If We Can, You Can

Author:

Judith Cavanagh

Business:

The Pilates Studio

Published:

12/11/2008 11:40:00

Myself and my sister Lynne established The Pilates Studio in Gosforth seven years ago. Lynne initially discovered Pilates whilst receiving treatment for a dance injury and decided to train ten years ago, starting teaching at David Lloyd Health Club.

The Pilates method of body conditioning is a unique system of stretching and strengthening exercises, developed over ninety years ago by Joseph Pilates. It strengthens and tones muscles, improves postures, provides flexibility and balance, promotes excellent mind, body connection and creates a more streamlined shape.

Lynne decided to set up classes in church halls and clients’ homes and as this grew, I took on more of the admin. After a couple of years, the classes were becoming very popular and we were dedicating a lot of time to running them, so we decided to give up our jobs and focus on the Pilates.

Pilates in general was becoming very popular at the time and we realised there was no dedicated Pilates studio in the area. We thought, “Let’s do it first.” We believed we had nothing to lose- if it didn’t work out we would have gone back to our old jobs.

Lynne had visited a few Pilates studios in London and in other areas around the country, seen how well they worked and was keen to get something similar set up in Newcastle. We searched for over a year for a suitable space but finally found one, formed a partnership, agreed on our roles within the business and got ourselves an Accountant.

We were very lucky with clients as Lynne had been teaching in venues around Newcastle so many of these clients stayed with her. Interest in Pilates was really growing and as a result, we were able to quickly build the business through word of mouth with no need for expensive advertising and only a small financial outlay.

The Pilates Studio specialises in Body Control Pilates. Body Control has a unique approach in how it prepares the body for exercise- we believe that you need to acquire the skills to perform the exercise gradually.

In order to do this, we offer small group classes and One to Ones with an emphasis on safety, detailed correction and the needs of the individual. We’ve never wavered from our initial aspiration of wanting to provide high quality Pilates. And as we were smitten with it, we wanted to spread the word about what a fantastic form of exercise it is.

Our main support has been each other. But there was also huge support from our clients and family. We didn’t get advice from experts and other business people- we’re trying to make up for it now though.

We have been able to maintain and build on our reputation as a provider of high quality Pilates and we have a high client retention rate- borne out by our most recent survey this year.

Our biggest challenge so far has been expanding the business, which involved taking on more staff, larger premises, putting on more classes, and all this meaning larger financial applications. It’s been a huge learning curve in terms of planning and management. Our challenge now is to keep the company healthy and growing.

We’ve known and planned for ages to expand our range of Pilates classes and take on more teachers, but the complementary team of practitioners now based here was never in our initial plan.

This particular idea developed relatively recently through our interest in all things complementary to Pilates and it seemed an ideal way forward in our larger premises.

We did however, underestimate the time it would take to build up a team of complementary practitioners and we were a bit blasé about finances and not recognising the absolute importance of keeping a very watchful eye on them.

Since opening our studio in Gosforth, getting the balance between work and play has been tricky. We’re getting there but there’s a constant struggle between family commitments and running the studio. That said, we’ve found we’re able to be more flexible with the hours we work as we’re not answerable to our employer.

To be a successful entrepreneur, there’s loads of things which we think are important. You need a strong belief in what you’re doing, enthusiasm and a positive attitude, you shouldn’t be afraid to take chances and you should trust your instinct.

A bit of common sense comes in handy, and it’s important to pre-empt and plan for certain situations, but always stay flexible to accommodate market changes. Really research your market(s) thoroughly.