It can be difficult to raise your tuition and fees, and many dance studio owners worry about how it will affect their business. In this podcast, Suzanne Blake Gerety and Jill Tirone are sharing ways to navigate rising costs and inflation. You’ll learn how to earn extra income through dancewear and costumes while adding extra value to your studio. Through their support and encouragement, you’ll get the information and boost you need to head into the dance season feeling confident around raising your prices.
Key Takeaways
[1:00] Feel encouraged and empowered as you head into the new dance season.
[1:42] Dance education is priceless. Families need dance education now more than ever.
[3:15] Inputs that go into the products you sell at your studios. Raw materials such as packaging, cardboard, paper. Transportation costs including freight and gas. Labor costs including what you pay your faculty and staff. Utilities, rent etc.
[5:45] Write your prices in pencil not pen and mark it *subject to change
[5:50] The way you’ve done things before is not going to work now. Uniforms have increased.
[7:45] Factors that go into setting prices at your dance studio. It’s not just the cost of goods! Remember things like sales tax liability, time for picking, ordering, measuring, sorting, delivery fees, etc.
[9:20] Use an online financial calculator to find profit margins to help you figure out what to charge.
[11:25] You’re doing parents a favor by setting a dress code and making it easy for them to purchase studio essentials.
[12:45] You are not alone in navigating this new economic climate that we’ve never seen before.
[13:03] The dance industry is thriving. We have a wonderful community to support you at DanceStudioOwner.com.
[13:45] It makes it easier to teach when your students are in uniform. It adds value to your studio.
[14:42] Creatively use dancewear as a registration incentive and new student acquisition. It has an incredible perceived value.
[18:35] Costumes are an important part of the performing arts season. Set pricing beyond the actual garment.
[20:20] Costumes and dancewear can be a very healthy boost to your business when you price it right and position the value in the entire dance education process.
[22:06] Be sure to do quarterly and annual reviews of your business to ensure maximum profitability.
Links Mentioned in this Episode…
Suzanne Blake Gerety
Suzanne Blake Gerety is the director of DanceStudioOwner.com, the leading online resource for dance studio owners world-wide, she provides information and inspiration to start, run, and grow your business.
Suzanne is the second-generation owner of Kathy Blake Dance Studios where she and her mom, Kathy Blake, continue to run a thriving studio, which has been in the family for over 40 years. Suzanne was born into the dance studio life and brings the perspective of an owner, educator, mom, and businesswoman to her consulting. She has reached over 10,000 business owners in over 30 countries since the launch of DanceStudioOwner.com a decade ago. She is known for helping studio owners through important transitions: start up, growth points, employee relations, family business dynamics, rebranding, financial hardships, and buying and selling businesses. Her authentic and real-life approach to helping studios solve complex problems is what fellow colleagues say makes her guidance so valuable.
Suzanne and her mom, Kathy are the long time featured columnists for Dance TeacherMagazine’s, “Ask the Experts”. She regularly teaches and presents business seminars at the Dance Teacher Summit, Toronto and Calgary Dance Teacher Expo, Energize: Tools for Studio Success and for other various industry dance events. Her love of marketing combined with her real-life examples make the information she provides timely and immediately useful for audiences. Suzanne is a part of the team at REV UP Brands comprised of Revolution Dancewear, Tenth House, Dance Studio Owner and Nimbly.
Suzanne is a featured contributor in the The FabJob Guide to Become a Dance Studio Owner, FabJob Guides have been featured in stories at The Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine sites. In addition to a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Child Development from Colby-Sawyer College, Suzanne has training and experience in communication and leadership from one of the world’s foremost personal development companies.
Suzanne is a mom of two children, married to a great guy, she loves her family and her dance studio family too! She is a passionate advocate for dance studio owners and dance education throughout the world and brings the resources and support to current and future owners to help them achieve success.
Jill Tirone
Jill Tirone is the community manager at DanceStudioOwner.com and founder of DanceFit Marketing. She is best known for breaking down the latest trends in social media, branding and website design into into simple strategies with proven results and has a knack for helping studio owners navigate the ever-changing, complex world of digital marketing.
For over 10 years, Jill has been empowering studio owners to be creative and innovative with their online digital marketing efforts. Graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Dance Education from the University of New York at Buffalo and earning an Associates Degree from Genesee Community College, Jill combines years of teaching, marketing, and administrative experience to provide solid action plans and creative solutions.
She is a regular contributor to Dance Teacher Magazine and Dance Retailer News and has presented business seminars at Dance Teacher Summit, Calgary Dance Teacher Expo, Twinkle Star Dance, and Energize.
If you’re looking to enhance your dance studio’s brand and get creative with your digital marketing, you’re in the right place. Jill is dedicated to helping dance studio owners build the studio of their dreams by sharing her passion for dance and marketing.