Simple methods to keep parents’ costs down and let your studio thrive

By Misty Lown

These days, most businesses, especially small ones, are feeling the economic pressure of decreased consumer spending. Dance studio owners face the additional challenge of offering an elective activity. Although many parents will cut their own spending before pulling their kids out of activities, you can help your clients avoid reaching that financial breaking point. How? By changing your programming in anticipation of tighter budgets. And parents won’t be the only ones who benefit—you will too.

Stacking classes
At our studio the average upper-level dancer takes about eight classes per week. We used to spread out the intermediate and advanced classes so that kids would come to the studio four days each week for two hours each time. Now they have the option to come two days per week for four hours each day, which most of them are doing. Most kids don’t seem to have trouble doing four hours of class at a stretch, but those who do can stick with their usual schedule.

Everyone benefits. Parents save time and money by cutting down on gas and trips to the studio, but the school doesn’t lose any revenue. Older dancers have more opportunities to get involved in after-school activities during those free afternoons. And studio owners enjoy easier scheduling.

Competitions
For years we took our competitive groups to one competition and convention/competition each season. Starting last year, we began attending two competitions and no conventions. Typically it costs my competitive dancers $75 each to go to a competition, with no hotel fees. A convention with a competition costs about $250, plus food and hotel expenses for two nights.

I did not get one complaint about the switch, and many families were thankful for the break in costs. And, of course, I encourage those who want and can afford to go to conventions to do so on their own time.

In-house conventions
When I cut out that annual convention, I didn’t want to send a message to students and families that taking master classes is not important. We needed to continue to provide opportunities for students to study with regional and national experts, so we chose to bring the master classes to us.

We have produced these events several times with different artists, but the result is always the same. I can offer my students two days of master classes for about half the cost of attending a traditional convention. If you factor in the hotel and travel savings, the value for families skyrockets.

With good promotion, studio owners should be able to generate a small profit to compensate them for the time spent producing and hosting the event. However, even if you only cover your expenses, you cannot put a price on the goodwill and publicity the events can generate. Local newspapers are more likely to run a photo of kids taking class with a visiting guest artist than to cover an event that takes place hours away. Inviting other studios in the area sends a message of inclusiveness to the dance community. And, finally, it’s a convenient way to commission choreography from new sources without having to travel or bring someone in exclusively for that purpose.

Make travel count
There are some experiences that cannot be duplicated in the studio setting, however. Taking class in New York City, performing at Walt Disney World or on a cruise ship, and attending national competitions or conventions can be important events for studios and their students. And although these trips are worth every penny, they can cost a pretty penny too. But you don’t have to give up on them entirely. Make big trips more affordable by offering them every other or every third year. You can keep students’ enthusiasm high in the interim by announcing future plans with a lobby sign that says, “Performing at [your choice] in 2010!” Besides the financial benefit for parents, there’s value for kids in learning to wait for something special.

Make big trips more affordable by offering them every other or every third year. Besides the financial benefit for parents, there is value for kids in learning to wait for something special.

Since finding the time for such trips can be a challenge, traveling less gives studio owners a break from the constant activity associated with planning for group travel. And when we do make those trips, whenever possible I choose family-oriented destinations so that students’ parents and siblings (and my husband and kids) can come along.

Costumes

Reduce, reuse, recycle
Costumes can be a burden for parents, and the quickest way to bring those bills down is to reduce the number of costumes each family has to buy. We did “closet pulls” (costuming by theme out of students’ and parents’ closets, not from catalogs) for about 15 percent of our recital dances last spring. Mommy & Me, hip-hop, tap, and musical theater classes are some obvious choices for closet pulls. A dad’s white button-down shirt and tie, worn with black jazz pants, for “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan is a good example. And what kids wouldn’t like to dress up as orphans in Annie with clothes from the family ragbag? For hip-hop costumes, jeans, colored tank tops, and bandanas can be quick fixes, and Mommy & Me students can wear their best spring dresses.

Even if a costume can’t be eliminated, often it can be reused. Some jazz and tap classes can wear one costume for both dances. This requires more planning to make sure that the songs for both dances make sense with the costume, but it is time well spent. The unexpected benefit is fewer backstage changes at recital time.

If recycling costumes won’t work for your recital, try doing it for competitions. This year we recycled almost all the competitive kids’ costumes for solos, duets, small groups, and specialty numbers. For example, this year’s lyrical quartet is wearing last year’s large-group lyrical costume. The judges will never know that one of my soloists is wearing a recycled costume as long as it fits the song. With the extra expenses associated with these specialty numbers, not having to buy a costume can be a real blessing to parents. 

Same level, same costume
Many intermediate and advanced students at my school take multiple sections of the same class each week. It used to be that the teachers for each section selected different songs and costumes for their classes. Now all of the classes of the same level and genre wear the same costume and dance to the same song. That way, the parents of kids in multiple sections of a class don’t have to buy multiple costumes. For us, having all the kids wear the same costume has no effect on the recital presentation since each class performs in a different show. Studios that produce only one show might have to get more creative, using accessories or added costume pieces to vary the look.

This policy saves time and money for studio owners. Take costume exchanges, for example. If three sections of Ballet III have the same costume, you have three times the opportunity to exchange sizes among your students before making a formal exchange with the company, which would mean time, money, and a trip to the post office for you. Plus, using the same song for every section of that class means two fewer songs to edit before choreography can begin. Multiply those savings across every class that has multiple sections and they add up. 

Consignment sales
My in-studio dancewear store features a consignment service for dance shoes. Parents can buy good-looking, used dance shoes for about half the price of buying new. The bestsellers in the consignment bins are kids’ patent leather tap shoes. Kids outgrow them before they can wear them out, which means that parents usually have to buy these shoes more often than leather ballet shoes. Because the shoes hardly show any wear, parents feel like they’re getting a deal. You could extend your consignment service to gently worn leotards as well, particularly if you require a dress code.

For studio owners, offering a consignment option involves no overhead or up-front costs; you pay the clients only when their consigned item sells. (In most cases, I make more per pair on consignment shoes than I do on new ones.) I love something that saves the customer money and helps me out, too.

Often, the dance-related expenses that push parents to the limit budget-wise are low- or no-margin items or resource drains for studio owners and teachers. Take a close look at your school to see where you can pass on value to your clients.