TACKLING Financial Instability

Welcome to mid-season in your dance studio—a time when you’re simultaneously creating for this season and planning for the next.

Through my connections with studio owners in the Twinkle Star Dance community, my Diamond Circle coaching clients, and Dance the Dream parade events, I’ve learned that many of us share the same five major challenges:

1. Work/Life Balance

2. Financial Instability

3. Hiring and Management

4. Gaining a Competitive Edge in Saturated Markets

5. Keeping Up with Trends

Last week, we explored strategies to improve Work/Life Balance. Today, let’s dive into Financial Instability, a challenge that often leaves us feeling like our business is running us instead of the other way around.

Whether your business isn’t yet profitable, you’re not categorizing revenue correctly, or you’re rebuilding after losing a performing company group or key teacher, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Trust me, I’ve been there.

In my early days as a studio owner, I expanded my one-room studio to a three-room location, taking on an additional lease with the plan to sublet my original space. How hard could it be? Then the real estate market crashed. For three years, I drove home every night after teaching, waving goodbye to my $3,000 monthly salary just to stay afloat.

It’s safe to say I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. However, those experiences have equipped me with the knowledge to offer practical solutions for tackling financial instability.

Financial Instability

It’s easy to get caught up in adding extra community events or outside performance opportunities to your calendar. This season, I challenge you to focus on maximizing your two primary revenue streams: Class Tuition Revenue and Recital Revenue. 

1. Class Tuition Revenue

Your dance classes are the foundation of your business. Focus on making them exceptional by creating or implementing a proven curriculum that balances structure and fun.

For example, the Twinkle Star Dance program introduces young dancers to ballet, tap, jazz, and creative movement. Students learn basic steps while developing their ability to follow directions and imitate movement in a positive environment. Engaging music and props like Twinkle bears help inspire creativity and imagination, ensuring young dancers have fun while learning.

2. Recital Revenue

I’m a strong advocate for hosting two recitals per year—one during the holiday season and another in the spring. Dancers pay a recital participation fee that includes the performance, costume, tights, action photos, wide-angle video, and a dancer ribbon or medal.

Notice I didn’t mention tickets. When it comes to recital tickets, implement tiered pricing and reserved seating, and avoid selling out by organizing smaller, shorter shows if necessary. Based on our data, we plan for every dancer to sell an average of five tickets. This strategy ensures your recitals are both profitable and enjoyable for your audience.

Join Me for More Insights

If you’re seeking actionable advice and time to recharge, I invite you to join me at the Pinnacle Dance Conference and Retreat this summer. Pinnacle is July 18-20, 2025 at the stunning Omni Royal Orleans, in the heart of the French Quarter. This weekend getaway is designed to help dance studio owners reconnect, learn, and grow their businesses.

Check back next week as I share my tips and tricks for overcoming Hiring and Management challenges.

Meet Tiffany Henderson

Tiffany Henderson is a leader in the dance industry and a seasoned business expert. She owns and operates multiple Tiffany’s Dance Academy locations in Northern California. Her video-based teacher training system and curriculum, Twinkle Star Dance, is currently implemented in over 300 dance studios worldwide.

Four Ways to Use Problems as Access to Studio Growth

Four Ways to Use Problems as Access to Studio Growth  

Suzanne Blake Gerety with Amanda Scott 

DanceStudioOwner.com 

Running a dance studio is personal. It is nearly impossible to keep the emotion out of our business. There’s a level of care and concern we are expected to give our clients. And on top of that we develop relationships with families that can span 15 years or more if a dancer started with us when two or three all the way through graduation.

So when there is a problem at the studio - with a dancer, parent or staff member - we feel it. The good news is that problems are your access to growth. As a business owner, there will always be a fire to put out - student retention, staff turnover, a new studio opens down the street, etc. Once we accept that we will encounter problems we can develop the courage to claim our voice, vision, and mission as a studio owner.  

Since it is not a matter of if you will face problems, but when I want to talk about how to put your business hat on and tackle the problems with a growth mindset. The better you are at solving problems, the better your business. I think there are four things that can help us prepare:      

• Continuing education

• Community

• Making time to work on your business

• Reigniting your passion

Continuing Education 

Running a dance studio is a complicated business, it requires a delicate balance of art and business. It’s more important than ever to use new and innovative marketing and business strategies to gain an advantage to stay ahead of the competition. What may have worked one, two or three years ago isn’t always working anymore. This is why embracing the “life-long learner” approach to how you run your studio will give you an edge today. The best investment you can make in your business is you! 

Community

The quickest route to success as a dance studio owner isn’t traveled alone. As an industry we all want more students to try, enjoy, and love dancing, but it’s unlikely the studio owner across town is sharing how they find and retain their students. Often the best access to growth is “getting out of your own backyard” by connecting with other studio owners across various geographical locations -- who are in it with you -- and willing to share what works. There are plenty of marketing people who are giving dance studio advice so be aware! Surround yourself with all stages of business experience and you’ll be amazed at how rich the creativity and ideas begin to help you grow.

Make Time to Work on Your Business 

There are two important things to consider when it comes to time. First, time is your most valuable asset. You control it and you can’t get more of it. So treat it like the most precious part of your day. Second, put some accountability loops into your time. This will kick you into high gear. For example, in the studio, give yourself a short-burst of time to work on a focused task. I work two hours a day on revenue generating activities. Meaning, for two straight hours it has to be focused efforts on marketing and reaching new students. Put your phone on airplane mode, minimize distractions and get it done! Out of the studio, I like to take 2-3 days to get away and hone in on bigger projects like selecting costumes, learning the newest trends and best ways to spend my marketing dollars, and refilling my cup with other new business ideas.  

Reignite Your Passion 

Burnout is real, it’s important to stay inspired and not overwhelmed. There will always be more on your to-do list. In our 24/7/365 communication driven life, now more than ever there is a need to create boundaries, systems and structures so you can keep loving what you do. Studio owners have asked us to do more in-person training to bridge the gap from online to in real life. Thrive! Studio Conference is a two-day retreat-style event, personal support and learning. It combines all the things that we see and know work into an accelerated event plus you get to cross costume selection off your list and connecting with one-another.

Ready to tackle your studio problems and turn them into growth opportunities? Join Suzanne and Tiffany at Thrive! Studio Conference. From the creators of Energize and Twinkle Star Live— Join us for an invigorating two-day retreat in Dallas, Texas. Thrive was designed with the busy studio owner in mind. We’ve planned fresh new seminars that will empower you and your staff to take your studio to the next level.

Get Tickets and learn more: https://www.thrivestudioconference.com

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Suzanne Blake Gerety is the director of DanceStudioOwner.com, the leading resource to help you build a successful business and keep the passion for dance alive. She is the second-generation owner of her family’s studio in N.H., where she and her mom continue their mission to reach dancers of all ages and experience. Suzanne was born into the dance studio life and brings the perspective of owner, educator, mom, and businesswoman.

Suzanne is a long-time featured columnist for Dance Teacher Magazine’s, “Ask the Experts” and regularly teaches business seminars at industry events. She is known for helping studio owners through important transitions: start up, growth points, faculty and employee relations, rebranding, financial hardships, and buying and selling businesses. Her authentic and real-life approach to solve complex problems is what fellow colleagues say makes her guidance so valuable.

The Five Pain Points of Owning a Dance Studio Business

The Five Pain Points of Owning a Dance Studio Business

Tiffany Henderon with Amanda Scott

Twinkle Star Dance 

October is one of my favorite months of owning a dance studio business. It’s the moment just before we all board the non-stop train to destination dance - holiday shows, costume ordering, planning for next season and summer camps while simultaneously running your current season, competitions and conventions, recitals...Choo, Choo! 

Right now I still have time to reflect and plan before we really start throwing coals on the fire. The past few years, I added some mid-season live events to my calendar. Making the time to step away from the studios and attend live events to work on my business (rather than in my business) gives me a clear focus on where I am conducting the train. 

After several years of making these live events a priority, I now have the privilege of working with and interacting with dance studio owners all around the country. Year after year, I find many of us struggle with the same five pain points in our businesses: 

1. Work/Life Balance 

2. Financial Instability 

3. Hiring and Management 

4. Gaining Competitive Edge in Saturated Markets

5. Keeping up with New Trends 

So since it’s still October, I had the time to compile some actionable items to help give you an extra boost of motivation before the train leaves the station at the end of the month. 

1.Work/Life Balance - My biggest takeaway for work/life balance is to ask yourself if you feel like your studio is running you rather than you running your studio? If the answer is yes, I want you to do the following: 

• Set healthy boundaries 

• Hold regular office hours in a designated office space 

• Delegate and set expectations for when and how tasks should be completed

2. Financial Instability - It is easy to get caught up in adding extra community events or outside performance opportunities to our calendars. This season I want you to focus on the two main revenue streams: 

• Class tuition revenue 

• Recitals

3. Hiring and Management - You are now a “Teacher of Teachers” and your number one job is to inspire, motivate, and provide resources to you staff so that they can be successful. I do this by having: 

• Annual trainings 

• Weekly meetings

• Availability to meet one on one 

4. Gaining Competitive Edge in a Saturated Market - When the grass is greener on the other side, water your own grass. Center your energy on what you do best and the biggest pool of potential customers. Questions for brainstorming:

• What’s on your menu?

• What does your “special dish” look and feel like?  

• Does your branding and marketing reflect that service?

5. Keeping up with New Trends - This season, we’ve moved towards having our clients “opt out” from events so they essentially have to “do nothing” in order to participate in our shows. This is because of the following trends:  

• Non-transactional buying - we want to make it easy for them to register, participate, etc. 

• Constant changing digital marketing landscape - mobile first!

• Sell the experience

Ready to add a train stop mid-season? Join Tiffany at Thrive! Studio Conference. From the creators of Energize and Twinkle Star Live— Join us for an invigorating two-day retreat in Dallas, Texas. Thrive was designed with the busy studio owner in mind. We’ve planned fresh new seminars that will empower you and your staff to take your studio to the next level.

Get Tickets and learn more: https://www.thrivestudioconference.com

Episode 4 - "Part 2: Recital"

Tiffany Henderson is an industry expert, speaker, and the owner of seven Tiffany's Dance Academy locations in California. She is the founder of the Twinkle Star Dance program implemented in over 300 dance studios world wide.

Episode 4 ”Part 2: Recital”

In our fourth episode of “How to Survive Dance Studio Life” Tiffany and Amanda discuss why Recitals are important for the growth of your dancers and how they are essential to your bottom line. Listen to the five reasons Recitals should be one of your biggest priorities as a studio owner; why you should market your Recital as an experience and not just another event on your calendar; and hear the latest trends Tiffany is seeing across her seven dance studio locations.

Check back every Wednesday for more inspiration on “How to Survive Dance Studio Life” with Tiffany Henderson.

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Links from this week’s episode: 

Check out the complete Curtsy Collection for Twinkle Star Dance here: https://www.revolutiondance.com/dance-costumes/curtsy/

Want special pricing on the Curtsy Collection? Learn more about how Twinkle Star Dance works here: https://www.twinklestardance.com/how-it-works

From the creators at Energize and Twinkle Star Live - join us at Thrive! Studio Conference in Dallas, TX November 14-15, 2019: https://www.thrivestudioconference.com

Interested in hearing more about Nimbly and Nimbly Direct? Schedule a demo here: https://www.shopnimbly.com/NimblyHome