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Help!!Opening Pole Studio
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wonderful https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif we need more studios n the area!
I get paid per class. For some reason I couldn’t do direct deposit so I have a pay-pal account set up. The owner of the Catwalk said she likes it better that way, no waiting for instructors to cash their checks. The money is taken out of her account immediately.I don’t mind having more than one girl to a pole but i let the student decide. we have 10 pole so we only allow 10 girls but if some girls don’t mind sharing than i will let the extra girls stay. the room at the Catwalk is kinda small so it can get crowded quick so I don’t think I would ever allow 20 girls, even if the other girls didn’t mind.
Check other dance studios and fitness clubs for instructors. They might not be able to do pole tricks but they will have at least 1 of 3 qualities need to be a pole instructor (DANCE; jazz, hip-hop, ballet, etc. FITNESS; pilates, cardio fit, Zumba. POLE TRICKS). For local strip clubs go to stripclublist.com to find clubs in the area. Macon, Valdosta, Albany, Cordele and Warner Robins are all on the list. If the clubs on the list even exist I’m sure the girls who work there are board and get plenty of free pole time LOLZ!!! When You get everything together I would be more than happy to come do an instructor course, help show you and your instructors some good teaching methods.
http://www.stripclublist.com/y.asp?s=GA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (copy paste this to address bar; all clubs in GA). You could also check local schools for student who major in dance or fitness and need the extra cash.For sound system… iPod Dock. Most people have and iPod and it is easier for me to organize my music, no scratched CDs. Hope this helps keep me posted good luck!!!
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I’ve been a pole dance instructor for over a year and a half. The place I work at is scraping by. A pole studio about 10 miles from here went out of business this past January (Xpose Fitness – Forest Hill location). Castleoutsiders studio has been threatened with closure several times. Starrgrrrl’s (this is her youtube username) studio the Bombshell Ballroom went out of business last year, and she is an enormously talented dancer! Anther girl on here was writing in the forum that her local studio went belly up. I would be very cautious. Pole dancing is great but I can’t tell you how many girls have come in to try it once and you NEVER see them again. They think it’s going to be easy but they have no idea. It’s like a fad, everyone wants to try it, but 1 out of 50 come back and get hooked and keep spending $$ in the studio.
We have a 16 pole -pole room and a non pole studio. Honestly the most business occurs in the studio where belly dancing, hip hop, chair dance, kick boxing, and yoga occur. I have my top level pole class Friday night and had ONE student who paid $12 for the class. My level one class had THREE people. No one showed up to the first chair dance class and that instructor took my pole class for free. I think only two showed up for her second chair class. Mon-Thurs night have better business, but when I was in there Tues night to teach yoga, I only had four students and there was only one girl in the pole room. Honestly I don’t know how the place survives.
When my studio first opened people tried it and refused to go back b/c the instructors had no idea what they were doing. We are still trying to win those people back with free classes now that the instructors are better. Some of the original instructors were strippers. They flaked and blew off their classes and didn’t last more than a month. They made way more cash in the strip clubs – why would they teach a pole class for a measly 20 bucks an hour?? None of the instructors now are former strippers. All of the instructors at our studio learned at our studio. It takes at least two years to get really good at dancing, so good luck finding talent. I have a pole position instructor certificate, a yoga fit certificate, and an ACE group fitness certificate. I also have a Master’s degree in Education. I’ve taught public school for 12 years. I know what I’m doing.
I would recommend as little overhead as possible and waiting until you get good enough to teach. Start out slow and build over time. Offer other gitness type classes and advertise a lot. Goo luck.
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Thank you for your post Angel1201. You are right on point about being cautious. The way the economy is people dont have as much disposable money like before. So they are spendung less and on necessities. I am planning to offer other fitness classes besides pole to bridge the gap. Consumers are very picky and they want to know they are getting what they are paying for. Am almost finish with my group fitness cert. so I plan on teaching other classes but not pole yet. Hopefully I think I’ve found a retired dancer that is interested in teaching pole.Thank you again for your input.
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Sorry to be so negative, but you need to know the realities before you put all your cash up. I am very thankful my studio owner opened up because it allowed me to find my passion. But I am always concerned that she’s barely getting by. Luckily her husband has a good job. The reason I went on to get my certificates in pole, yoga, and group fitness was because I realized no one teaching in my studio had a clue including me! My pole instructor when I first started two years ago fell in front of me off the pole and broke her foot. She was being careless and was trying to show off. The sub that was hired knew less than I did so I offered to take over the class and was hired on the spot.
What I find interesting is that the owner never even comes in back to see what’s going on. She doesn’t dance or take classes. When I started there was no training and no mentoring for me or anyone else, but I did get a handout https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif . There was no structure to the classes when I first was taking lessons. The teachers would stretch before warming up (a big no-no) and they only taught spins and tricks and would stop in between to talk. As a result no-one DANCED fluidly like it is supposed to be done. I had to go to other studios and I had to study exercise science and I paid for it all out of my own pocket in order to improve myself. I have made NO profit off of teaching. I have had injuries to my shoulder (very common with pole) plus lots of bruises, bangs, and exhaustion. I’ve had to see a physical therapist, chiropractor, and massage therapist for all the aches/pains. My fellow teacher regularly goes for accupunture and chiro work because of her physical issues. It’s crazy, but I do it for the love of the sport and for the camraderie I get with my students.
We are in an area (Baltimore) where Xpose fitness has the bulk of the market. They have four locations and as I mentioned, one recently went out of business. They charge $9 per class!! It get’s down to $7 or $8 if you buy classes in bulk. They rely solely on volume. If you are in an area where there is no competition I would recommend charging way more for classes. $30 or so. But remember, people won’t keep paying unless they have a quality instructor who knows how to organize a fitness class, properly teach moves, keep everyone safe, make everyone feel good and who has a great personality. There is so much to it. I’d also recommend selling t-shirt and booty shorts. You can turn a profit on those with little or no physical work. Parties are also profitable.
Go to polejunkies.com. They have a forum folder for instructors. There is a lot of info in it that might be of use to you.
Good luck to you and best wishes. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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Wow, Angel, thank you for being so absolutely candid. I teach at 2 studios, both of which are primarily Pilates studios and that is why they’re doing well. The group classes (all forms of exercise, from yoga to kickboxing, etc) are not doing so great–like Angel, I often see 2 or 3 signed up, but sometimes just 1. For this particular studio, the group ex is additional income for the owner. In the other studio, the group ex room is very new and so we’ll see how it goes. I can tell you for certain that when women come in to try pole class, they LOVE it. But it’s a total mystery as to who comes back and why. I keep expecting the women to be more like us–fall in love, get hooked, and view class as a necessity! I am so sad to hear that the Bombshell Ballroom closed!!!! Although I did not know her personally, I thought Starrgrrrl was phenomenally talented and her dancing was crazy charismatic–I loved her style so much. I was once told that if I wanted to open up a studio (be it yoga or something else), I’d have to have enough money to float the studio for at least 2 years (meaning, 0 profit). Nowadays, I’m going to guess that it would have to be longer. I don’t think you’re being negative, Angel, but pretty realistic. My opinion is that in this economy, you would probably be better off teaching all the classes without expecting a paycheck, and then when you’ve built up a business and a reputation, start hiring other quality instructors.
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Angel by no means were u being negative. I actually appreciate you being so frank. You just exposed a side of business that is a reality. Rather a studio or any other business. Am not new to entrepreneurship. I’m looking at both sides and plan B and C https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif Your honesty is refreshing and appreciated. I will check out that link you posted. Instructors are my biggest concern because they will make or break the entire atmoshere in the studio. Its hard finding poeple to share your dreams and implement your ideas efffectively. I so wish I could teach all the classes but I know my limitations, am working hard though to get there. I’m scared and I can admit it but I want to try and see.
Yogabeachbabe you are so right about people taking the class and am wondering how in the world could you not just love this beautiful way of self expression and be hooked like we are
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Hey, I wanted to clarify something. I said in my last post I’ve made no $$ off being an instructor. This is why. I have a great paying primary job which puts me in a high tax bracket. The extra $$ I make being an instructor is not taxed as I am an independant contractor. Everything I make I try to spend out for work-related expenses to give me write offs and tax deductions. I’ve taken continuing ed. classes for my exercise certifications, I’ve travelled to earn them, I’ve purchased several poles, my "uniform", music, insurance, etc. So, yes I make $$, but I spend just as much to run my "business".
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My downfall was really REALLY high overhead (The Bombshell Ballroom). Simple as that. keep it simple until you are actually making a profit, and established within your community before expanding. Or just don’t go all out at first. I closed my place January of this year, and since then I have heard of lots of other studio’s closing which makes me sad… especially because I know how NOT fun, costly, and complex the closing process is.
It can absolutely work, even in this economical climate, but there is always the risk, in any business, that for one reason or another, it won’t work out. Just keep it simple. That’s the best advice I can offer. I strongly advise away from paying almost 2G a month in rent until you are established https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif
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And by the way (I’m such an ass!) THANK YOU! For your beautiful compliments on my dancing!
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maybe you could google dance studios and check out their websites to get ideas on prices and lessons and stuff. the place that i took lessons before i found studioveena charged $150 for an 8 week session, 1 hour per week. there were 5 poles and students shared. it was a blast https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif you could always hold monthly workshops too, like lapdancing, chair dancing, a strip tease workshop, floor work, stuff like that…..i think those were like $25 per person, and they were 1 hour. this is such an exciting endeavor!!! Good luck with everything!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
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Hi everyone. I just though I would mention as someone made a comment in an earlier thread that pole dancing is a new sport and there are no qualifications yet. In fact there are a few out there if you search and do your homework. I got my teaching qualifications through Vertical Dance based in the UK and there is also the Asian Sports Association. I believe there is ever one set up by the American sports association although it is rather expensive.
So if it is pole qualification you are looking for then there are definitely places where you can get them even if you do not live in the area.
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