Tightening the Dance Belt
All throughout the country, the effects of the economic crisis reverberate. From publicly traded corporations to family-owned small businesses, Americans are feeling the pinch. So what can studio owners do to stay afloat? When industry falters, ingenuity is rewarded. Read on to find out how three studio directors used resourceful strategies to calm their clients’ fears and keep their students dancing.
Extend a Helping Hand
With the mortgage bubble burst and the financial markets unstable, many parents are feeling the hit. To keep their kids signed up for dance, they might need special assistance from studio directors. Jessica O’Donnell, director of Not Your Ordinary Dancers in Middletown, NJ, finds that clients are more apt to stick around if she is flexible. “A lot of our competition students volunteer as class assistants,” she says. “If a parent is really struggling with paying the tuition on time, then we try and work it out so the volunteering can go toward that.” O’Donnell, whose enrollment is up for September, also advises working out trade agreements with parents, who might be able to offer their services sewing costumes or helping behind the desk in exchange for a discount on tuition. “Talk to the parents and see what you can work out,” she says. “A lot of people have skills that they can share. It’s better to negotiate rather than lose a student because you hate to see a kid suffer on account of the economy.”
Some studios might benefit from developing an initiative like Broadway Dance Center’s work-study program, where students clean the studio or work the front desk in exchange for discounted classes. Although the program doesn’t make BDC a profit (or a loss), director Diane King says the students make up approximately 10 percent of the studio population. “They are an integral part of how we run the studio,” she says. “They’re familiar faces here and really a part of our family. If we didn’t offer this program, we’d be closing the door on a good portion of professional dancers trying to get ahead.”
Cost-Cutting Measures
With the recent federal bailout of many major banks, the full effects of the economy might not have trickled down to studio owners just yet. “I’m sort of stymied on how to maneuver,” says Krissy Keefer, director of Dance Mission Theatre, a non-profit studio in San Francisco. “I have parents saying [they] are unemployed, but our enrollment is up.” Studio directors can look out for their own welfare by employing cost-cutting measures. Keefer has put a hold on studio spending, such as buying new equipment and making major repairs, in order to maintain a cash reserve. “I can’t have my business be paycheck to paycheck,” she says. “There are too many people dependent on me for their livelihood.” BDC has also put renovation and interior decoration on the back burner, as well as cutting costs that don’t affect the quality of their dance education. “For us, one of the huge expenses is toilet paper and tissue products,” says King. “Ask your supplier if you can revisit the products you’re using. I do that every year, and sometimes I see a savings of 15 to 20 percent.”
Studio owners can help their clients save money on non-necessities as well. O’Donnell finds that selling cost-friendly versions of studio gear has helped parents in a pinch. She now offers a competition jacket with screen printing instead of embroidery. “That keeps the costs down, and the kids can still have something with their studio name on it.” Keefer sees this as a trend that studio directors should follow not only in times of economic crisis, but for good. “Spending less money and having less waste and overhead and consumption is really the way we need to go as a culture,” she says. “We need to rethink this all, even costumes and makeup. It’s a whole new generation. Try to reframe what you’re doing so that less is more.”
Draw in Customers
Studios won’t lose numbers if they make the dance experience an integral part of a child’s life. While many competition studios can bank on most of their star performers sticking around, young children, the foundation of a studio’s future success, may not be able to enroll in extracurricular activities such as dance. O’Donnell hasn’t experienced a drop in her younger dancers because she has created a family-friendly atmosphere that leaves parents feeling at ease. “I think that people want to keep their kids in something positive, even if they are feeling the hit,” she says. “I would want to keep my kids as happy as possible. I would rather take the sacrifice myself than take things away from my kids. If they feel comfortable and happy where they are, they’re going to stay with it.”
O’Donnell provides a happy atmosphere by focusing on events that draw dancers into their community. Her studio participates in many local performance, service and outreach opportunities. The dancers conduct fundraisers for breast cancer research, perform in a tree-lighting ceremony around Christmas, and this year, they danced in a Veteran’s Day parade. “We’ve gotten a lot of little ones this year and they all seem to be loving it,” says O’Donnell. “The more you get the little ones involved in things outside the studio, the more they’ll stay with it. They get excited that they’re asked to perform outside of class.”
Creative Marketing
Besides offering incentives for existing customers, studio directors can use creative marketing and discount opportunities to lure new dancers. BDC has begun offering coupons in their advertising at dance trade shows and in local papers. “We know that people are potentially hurting out there,” says King. “We want to entice them and show them we are willing to help.” BDC recently ran ads for $4.00 off an open class, and are considering more coupons for 10 or 20 percent off in the future. King says she has also relaxed a bit on refund policies, when they may have been stricter in the past. “If a class card expires, we might be more willing to honor it,” she says. “We’re taking things on a case-by-case basis because we don’t want to alienate anybody.”
While BDC, Not Your Ordinary Dancers and Dance Mission Theatre have not experienced downturn in enrollment, they have taken steps to ensure their company’s future in an uncertain business landscape. In order to keep dance an important part of the country’s economic fabric, studio owners should use creative tactics to keep their customers happy and cut back on unnecessary spending. At the end of the day, by investing in clients and understanding their economic needs, studio owners invest in the most vital part of their enterprise: the dancer’s need to keep dancing.