Web LIVE Conference and Expo. Described by attendees as “the one and only conference truly for dance teachers and studio owners,” LIVE brings to life everything that is unique about Dance Teacher Web. Three full days are packed with interactive sessions, expo resources and special events all with the goal of providing you with the very best in teaching tools and products to enhance your business, career and life.

Photo (top): © Antoniodiaz | Dreamstime.com

The post To Inspire…You Must Stay Inspired! Advice for Teachers appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

By Paul Henderson.

It’s April and you know what that means.  It’s the time of year that jealousy and envy peak at your dance studio due to dance competition results. As studio owners, we find ourselves in some strange situations with our customers.

Here are some things I’ve learned in the past 15 years of owning dance studios:

1.    Try not to be “besties” with your customers.  There are exceptions, of course, but I’ve learned something over the years.  The customers that want need to be my friend are the people who might try to socially engineer their child into a more advanced popular group of dancers.  In most cases this will end badly.  Parents might not understand that a dance education is an incredibly long pursuit.  If a parent’s child is not on the same level as her peers today it’s difficult for them to understand that by the time the dancer is 17 or 18 she’ll be one of the few remaining seniors at the studio, and likely one of the best dancers.  No amount of social manipulation along the way is going to speed up the training process resulting in their dancer performing in the “front row”, or with the “advanced group” that always wins “Platinum” and “Overall High Score”.  That’s not what dance education is about.

2.    Friend your employees at your own risk.  This one is a bit more difficult to manage.  It’s actually nearly impossible because life as a dance studio owner is literally your entire life.   There isn’t much room for anything else and once you’ve signed that lease, you’re in it for the long haul.

It’s up to you to please the customers, the employees, your landlord, the utilities and good ol’ Uncle Sam.  You end up hanging out with your staff and customers because those are the only people you know. When the time comes for you to discipline, manage, counsel, control or advise your employee, who is also your “friend”, chaos ensues.

Tension lasts a long time if you are unable to communicate your feelings and desires.  Most of us aren’t that great at communicating…especially if we’re conflicted.  Hurt feelings result in festering tension.  Stress increases and the work environment becomes unbearable to the point where something has to give.  If the “release” is your employee running off with 300 of your students to open a studio down the street, don’t be surprised.

Advice: confront hurt feelings and tension immediately.  Just express your feelings and let them express theirs.  That’s all there is to it.  The truth shall set you free, but tension will set half of your students free to run off with their new best friend – your favorite ex-instructor.

3.    Eliminate students and families that don’t fit into your program immediately.  You know who you are, right?  You know what type of program you’re running, right?  You know how to teach dance, right?  If you’ve explained your program to a student or a parent and they don’t like it, do them and yourself a favor and let them go.  Give them a refund (whatever they want) and point them in the direction of the studio down the street.  Remember this: It’s okay to lose a student if it makes your life less stressful.  You know why?  Students are like dolphins.  They can sense and feel your stress and tension.  If you’re tense, they will feel it.  If you’re carefree and happy you’ll attract dozens of other carefree and happy dancers to your studio.  What’s that saying?  Misery loves company?  If you’re miserable you’ll attract other miserable people to your studio. So do everything in your power to rid negativity from your life.

4.    Unfriend. Block.  Go dark.  Despite your best intentions, betrayal will happen to you.  Or should I say, what feels like betrayal will happen to you?  It’s inevitable like death and taxes.  When it becomes obvious that a parent, dancer or employee really is “out to get you”, either because of a misunderstanding or an honest feeling of contempt on their part, it can feel terrible.  Furthermore, if they insist on recruiting other parents, dancers or employees to join them in their quest to hurt you, completely ignoring and dismissing them is surely the most divine retribution if you have the strength to pull it off.  Here’s how it works in the Internet/Social Media age: Unfriend.  Block.  Go dark.  Do not post ANYTHING on social media for at least a week, until the fury has subsided.  Why?  Because anything you post can and will be used against you.

“Haters are gonna hate”, and your posts are the only fuel they have.  It’s all they need to perpetuate drama. When you post something positive to your Facebook page to make yourself feel better, like…

“Be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you’ve always imagined.”

Your haters are going to immediately post something derogatory aimed at hurting your feelings and damaging your business.

Negative comments on social media are entertainment for the people who read them and comment further and they exacerbate your pain…but only if you read them.  It’s important to immediately unfriend, block and ignore these people and their accomplices from all social media.  And, I mean immediately.  Did I say immediately?  Yes.  Immediately.  Do it within 2 minutes of the “news”, actually.

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking that you must monitor what is being said about you and your business on social media.  No you don’t.  The only reason those people are posting is because YOU’RE reading their posts!  It’s like the tree falling in the forest.  Does it make a sound if nobody is there to hear it?  Who knows?  Does a post or comment hurt your feelings if you don’t know about it?  The definitive answer is, no, it does not.

Resist the urge to keep them in your network because you want to spy on them.  Spying on them allows them to spy on you.  And, guess what. YOU are the glue that holds that network together in the first place.  Once you’re out of it, the influence of the entire network is completely eliminated and if they know you can’t see their posts they stop posting.  It takes, on average, 3 days for them to get bored and move on.

Instead of falling into the trap of social media obsession, here is what you do instead.

Go teach a class.

Realize in that moment that the students that are in the class are there because they love you.  Picture them in your mind now.

Count them.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…..

Count them all.

Go to your studio management software system and run the ego boosting “Number of Students Currently Enrolled in at Least One Class” report.

See how many dancers are still enrolled?

Look at the number.  What is it?  43? 102?  227?  415?  817?

Those are the dancers and families that still matter.  The people that quit or are fired don’t matter anymore, you need to move on.

What the haters say on social media about you doesn’t matter.  Trust me.  As a marketing expert I will tell you that without spending a small fortune it’s impossible to get more than a handful of people to read your posts anyway.  Your business won’t be ruined forever by one or two viscous threads.

What matters is each student that is still enrolled.

Get back in there!

Teach them.

Enjoy them.

Love them.

They love you and that is why they are still there.

Paul Henderson

About Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is an expert on administrative technologies for the dance industry and has been around the business for almost 30 years. His sisters were elite state champion gymnasts and dancers and his mother owned a dance studio and eventually a dancewear store. He managed the dancewear store for a few years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife, Tiffany, currently own and operate Twinkle Star Dance – an online choreography and curriculum system for recreational dancers ages 2-11; seven successful dance studios in Northern California (www.tiffanydance.com) and one in Southern California. Tiffany’s Dance Academy’s annual enrollment of over 4,500 students caused Paul to invent ways to automate most of the day-to-day business transactions that take up so much of a studio owner/instructor’s time. Paul’s goal has always been to smooth out the business side of the dance studios so that his wife can spend more time in the studio doing what she loves…teaching. Automating online registration and monthly automatic tuition payments was achieved eight years ago but perhaps the most revolutionary invention is his web-based application – CostumeManager.com.

About CostumeManager.com
For the past six years, Paul Henderson has worked tirelessly with most of the major costume and dancewear manufacturers to consolidate their catalogs into one searchable website. Developing relationships with these companies has been crucial to the success of CostumeManager.com and his efforts have paid off for studios all across the United States and Canada. By creating one searchable website, it is possible for a studio owner to browse all catalogs simultaneously, assign items that they like to a dance class, establish their profit margin, create an online store or print a color worksheet for dancers explaining how they can order their required and or/optional items online or via toll free telephone. Dancers purchase their items securely online and CostumeManager.com orders, receives, sorts and ships the individually packaged items to the studio owner. The studio owner or instructor cashes their “commission” check, hands the bags of goods to the dancer and goes back to teaching. CostumeManager.com eliminates 90% of the work and all the worry associated with distributing costumes and dancewear to dancers while preserving all of the profit margin…if not more.

To connect with Paul Henderson and CostumeManager visit www.CostumeManager.com, www.TwinkleStarDance.com, or www.TiffanyDance.com.

The post Ignorance is bliss when you own a dance studio in the Internet age appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Just don’t let it ruin your business.

By Paul Henderson.

A hush came over the audience seated in the quaint 600-seat theater near Union Square in San Francisco. The lights dimmed and the house music faded. Behind the curtain in the wings, Tiffany Henderson, her highly skilled faculty and members of Arizona-based dance company, Con Danza anxiously listened for their cue to begin the performance.

Tiffany Henderson, the founder of Bay Area Dance Company as well as the owner of  Twinkle Star Dance and eight Tiffany’s Dance Academy locations had prepared for months to make this performance to benefit The Lone Survivor Foundation a reality.

I, with my trusty Nikon D4 on a tripod, stood in the audience behind the back row (as usual) and prepared to shoot the action photos of the event. The curtain opened, the audience erupted in applause, lights go, sound go. The dancers, including Tiffany, spilled beautifully onto the stage from the wings. 30 seconds later. POP! Tiffany, puzzled, looked around her at the floor, thinking that something had either fallen off of her costume or from overhead. She didn’t see anything, but soon realized as she tried to jump that her right leg was no longer functioning properly. The “pop” was her plantaris muscle (calf) tearing.

“There wasn’t a lot of pain when it happened,” she said afterwards, but “I couldn’t do anything. My leg just flopped there” as she hopped desperately toward the wings. Cesar, who was also in the piece, made his way to Tiffany who lay crumpled and crying on the floor in the wings. The music played on. The dancers on stage continued. He carried her backstage and hastily set her in a chair and continued his performance.

After the piece was over, I ran from my camera to the backstage area and tried to find Tiffany, who is also my wife of 15 years. I had already surmised, based on what I saw through the viewfinder of my camera that she had torn something in her leg. When I saw Cesar massaging her calf, I knew she was done for the night…and maybe for a while. The performance and all the work to make this night a possibility was over for her (as a performer) in the first thirty seconds of the first piece.

But it wasn’t over. A mixture of 100 professional dancers, Tiffany’s Dance Academy faculty and even a few of the school’s performing company dancers still had 20 numbers to perform. Backstage was chaos. Administrators, lighting techs, sound techs, stagehands, dressing room attendants and dancers crammed themselves into the tiny area where Tiffany sat in a chair; her leg propped up on a stool.

Tiffany sadly limps off stage to the shock of the other dancers and audience at Dance for a Difference 2014.

Tiffany watched her show from the wings with an aching lower leg. Amazingly, she wasn’t overwhelmed at the thought of how to now run her eight Tiffany’s Dance Academy locations while on crutches, even though she still had 15 numbers to choreograph for her competitive dancers.

Ask yourself this. What would you do if you suddenly couldn’t walk and couldn’t teach your classes?

Here’s why the inability for Tiffany to walk for a month has not affected the “business” of Tiffany’s Dance Academy and how, if you own a studio, you can prepare yourself for the inevitable “surprises” that occur.

Faculty – For over 14 years Tiffany has focused on building a team of dance educators who are passionate about their art and their work. This has not been easy and it’s only been the last four years or so that the team has melded into a real faculty. The faculty absorbed Tiffany’s classes. What makes them a team? Most of them are full time. They have health and dental insurance through the company. They don’t need to work another job to pay their bills. They have a 401k-retirement plan. They respect Tiffany and her goals and they work hard to make it happen. They love their dancers. It’s important to note that Tiffany has a vision of the correct way to run her studio and teach dance. She hires people who agree with her vision so she doesn’t have to battle someone else’s vision. She always tells dance studio owners and instructors the following. “Figure out who you are, what and how you want to teach and don’t waiver from that course. Don’t let parents of dancers and less experienced faculty tell you how to run your studio.”

Diversity of revenue – Most studio owners find it uncomfortable, even uncouth to talk about revenue sources and profit. Without a diverse and predictable revenue stream, disasters like a torn plantaris muscle will spiral into business failure. Remember, Tiffany had to give away 15 classes in January. Not to mention that the choreography was not completed for each of them. This means that not only will Tiffany not be teaching those classes for a few months; she will need to pay somebody to teach them and also pay them for choreography. Had she not built up a reserve of cash, this would have been impossible.
So, how did she do it? What are her other sources of revenue besides tuition?

They are the following and they make up over 38% of her studio’s total revenue.
• Recital costume profits
• Dress Code dancewear, shoe and accessory profits*
• Recital DVD sales
• Recital and Event Action Photo sales
• Recital concession sales
• Logowear
• Solos, Duos, Trios – one could argue that this is tuition, but if it’s done correctly it can dramatically increase revenue and instructor loyalty and happiness
• Tiered ticket pricing at recitals – $12, $19 and $25 reserved seating. (The $25 seats always sell out first.)

Tiffany’s expertise is in the classroom teaching dancers (and her teachers). Everything that is not “classroom” related distracts her from her core area of expertise. She has made it a point to outsource as much of the non-teaching tasks as possible.

*Tiffany doesn’t know how (nor does she have the desire) to operate a retail boutique. She does; however, need the revenue from her customer’s costume and dancewear purchases to help smooth out her cash flow. She outsourced recital costuming and dress codes sales to Storefront Fundraising by CostumeManager.com. The system has given her, on average, $100 net profit per dancer per season, while eliminating most of the work associated with these tasks.

Since she is not an expert at selling tickets to events, she outsourced ticketing to an online service (Etix) that sells reserved or general seating tickets to patrons online.

Other areas to consider outsourcing:
• bookkeeping
• human resources department
• janitorial company
• handyman on retainer to keep the studios in tip-top shape
• music editing
• videographer who shoots all of her events
• Photography – action and class photos
• marketing to handle graphic art, social media, Constant Contact emails, etc.

By offloading everything that is not her core area of expertise she freed herself to focus on what she is really good at – teaching dance and teaching teachers.

Update: it’s been 6 weeks since the injury and Tiffany was finally able to put on a tennis shoe last week. Physical therapy is going well and she hopes to be fully recovered by September.

Click on the image above for more information and to get started.

Photo (top): © Uros Zunic | Dreamstime.com

The post Everything’s Okay! Until it Isn’t. appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

It’s Time to Prepare for Next Season’s Enrollment! 

By Paul Henderson

Everywhere we go this question inevitably comes up – “How do you get your students to re-enroll for next season’s classes?” Seems odd to be thinking about this in February, right? But, this might just be the most important topic and the most important article you will read this season. Here’s why. 

The bulk of a dance studio’s revenue comes from tuition. Also, it’s common knowledge that, for any business, it’s much less expensive and easier to service existing customers than to recruit new ones. And, whether you like it or not, your business is competing for students with other dance studio businesses in your area.

So, it makes sense that the most important long-term financial concern of your business, other than a great faculty and an excellent curriculum, is year-over-year student retention. One could argue that a great curriculum and fantastic teachers will guarantee that most students will re-enroll, but there are other forces working against your studio at all times. You need to be aware of these forces that cause attrition and act decisively to counteract them.  

Forces you must acknowledge and deal with:

• Other activities, such as soccer, gymnastics, softball, music lessons, etc.
• Economic/financial pressures on parents
• School
• Vacations
• Other dance studios in your area!

Knowing that you need to act decisively to retain your students is the first step. Implementing and carrying out a good plan is a different issue. Here is the plan that we use at our seven studios.

1.    Give written or electronic “evaluations” to each and every single dancer for each of their classes in your studio. The dancer evaluations are like a report card. They make your studio more professional and they make the dancer and their parents feel special. They help each student feel valued and noticed, and they help with student improvement and focus. Yes, they take time, but isn’t each student worth about four to five extra minutes each season to ensure they return next season? Just do the math. Would you spend three to four minutes to earn $500-600 in tuition? Of course you would! We hand these evaluations to the dancers a few weeks before the schedule is published.

2.    Be the first studio in your area to publish your summer and fall schedules. For us that means February for the summer schedule and late March for the Fall schedule. Some studio owners fear that publishing their schedule before the other studios in their area exposes the schedule to the very people they are competing with. That’s okay! Remember, you are going for RETENTION here, not new students yet. You must make sure that your existing students commit to your schedule first. This means beating everyone else to the punch. It’s absolutely critical. Plus, it makes you appear more prepared and professional.  

3.    Aggressively promote a “Registration Day” to your existing clientele. Registration Day is the first day where you will accept registrations for the new season(s). This internal promotion via email, posters, signs, social media and instructor’s in-class announcements starts the dancer’s parents thinking about next season.  

4.    Provide a special discount for students who re-enroll. For us this means that on Registration Day only, the registration fee is waived. For brand new students, the registration fee is discounted, but not free. You will be shocked to see that 50-60 percent of your students will all enroll on the first day that registration is open and a lot of new students will register because they’ve heard via word-of-mouth from their friends who are already enrolled. Since classes are “limited” in size, the first day of registration is the only way some students can ensure they get the teacher and the class day and time that they want.

5.    To reduce/eliminate the possibility of a student enrolling in the wrong class level do two things: A) Manually enroll your “performing company” dancers into their ideal classes, but don’t charge them until they’ve given you the go-ahead. B) Provide “recommended classes” for each student in which to enroll next season. The best way to deliver this information is via the “dancer evaluation form” mentioned in Step 1 above. Simply list each class that you offer on the form and then “check mark” each class in which the student could/should enroll. Also, on the form, provide clear instructions on how a student can re-enroll. For us, this means reminding them of the first day of registration, the “call-to-action” promotion (i.e. Registration Fee Waived on such and such date), and a link to a page on our website where enrollment and payment is handled via our studio management software online/automatically.

With some planning, you too can ensure next season is your best ever, but you have to start now.

Paul Henderson

About Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is an expert on administrative technologies for the dance industry and has been around the business for almost 30 years. His sisters were elite state champion gymnasts and dancers and his mother owned a dance studio and eventually a dancewear store. He managed the dancewear store for a few years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife, Tiffany, currently own and operate Twinkle Star Dance – an online choreography and curriculum system for recreational dancers ages 2-11; seven successful dance studios in Northern California (www.tiffanydance.com) and one in Southern California. Tiffany’s Dance Academy’s annual enrollment of over 4,500 students caused Paul to invent ways to automate most of the day-to-day business transactions that take up so much of a studio owner/instructor’s time. Paul’s goal has always been to smooth out the business side of the dance studios so that his wife can spend more time in the studio doing what she loves…teaching. Automating online registration and monthly automatic tuition payments was achieved eight years ago but perhaps the most revolutionary invention is his web-based application – CostumeManager.com.

About CostumeManager.com
For the past six years, Paul Henderson has worked tirelessly with most of the major costume and dancewear manufacturers to consolidate their catalogs into one searchable website. Developing relationships with these companies has been crucial to the success of CostumeManager.com and his efforts have paid off for studios all across the United States and Canada. By creating one searchable website, it is possible for a studio owner to browse all catalogs simultaneously, assign items that they like to a dance class, establish their profit margin, create an online store or print a color worksheet for dancers explaining how they can order their required and or/optional items online or via toll free telephone. Dancers purchase their items securely online and CostumeManager.com orders, receives, sorts and ships the individually packaged items to the studio owner. The studio owner or instructor cashes their “commission” check, hands the bags of goods to the dancer and goes back to teaching. CostumeManager.com eliminates 90% of the work and all the worry associated with distributing costumes and dancewear to dancers while preserving all of the profit margin…if not more.

To connect with Paul Henderson and CostumeManager visit www.CostumeManager.com, www.TwinkleStarDance.com, or www.TiffanyDance.com.

Photo (top): © Antoniodiaz | Dreamstime.com.

The post 5 Steps to Ensure Your Students Return appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

By Steve Sirico of DanceTeacherWeb.com and Dance Teacher Web LIVE Conference & Expo.

Over the years of coaching studio owners and talking to countless others at conferences and seminars, I have heard that one of the hardest things to find is the right people. Oh, it is easy to find someone to teach who can fill the room with the latest moves or to find someone to answer a phone, but the hard part is finding the right fit for you and your business.

To find the people who share your vision, passion and desire is what really matters. This is very individualized for each studio owner. What matters to me may not be so important to you and vice versa. To get your staff and faculty on board with your vision is something that may take some time. It will need to be nourished and constantly reinforced.

The key is, do you know what your vision is? The next big question is, once you know do you share it with your team? If they don’t know and you don’t inform them on how you do things at your school then you cannot blame them for not sharing your vision.

Keys to getting your team on board:

1. Meet with everyone on your team – front desk, faculty and anyone else, like parents or liaisons – and give them a written mission statement of who you are (this is your school manifesto) and the purpose of your business.

2. Meet with front desk staff and help them with ways to connect with your customers. This is one of the most important areas, as they will be the face of your business. If you want happy, friendly customers then you must have happy, friendly front desk workers.

3. Meet with your faculty individually to explain how you want them to treat your students and be very clear on the professional relationship you want them to have with your students and their parents.

4. Meet with your customers to let them know who you are and how you do things. This is very important especially when you are having a problem with one of your students or their parents. If you do not think they are the right fit for your school then it is best to tell them so, wish them luck and send them on their way. This is a BIG key in helping you to keep clarity and positivity in your vision – and to keep your sanity!

5. Tell everyone you meet what the vision of your studio is. It should be your 30-second pitch about your school. It shouldn’t be a sales pitch, just write it out and speak from the heart. It should mention what your school means to you, what you envision it becoming and why it is important to you.

Still can’t find the right people? Keep on looking! They will find you when you put your vision out there for all to see. Don’t keep it inside of you – SHARE!!!

But you don’t have the right people in place or you are not happy with where you are right now?

Remember: Your vision is a powerful force!

It’s one of the most important tools you have to move you from where your business currently is to where you want it to be. You need to have a picture in your mind of what you want your business to look like and if you do you’ll find that it’s much easier to make this vision into a reality.

If you don’t know where you want to go, how will you know what to do? You don’t jump into your car and start driving, with no destination in mind. Before you start the engine, you have in your mind where you want to go, so you know whether to turn left or right at the bottom of the driveway! The same principle applies to your business.

So, what I would like to ask you to do today is imagine another version of you.

Imagine what this business would be like, what your experience of a typical working day would be like. Start imagining it now because it’s available to you. Now find the right way to run your business with the right people in place to help you. They won’t be able to help you (as a matter of fact, they won’t know how to) if you don’t share with them what it is you want.

Ask yourself these questions:

– If I could have my business set up any way I wanted, what would it be?

– What is the perfect business to me?

– Why did I get into this business in the first place?

– Does my team really know what I stand for and what my business mission is all about?

– Do I have the right team in place?

– Do I have the right customers?

– What is important to me?

– What inspires me and how can I share that passion with the people in my life?

It’s so important to recognize that this starts with YOU. Your business has to be built around your vision. You are the driving force in your business, so it’s based on what you want.

Okay, there you have it! Once you write down the answers to these questions you will have the vision of your studio in place. You will see the strengths and weaknesses of where you are and where you want to go. Make the choice now that this will be your best year ever and that your vision will become a reality! 

Steve Sirico and Angela D’Valda Sirico.

Steve Sirico and Angela D’Valda Sirico have been teaching, choreographing and producing shows for over thirty years. In 1979 they formed the Adagio team of D’Valda & Sirico after performing in shows and on television worldwide as individual dancers. Their performing credits include “Scala” Barcelona, Spain, Casino Estoril, Portugal, Theatre Royal, Oxford, England, Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Hotel Tequendama, Bogota, Columbia, Teatro Nacional, Buenos Aires, Argentina,and as Guest Artists for Wayne Sleep’s smash hit “Dash”, Dominium Theatre, London.

They were featured artists in Royal Command performances in Spain and had the privilege of performing for Princess Diana of Wales. D’Valda & Sirico’s many television credits include “David Letterman”, “Star Search”, and “Tarde Para Todos” as well as variety shows in the U.S.A, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal , Italy and Argentina. Their combination of explosive choreography and exciting partner work has been given rave reviews both nationally and internationally. Their choreography for the acclaimed “Brother Can you Spare A Dime” was commissioned by Boston Ballet II and performed by the company. Angela and Steve have owned and directed a very successful dance studio in Fairfield, Connecticut since 1987. Their students have received scholarships and contracts to American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Hartford Ballet as well as the National tours of “Fosse”, “Fame” and “We Will Rock You” and on Broadway in “Chorus Line”.

Angela and Steve have been on the faculty of Dance Educator’s of America’s Teacher Training program. Steve is the author of his Jazz Dance syllabus and together they authored their Partner syllabus both used for Teacher Training worldwide. Angela served as Chairperson for the tri state panel of the Royal Academy of Dancing and they have taught as guest faculty for Mt. Holyoke College, Michigan State University, The University of Arkansas, Yale University and Fairfield University. They teach Master Classes in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical Jazz and Partner work all over the world including residencies in England, Spain, Costa Rica and Mexico. From 2003-2005 they were presenting faculty for Dance Teacher Magazine’s Summer Teacher’s Conference in NYC.

They continue to be active as adjudicators for major dance competitions and recently choreographed the opening production number for the National Speaker’s Association at their annual convention on Broadway in New York City. In 2007 Steve and Angela launched Dance Teacher Web, an online creative and business resource for teachers and dance studio owners worldwide and each year they produce Dance Teacher Web LIVE Conference and Expo. Described by attendees as “the one and only conference truly for dance teachers and studio owners,” LIVE brings to life everything that is unique about Dance Teacher Web. Three full days are packed with interactive sessions, expo resources and special events all with the goal of providing you with the very best in teaching tools and products to enhance your business, career and life.

Photo (top): © Thinglass | Dreamstime.com

The post Dance Studio Owners: Share Your Vision! appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.

By Rain Francis of Dance Informa.

Beyoncé just recently finished her “Mrs Carter” tour in the US, before performances in Europe next month, and her new, highly popular self-titled album was released in December. How much do you know about Beyoncé Knowles, the famous singer, song-writer who’s singing talent was discovered by none other than her dance teacher?!

1. Queen Bee shares her middle name with which famous ballet character?

a) Odette

b) Clara

c) Giselle

d) Aurora

2. What tap dance group recently released a music video cover of Beyoncé’s End of Time?

a) The Jared Grimes Feel

b) Syncopated Ladies

c) Tap Dogs

d) Chicago Human Rhythm Project

3. What Broadway musical, turned film, did Beyoncé’s star in, receiving a Golden Globe nomination?

a) The Fighting Temptations

b) Chicago

c) The Producers

d) Dreamgirls

Beyoncé

4. Which famous singer is Beyoncé depicting in the picture to the left?

5. What is the title of Beyoncé’s 2013 autobiographical documentary?

6. What was Beyoncé’s first solo album post Destiny’s Child?

a) B’Day

b) 4

c) I Am… Sasha Fierce

d) Dangerously in Love

7. How many octaves does Beyoncé’s voice span?

a) 2.5

b) 3.1

c) 3.6

d) 4.4

8. True or false: ‘Bootylicious’ is in the Oxford English Dictionary.

9. At the age of seven, Beyoncé beat 15 and 16-year olds in a school talent contest, singing which song?

a) Imagine (John Lennon)

b) Respect (Aretha Franklin)

c) One Fine Day (The Chiffons)

d) Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

10. Which of the following films did Beyoncé not star in?

a) Obsessed

b) Cadillac Records

c) The Pink Panther

d) Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b; 3 – d; 4 – Etta James; 5 – Life is But a Dream; 6 – d; 7 – c; 8 – True; 9 – a; 10 – d

Photo (top): Source: www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/singers/beyonce-knowles-net-worth/
Photo (in text): Source: www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/806199/beyonce-calls-single-ladies-and-etta-james

The post Beyoncé Fever Quiz! appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.