For dance studio owners, the overwhelm is real. I’m sure this story is not unique to me. You’ve been there…
You fix your cup of coffee, glass of wine, (insert your beverage of choice here). You settle in to make your to-do list for the coming week, and before you know it, panic ensues. Your heart is racing. Your palms are sweating.
There’s the marketing for all of those classes that are still too small in the next session, the team meeting, the costumes that didn’t arrive, the mom with the ONE HUNDREDTH email to you about why little Suzie didn’t get put in the front row of the dance, the payments that were due weeks ago that you’re still trying to track down, and that all before you have even taken care of yourself or your own kids, let alone the … fill in this blank with whatever gives you your next heart attack.
That was me every week. Looking at an overwhelming to-do list, running a studio, teaching my classes, trying to be a good parent and spouse. How do you prioritize what is most important when everything is important? How do you fit it all into your week without losing your mind?
Then I had an epiphany that changed everything. I divided my weekly list into the 6 categories that always demanded my attention as a studio owner and a person. I turned my list into a master plan that would organize the most important aspects of my studio and my life all year long, and I put it on repeat.
I love to study successful people. The smartest, richest, most successful people that I have met or read about have one major thing in common, they are masters at leveraging TIME. They know how to do more in less time. They know how to profit over and over again on work they only do once. They know how to prioritize, organize and maximize their time. They know how to utilize the work others have done before them to save their own time.
I applied that model to running a successful, profitable and joyful dance studio. I put everything I did to run my studio all year long in one big master plan that covered all of the important aspects of my studio.
I figured out how to put it all in an easy-to-follow plan. I laid out a master list for the entire year and broke it into weekly to-do lists. I followed it for a full year to test it. It included my marketing, admin tasks, team leadership, recital planning, finances, and self care.
Marketing to bring in new students all year long.
Team leadership to keep my teachers inspired and organized.
Admin that hums like a well-oiled machine and keeps the cash flow in the green.
Recital prep that didn’t leave me working into the wee hours of the night to pull off a great show.
Financial tracking and planning that would get me crushing my goals.
Self care to keep me happy and healthy so that I can bring JOY to my studio and my life every day.
The results were no more sitting and planning for hours each week, just to still have that terrible feeling that I might be forgetting something really important. No more remembering that really important thing a little too late and having to scramble to get it done. No more waking up in the middle of the night wondering if classes in a new session would fill or have to be canceled.
When I changed the way I made my to-do list, I changed everything. My work hours, outside of teaching classes, were actually slashed in half.
It’s been a few years now since I started using my year-long master plan broken into a weekly to-do list. Here is what continues to happen year after year:
My team of teachers is meeting deadlines for recitals and working together on a cohesive vision for the studio and the students.
My office is running smoothly without me. Tons of the work is automated!
Those week-before-recital night terrors (you know the ones) are gone, while recital profits are on the rise and my recitals are something that even my studio dads love.
I have clarity on my financial picture, and I am accomplishing my financial goals.
My work hours continue to be manageable even during peak work seasons.
And… Wait for it…I can take a vacation… (even when the studio is open).
No more overwhelm. I have a studio that I love and I have time to enjoy my life and my family. I am now making it my mission to help other dance studio owners do the same. I now offer my master plan weekly to-do list along with all of the materials that I have created to get the tasks done quickly at Studio Planner Pro. I hope that it blesses the lives of dance studio owners and their students, staff and family.