Challenging, stressful, collaborative and character-building. That’s how Tracy O’Hagan, studio manager at Pacific Northwest Pilates, a Merrithew® Licensed Training Center (LTC) in Portland, Oregon, would characterize the last 11 months.
“This period has highlighted everyone’s ability to adapt and persevere. The organizations that have committed to making changes and some sacrifices have survived,” Tracy says.
There are 100,000 small fitness studio business in the U.S., 31% of which are yoga or Pilates studios, according to the Association of Fitness Studios. All of these studios have had to reinvent and reimagine their business models as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Pacific Northwest Pilates that meant discovering new ways to operate and deliver instructor training, including quickly shifting to online group classes and sessions, hosting Merrithew’s education programs online, and creating a streamlined workshop and course calendar for 2021 with mostly online options. They also streamlined their administration and communication processes to make it easier on a smaller staff to manage.
“We learned that there can be a lot of value in online programming,” Tracy says. “Some clients and many students prefer to be in their homes and instructors have gained valuable new skills teaching via Zoom. There will most likely always be online education options in the future.”
While Pacific Northwest Pilates did see a dip in revenue in 2020, they also experienced tremendous client loyalty and have even attracted some new students from across the U.S. and around the world to their online education.
“Our online education programs have reached new audiences. This is helpful for remote students who want to get great training and professional certifications, and fulfill their CECs,” she says.
What strategies have helped you find new business opportunities in the current market?
- Find business mentors: Pacific Northwest Pilates started working with SCORE Portland, which is part of a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses. Mentors helped the LTC work through cash flow analysis, marketing strategies and negotiate their lease.
- Expand online education options: By expanding their online workshops and course offerings through Merrithew, they’ve been able to reach and attract more education students, including from outside Portland.
- Provide value-add services to clients: Pacific Northwest Pilates launched a therapeutic Pilates online subscription series to provide students with quick bits of information about how to work with clients with injuries led by Merrithew Master Instructor Trainer and physiotherapist Melanie Byford-Young (pictured above). It’s a mentorship-style series with instructor tips and skill-building.
- Collaborate with colleagues: Peer-to-peer learning and sharing with other Merrithew LTCs and studios helped Pacific Northwest Pilates decide on which Merrithew online education titles to offer in 2020 and 2021 to provide the most value to students. Their Merrithew affiliates also helped them brainstorm how to effectively schedule workshops for students within their time zones.
How have you communicated with clients during the pandemic?
Through the many ups-and-downs of the past year, Tracy says the most important thing has been keeping in touch, listening and understanding their clients’ and students’ needs and wants, and keeping instructors in the loop.
"We realized that the pandemic had impacted everyone in different ways and it was important to take a personalized approach with clients, students and instructors. For example, instead of sending mass emails to customers, we chose to call people on the phone or send personalized emails to help them with their individual concerns. While it was more work for our team, this helped us break through much of the panic, stress and fear that people were experiencing and helped us re-establish connection and re-build trust with our community during a very chaotic and uncertain time.
“Another example: since some clients were unsure about virtual group classes, we offered one week of free group online classes so that they could try it out at no cost. People were very appreciative of that."
Pacific Northwest Pilates also uses its blog to communicate and engage its audience.
“Getting creative with videos on our blog has helped us show our clients our new procedures at the studio, such as checking in, safety protocols, account management and scheduling, payment processing, to name a few,” Tracy says.
“Melanie and Leslie Braverman, our owners, are excellent listeners and collaborators. They’ve fostered a ‘PNWP’ family-feel. We are all in this together and we will make it through. It’s very helpful to be part of that community and be able to share the good days and the bad together.”
What advice do you have for other studio owners dealing with similar challenges?
- Practice self-care: Take a lot of deep breaths, stay calm and focused. Leaders cannot be useful if they aren’t taking care of themselves. We teach health and wellness and should practice it too.
- Pace yourself, it’s a marathon: This is a journey we’re all on. Choose your team and travelers wisely and make sure they are informed, supported and feel appreciated.
- Laugh, smile and let it go: We all need each other every single day since there are so many hurdles. The rollercoaster hasn’t leveled out yet, but right now, everyone is on board and has shown the stamina to keep going. If you can’t laugh and smile with your work family every single day, you’re going to have a hard time making it through this.
Find more resources to help you navigate the pandemic as a studio or small business owner here >