Author: Lisé Kuecker

At some point along our childhood journey, most of us heard the story of the tortoise and the hare with the big moral being “slow and steady wins the race.”

Just in case you didn’t hear the story growing up, (spoiler alert) the tortoise wins the race because he kept a steady and sustainable pace allowing him to continually move forward instead of stumble or get off track, wasting time and resources.

While I wouldn’t call my guest on today’s podcast a tortoise by any stretch of the imagination, (because she’s got stamina and a schedule that doesn’t stop), she has definitely embraced the idea of slow and steady growth…

And let me tell you, it is paying off big time.

I first met Freda through my program The Client Cure, and she was in a little bit of a different position than many of the other students I see come through the program.

She’s had marked growth, from starting her Pilates business in her home only being able to see two clients at a time to moving into a larger studio where she has brought on team members and many more clients.

So, why did she need The Client Cure?

Because Freda wasn’t just focused on her studio…

Technically, her studio was her “side hustle” to her full-time job in the federal government working at the Federal Patent and Trademarks Office.

These days, she’s just a hop, skip, and a jump away from her retirement and now has her passion-filled studio, Esenyl’s Pilates, to not only be the primary object of her professional focus but be a comfortable nest egg to provide her the freedom we all dream about when we think of retirement.

If you’ve grappled with feeling like you’re not growing at the pace you “think” you should, or you’re wondering how you can grow your studio while maintaining a full-time job, Freda’s story isn’t just inspiration, but also makes for a strong blueprint for how to find balance between your profession, passion, and purpose.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Freda stays focused and manages to balance both a full-time job and a full-time studio with simple daily practices and systems

• The role Freda’s mindset has played over the years as she has followed a slow and steady growth plan for her studio

• Why having a purpose rooted in other people will be the driving force on your path forward

• The struggles Freda faced when she needed to increase her prices and how she was able to overcome it victoriously

• How Freda primarily advertises her studio and what she has found works best for her and her ideal clients

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

Welcome to Part Two of our 4-week series, “The Four Stages of Studio Growth.”

Last week I talked about the first phase of business ownership, “The Wonder Phase,” where you’re dreaming and scheming, and all is fantastic.

You’ve got your sights set on the entrepreneurial dream and life of freedom and you. are. determined!

If you didn’t get a chance to catch that episode, click here to head over and give it a listen because all these stages build upon and flow together.

So, now on to Part Two, which is where we’re moving from dream state to reality in what I call “The Build Stage…”

And this stage, I hate to say, can feel a lot like quicksand.

It pulls you in fast, can drain your energy, and bog you down, keeping you stuck…

But not if you know the proper steps for clawing your way up and out, and let’s face it, we want to get out of this stage and on to the Freedom stage, right?

I know I did!

With the five steps that I outline in this episode, you’ll be able to move through this stage relatively quickly (compared to the many business owners who can get stuck in this stage for years) that way you’re efficiently moving onward toward that lifestyle of freedom you’re craving.

These steps will help you effectively make your way over the biggest obstacles you have the potential to face in business simply because you’ll have built a clear trajectory for moving forward.

Alright, let’s get building!

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why it’s critical to be able to note the difference between “urgent” and “important” when managing your tasks in the Build Stage.

• How to categorize your tasks using the four-quadrant urgent/important matrix and identify areas that can be delegated.

• The percentage of services and products in your business that should provide recurring revenue and how a recurring revenue model has the potential to grow your business exponentially.

• Sales benchmarks you need to know to when evaluating the sales effectiveness of your services and products.

• Why content is king and how to produce a content marketing plan with the topics and frequency that your audience wants to engage with.

References and Recommendations:

Your Profitable Studio Growth Book

Episode #148: Meet Annie Trotta, Owner of Surya Yoga, and Hear How She Took Her Studio From Crickets to Doubled Revenue With a Go-To Marketing Plan

Revenue Remedy

The 100K Email Template

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

If you’re a regular listener of Ready. Aim. Empire. you know that a lot of what my guests and I discuss involves marketing, business development, and operations, just to name a few topics, but today me and my guest, Lisa Howell, are getting really nerdy on all things physiology.

I loved every second of it, and I think you will, too because even if you don’t quite work with the population of clients that Lisa does, this information is vital for any fitness instructor or health/movement practitioner.

But first, let me give you a little background on who Lisa is…

As the founder of Perfect Form Physiotherapy and creator of The Ballet Blog, Lisa Howell is a leader in the physiotherapy space with her cutting-edge approach to treating and training young dancers.

Over the years, as she has seen the demands on young athletes’ time and abilities deepen, she knew that to truly impact the lives of her clients, she didn’t just need to instruct them on their own bodies, but she needed to help educate her fellow practitioners as well.

To put it succinctly, her philosophy is proactive rather than reactive, and her ultimate goal is to create a grassroots-style movement so that children can receive proper instruction, experience fewer injuries and thus, have a decreased chance of needing physiotherapy.

And after 13+ years of seeing incredible results, I’d say she’s been pretty successful in her mission, and, yet she’s only just getting started (you’ll see what I mean when you listen in).

Whether you too work with a younger clientele, or you serve geriatrics, or if you’re an instructor or a physical therapist, Lisa’s insight is for everyone, because at the end of the day, what are we in this for if it’s not to create better lives and experience for those under our instruction or care?

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Lisa’s journey to becoming a physiotherapist and how her personal experience as a dancer has helped to shape her philosophy

• Why it’s so vital to teach young athletes through slower conditioning and layered instruction to fuel kinesthetic awareness

• Why we need to understand the magnitude of fascia and how it impacts our roles as practitioner instructors and practitioners

• The big shifts we need to be looking at in the evolution of fascial training in the last ten years

• How Lisa is moving through a transition in her business model and practices to impact more students and practitioners across the globe

Referenced Links in This Episode:

Perfect Form Physiotherapy

The Ballet Blog

“Alice in Wonderland: Getting Curiouser and Curiouser” – Dr. Robert Schleip’s Lecture at the Third International Fascia Research Congress

Strolling Under the Skin by Dr. Claude Guimberteau

Gil Hedley, Ph.D. – Fascia and Stretching: The Fuzz Speech

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé

I’m not going to lie, being a business owner is pretty dreamy.

You can directly give your gifts to the world and impact your community, limitlessly grow your income, and you have the freedom to blend your work and your life in the way that you desire for yourself and your family.

Now I know some of you reading this will be nodding your head as you’re beginning to experience these possibilities that business ownership affords, but I know there are a group of others thinking…

“Yes, this is what I thought it would be, but man does it seem like a pipe dream compared to where I’m at now.”

No matter which camp you’re currently in, this message is for everyone: Your vision of business and studio ownership is not a pipe dream. If you can envision it and believe it, you can achieve it. Our thoughts are our beliefs; our beliefs inform our actions.

As I prepare to welcome the newest member of our family (a baby boy!), I can’t help but reflect on how our life’s journeys mirror that of business…

Except, unlike pregnancy where you move through the various stages of growth and development and reach that 40-week mark where you’re absolutely going to give birth at some point or another, “arriving” in business isn’t quite as simple.

There’s no deadline or timely marker to look for, and it’s easy to find yourself stuck in a stage, feeling like you don’t know how to bust through, move, or find your way around the brick wall in your way.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be walking you through what I’ve identified as the “Four Stages of Studio Growth.”

Everyone passes through these stages at different rates, but every stage requires a deep dive from us as studio owners.

Today we’ll be discussing what I call the Wonder Phase which is when the foundation of your business success is built, and many business mistakes can be avoided.

I hope you’ll join me on the journey…

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What is the “Wonder Phase” and how to know if you’re in it
• How to get your baseline operation costs right from the beginning
• What is a Pro Forma and how to use it effectively
• The power of an average client monthly value and how you can use that to calculate a profitable business
• What to look out for when negotiating real estate
• Why you should have your sales and marketing systems ready before opening your doors

Recommended Links:

Ask For It by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever

With Grit & Gratitude,

Lisé