Whether you are getting ready for your studio’s production of the Nutcracker, your winter recital, or a small in-class performance for parents before the winter break, it feels like the list of to-dos before the end of the year just keeps growing. In addition to closing out the year of dance classes, it’s also essential to put together a year-end report to show your studio’s success through the year.

If the word ‘report’ makes you panic – don’t! In this blog, we are outlining what a year-end report is and walk you through best practices of what to include from a dance studio’s perspective so this is an easy check on your to-do list.

What is a year-end report?

Year-end reports are a great way to measure the success of your dance studio so you can compare from year to year. You will be able to answer questions like:

• Did your studio meet your projected revenue goal?
• Which class brought in the most revenue?
• How did your revenue compare to last year’s?
• Did revenue from camps and other events at your studio exceed your expectations?

These are likely questions you are already asking yourself as you close one year and open the next but having this information documented in a year-end report will help you know where you ended up so you can continue to grow. Share this report with your managers, directors, and any other stakeholders at your studio so it can be a point of reference in the future.

5 best practices for year-end reporting at your studio

Now that you know what a year-end report is and how it benefits your studio, let’s take a look at what to include to make sure you get the most benefit out of it.

Evaluate the previous year

How did your studio do last year? It’s the perfect time to reflect on the efforts you planned out versus what you executed.

As you look back at what the previous year entailed, ask yourself – what went well? What didn’t go as well as I would have liked? While the latter isn’t always the most fun to look back on, it’s a great learning opportunity for you as a dance studio owner.

When you consider your marketing efforts for the year, do you know:

• how many website visits have you had?
• how many prospective customers did you engage with?
• how many trials were set up, attended, and became customers?
• how many new families did you acquire?

Knowing these stats will help you determine benchmarks for the year and set new goals for the next year.

Utilize data to make strategic decisions

Based on the data you’ve collected, it’s time to use that information to determine if there were any gaps to fill from the previous year. This is the perfect time to decide on new strategies to implement so you can access the impact during the next year-end report.

For example, if your summer dance camps were lower in enrollment than you would like, consider changing your themes to coordinate with current popular children’s movies or start promotion with early bird pricing.

Including the decisions that will help fill gaps in your year-end report will also be the perfect segue into setting new goals for the year that will keep your dance studio moving forward!

Pick the right key performance indicators

Key performance indicators, also known as KPIs, are a great way to track the progress you are making toward the goals you’ve set. Determining the right KPIs and holding yourself accountable by listing them in your year-end report is important for you and your team to be able to measure success.

If your goal is to increase enrollment each dance season, then you want to not only look at the new families joining your studio but also be aware of the students you are retaining season to season. If retention is not helping that total enrollment number grow, then it’s the perfect opportunity to determine what efforts you can put toward keeping families in your dance program.

Examples of great KPIs to track include:

• How many classes still have openings and is there an obvious trend? (day of the week, teacher, time of day, age group, etc.)
• How many classes are full with a waitlist?
• Which students are missing classes regularly?
• Which dance teacher has the strongest retention rate?
• Who was enrolled last season that didn’t come back this season?
• Do you have any inventory that you need to restock?

Include customer feedback

It’s easy to think all dance families are happy at your studio but what about asking them? Whether it’s insight into what you are doing well or an area where you didn’t realize you were falling short, hearing directly from your families will help you better meet their needs.

Surveying your customers doesn’t have to be complicated or daunting. Just finished your recital or holiday performance? Ask parents what they thought about the facility, the quality of the show, the organization, etc. A simple gesture to let them know their feedback is important and also giving you ideas on how to improve is a complete win-win. It also gives you the opportunity to gauge improvements from one year-end report to the next.

Keep your year-end report clear, visually appealing, and engaging

Year-end data can be overwhelming because it covers a lot of time, activities, and aspects of your dance studio. However, if presented the right way, the data can be digested easier so changes can be applied for the next year.

This is the perfect scenario for ‘less is more’. That doesn’t mean you should skip over a bunch of data but make sure the most important information is the primary focus with additional data available if your team is interested. Focus on three to six KPIs at most and use visuals where possible to compare the previous year(s).

Year-end reporting may not be the most fun task on your to-do list but I promise it will be the most rewarding. Reminding yourself of the wins worth celebrating again and deciding how you can make changes to keep your dance studio improving year after year is priceless!

Take the guesswork out of the data part with your studio management software’s reporting suite. If you don’t currently have studio management software, implementing one could be the perfect goal for your studio.

Get started with Jackrabbit Dance today by creating your free account and you’ll be one step closer to KPIs to drive your year-end report.

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