You did it! You, finally opened the dance studio you’ve always dreamed of. It’s a place where you get to train, inspire and instill the same fire for the art you’ve had for all these years into the next generation of dancers. You’ve got the drive, you’ve got the skill but you may need some help with the business itself. Unfortunately, passion alone can’t keep a dance studio afloat but knowing what numbers and data to focus on may help your studio last and grow!
We’re here to help with that data. KPIs or Key Performance Indicators are the numbers in your dance business that are most important to look at when it comes to assessing whether or not you’re on track to meet your goals and succeed long term. We’ve put together 6 of the most important metrics to help you get an idea of what to look for.
6 Essential Dance Studio KPI’s to Focus On
Enrollments
This one seems simple but measuring enrollments goes deeper than just checking a number every now and then. Consistently comparing enrollments month over month and year over year can paint a much better picture of the success of your studio than oversimplifying and assigning your current number a “good” or “bad” rating. You’ll begin to notice trends and be able to assess what may have caused them. What changed last month? When are your slow seasons? Did that new enrollment special help?
Churn Rate
Churn rate is the percentage of customers who have started and then left your studio over a certain period of time. A high churn rate usually means something isn’t clicking for customers. You can reduce churn by making sure you’re offering the right classes for your customer base, communicating effectively with parents by staying on top of your messaging or keeping your lobby hassle-free with a self check-in station or two.
Active Class Attendance
Out of all the classes you offer at your dance studio, how many of them are completely full? You may really want to add a ballet class to your offerings but if the sign-ups haven’t supported it in the past, it can be best to stick to the classes that bring in the most Active Students or students who are actually enrolled.
You can break this down into smaller sections to really hone in on what classes you should offer. For example, look at the Average Enrollment Age of students in your classes. See if your offerings cater to this age group. What happens after they finish the class? If you’re noticing students drop off after a certain timeframe or at a certain age it could be time to look into diversifying your class offerings. Check the average enrollment drop age and the average months of enrollment, you may be able to increase the average lifetime of a student by making some simple lineup changes.
Lifetime Value
From the moment a child gets signed up for one of your classes their lifetime value clock starts ticking. Though you want to see your little dancers go out and succeed, you should aim to keep a student at your studio for as long as possible! Like we mentioned before, this can be done by offering classes that cater to their needs as they progress but can be increased in other ways too such as loyalty programs for returning students or discounts for referrals.
Net Income Ratio/Profit
You don’t need a business degree to know that profit is important. Take a look at how much money is left over after subtracting your business expenses. This will help you make a more informed decision when it comes to pricing for students and operational costs for your studio.
Customer Base Growth
Keeping track of this KPI allows you to identify trends that indicate how well your business is performing when it comes to attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. Low growth isn’t the end of the world, especially if you’re just starting out. It just means it could be time to branch out a little. Try engaging with prospects and clients on social media, invest in some advertising or make sure your customer service is stellar!
The key to success is not just to measure and assess these metrics but to use them to make informed decisions for the better of your business. Pulling these numbers from spreadsheets and binders can be overwhelming, no matter how organized you are. Which is why many successful dance studios use studio management software like Jackrabbit Dance to help them keep track of all their data and generate easy-to-view reports using the Business Intelligence Dashboard feature. One less thing to worry about, so you can focus on doing what you love, teaching kids how to dance!
Want to make the most out of your dance studio KPI’s? Check out our free 2023 Dance Studio Benchmark Report. It’s full of data from 4,000 studios that you can hold your own up against and see if you’re on track to be on trend with other businesses in the dance industry.
