From Passionate Dancer to Pilates Studio Owner : Part 1

How Jane came to want a Boutique Pilates Apparatus Studio

Early years

Jane's journey began in the cultural backdrop of Northeast England UK, where her early passion for modern ballet and dance paved the way for her eventual career. As a child and into her teenage years, Jane not only excelled in dance but also demonstrated strong academic ability. She balanced her love for the performing arts and attendance following ‘O’ Levels at a performing arts school with her education, achieving excellent A-levels that opened doors to multiple career paths.

Decisions and Directions

Faced with a choice between pursuing a career as a professional dancer or venturing into academia, Jane opted for a gap year that led her to perform on cruise ships as part of a dance entertainment group. This year of practical experience helped her decide her future direction: pursuing a degree in Sports Science at a prestigious UK university.

Pilates: A New Found Love

During her university years, Jane discovered Pilates through University-run matwork classes that not only complemented her dance background but also ignited a new passion. Her Pilates instructor recognised Jane’s potential and encouraged her to consider teaching in the fitness industry. Motivated by this suggestion, Jane integrated a personal training and group exercise instructor qualification into her Sports Science degree, allowing her to work part-time at the university sports centre leading classes for other students, staff and their family members.

Professional Growth and Personal Life

After graduating, Jane promptly enrolled in a comprehensive modular Pilates instructor training course, enhancing her qualifications while working in local health clubs. As her professional life blossomed, so did her personal life; she got married and started a family. Facing the demands of motherhood, Jane’s husband agreed they should convert the double garage into a small Pilates studio, equipped with a Pilates Reformer, Tower, and Wunda Chair, enabling her to teach private sessions from home.

Building a Pilates Business

Over the next decade, Jane phased out her health club sessions, focusing instead on growing her home-based Pilates business and running Pilates Matwork classes in a local community centre where she rented space and ran classes on a termly basis while the children were at school. These efforts formed a solid customer base, making her private sessions a success and generating an income of approximately £35,000 annually after expenses. A very suitable second income that met the family needs. However, as her children grew older, Jane’s entrepreneurial spirit was rekindled with aspirations of expanding her business beyond her home studio. The various Special populations CPD courses she took allowed her to feel more confident offering a more clinical problem-solving approach to her Pilates with her one-on-one sessions, but she wanted more.

The Vision of a Full-Scale Studio

Reformer studios were booming in Australia and the USA but had been slower to become mainstream in the UK but increasingly the suburbs of London were developing a Pilates Apparatus Scene and Jane didn’t want to be left with regrets by wholly focussing on the family and her part time business. She felt the need to stretch and challenge herself and develop her own identity. She envisioned owning a results driven Boutique Pilates studio with a focus on a dedicated group reformer room and harnessing her academic and CPD knowledge to give the studio a slant towards wellness rather than fitness. However, transitioning from a home-based operation to a commercial venture seemed daunting. Uncertain of her ability to scale her business and manage the complexities of a larger operation, Jane sought professional guidance.

Consultancy and Planning for Growth

This is when Jane first approached our consultancy. She had attended some Special Population CPD courses with Mbodies Training Academy and felt comfortable with the education team and knew that we offered Pilates business services in addition. Together, we began to brainstorm her vision, identifying the key areas she needed to understand and manage to make her vision a viable reality. Our sessions focused on strategic planning, financial forecasting, marketing strategies, and understanding the operational demands of running a larger studio.

Mbodies Training Academy Special populations CPD courses

Understanding the Business of Pilates Studios

As Jane met with us and we brainstormed different ways to expand her Pilates business, Jane began to understand some of the business dynamics specific to Pilates studios but whilst this was exciting, her lack of knowledge and inability to understand business jargon frightened her at the same time. Recognising the need to balance her passion for Pilates with sound business acumen, we recommended she would get best value for money by pressing the pause button on the consultancy sessions and she enrolled on a 10 weeks (2 hours per evening) course entitled ‘Starting up in Business’ helping her to explore the basics of some of the more critical aspects of running a small business and allowing her to feel less inadequate as an entrepreneur.

Business Model Clarity

Having completed her evening studies Jane worked with us to define her studio’s business model. Would she focus on group classes, one-to-one sessions, 4 person circuit rotations or a mix of all three? Understanding the pros and cons of different income streams—such as memberships, drop-in fees, and private sessions—was essential.

Considering additional services like workshops and specialised classes could further diversify her offerings and revenue.

Financial Planning

Developing a detailed financial plan was vital. This included projecting cash flow, understanding the break-even point, and ensuring profitability. Jane examined potential overheads such as rent, equipment costs, instructor salaries, and marketing expenses.

Securing funding, whether through savings, loans, or investment, was another critical aspect she prepared to address. We also talked through how the pre-sale of a limited number of lifetime or long-term memberships prior to opening the studio could generate much needed launch capital. Asset Financing and Hire were also discussed and their different handling from a financial perspective.

Location and Logistics

Jane had learned in her small business start-up course that the choice of location would significantly impact her studio's success. A site in a high-traffic area could attract more clients but would likely come with higher rental costs. Jane considered accessibility for her target clientele and competition in nearby areas. She took our advice to analyse Census data for the wards within a 20-minute journey time of her proposed location to determine whether some locations were better than others for her target market from a demographic perspective.

Legal and Administrative Requirements

Understanding the legalities involved in running a studio, including business registration, insurance needs, and compliance with health and safety regulations, was fundamental. We recommended to Jane as a starting place that she took Mbodies Training Academy’s fully online Studio Health and Safety Course which fully explains the legal position in this regard.

Jane also planned to familiarise herself with employment law as she would be hiring staff for the expanded studio.

Marketing and Client Retention

Developing a strong brand and online presence was crucial. Jane planned to invest in a professional website and active social media platforms to engage with her community and attract new clients. We suggested she should also consider which CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system would be best suited to her needs from a client retention perspective and not purely from an operational perspective.

She also considered loyalty programs, community-building activities and membership incentives to retain existing clients and attract new ones through word-of-mouth.

Staffing and Operations

With a larger studio, hiring qualified instructors and staff to manage day-to-day operations would be necessary. Jane was already aware that Instructors tend not to hold great loyalty for a single employer if an alternative nearby offers higher rates of pay so we focused on creating a staffing plan that included training and professional development to maintain high teaching standards and create long-term added value for employees working in her studio.

Implementing an efficient booking and management system to handle class schedules, client registrations, and payments was also on her agenda.

Support and Consultancy

Jane’s consultancy sessions provided her with tailored advice on each of these areas, helping her build a comprehensive plan for her studio. These sessions were crucial in transforming her initial ideas into a structured, actionable business strategy.

Are you inspired by Jane's journey or thinking about starting your own Pilates studio? Contact us to see how we can help turn your passion into a successful business venture.

Read Part 2 of Jane’s story to see what choices she made in her business plan.

Author: Chris Onslow - Pilates Consultant

Chris Onslow, has run Pilates focussed businesses since 1998. He and his team specialise in supporting Pilates entrepreneurs and business owners. With a rich history of owning and running successful Pilates studios in the UK, and supporting others in Europe and the Middle East, Chris has broad expertise in maximising profitability and optimising operational efficiency. His agency provides top-tier advice on selecting new, pre-owned, and hireable Pilates equipment from renowned brands such as Align-Pilates, Balanced Body or Stott-Pilates/Merrithew. As the founder of Mbodies Training Academy, Chris continues to revolutionise Pilates education, offering premier online and hybrid CPD and qualification courses for Pilates apparatus instruction and special population CPD.