By Julian Littleford

Julian Littleford, owner of JL Body Conditioning in Del Mar, California, has been teaching and advancing Pilates work for 30 years. A frequent presenter at the annual Pilates Method Alliance conference and other industry events, Julian is known for his innovations in both the business and practice of Pilates. Below is his first column for Pilates Pro, detailing a recent shift he made on the business side of his studio.

Recently I took an in-depth look at the way I was running my business. Although I’ve run my own studio for 17 years, the way I receive payments from my regular clients was no longer working in my favor. While the studio’s popularity had increased, the profits were not mimicking this and I wanted to figure out what had changed.

When I started my business, approximately 10 percent of my clientele traveled frequently throughout the year and the other 90 percent kept their appointments on a fairly consistent basis. However, over the years this trend has reversed. More people are traveling more frequently, which means I see less and less of my regular clients. This wouldn’t usually have been a problem, but many of these clients were still reserving their usual slots in the schedule, then canceling the sessions a few days in advance, sparing themselves the “late cancel” fee—which I charge if they cancel an appointment after noon on the previous day—but making it hard for the me to find a last-minute fill-in for their time slot.

I calculated the numbers for these cancelled appointments and the results were alarming. The studio was actually operating with 25 percent of the appointments being cancelled without pay.

Obviously I needed to make some changes. My overhead at the studio is fixed so cutting costs wasn’t really an option. (I have a payroll for my employees, and also pay for rent, insurance and the usual business expenses, with my income being the primary variable.) Instead, I decided to re-think the way I was billing clients.

Like many of you, I had been working on a “per session” and prepaid card model; but a few months ago I changed my studio to a “pay-by-the-month” model. If a client wants to guarantee certain time slots—like every Tuesday and Thursday at 10—they must pre-pay for a month of sessions, even if they miss an appointment or two. To be fair, I do offer make-up sessions: Clients can make up missed sessions within the same month, when space is available. If a client decides not to pay for the month—due to extended travel plans or otherwise—they can pay per session, but are no longer guaranteed a their preferred time slot. With most clients now making the financial commitment to full a month, I now have very few missed or cancelled sessions without payment.

The change did, of course, come with a few hiccups. Some clients who have been with me for many years felt a sense of ownership of their regular times and resisted the change. With some gentle talk and an explanation of the reason for the change I was able to help them transition as smoothly as possible. I believe the most important I thing did was to reassure them that my changes were not personal, but simply a matter of good business management.

This experience has reminded me that change is difficult. Most of us resist to some degree, but sometimes it is a necessity. Remember, Pilates may be your livelihood and passion, but it is also your business. This payment plan may or may not work in your studio, but reviewing your practices and successes can help you better understand and address any shortcomings of your system, as it did for me.

My advice to all instructors is to search out people who have successful businesses other than Pilates studios and pick their brains. After hearing their experiences and noting any short-comings in your current model, create a business plan that will work for you and allow you to have consistent monthly earnings.

Pilates is a profession with a unique set of problems, and unfortunately there is no one-size-fits-all business plan available. If you have found success working on another type of payment plan, or have insight on other business practices please post your ideas below. These are all relevant topics in the Pilates community and ones worthy of discussion.