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Yes, you can build the business you want, impact your community and bring revenue into your business. You just need the right strategies, support and focus.
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Now I don't have to tell you.
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That surrounding yourself with a group of.
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Like minded and success minded people is.
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Only going to move your business forward. And that's what you get inside my Thrive membership. Inside you get access to weekly live Q and A calls, industry specific business training, accountability and resources that will bring ease and give you back time. This group, part mentorship, part coaching, part mastermind, will keep you focused on what matters. So what does matter? Well, your business, getting a steady stream of new clients and being able to seamlessly retain your existing clientele and building those systems that allow you to take time out of your business. Head to spring3.com thrive to find out more and join an upcoming interest Call with me now. Here's this week's episode of the Pilates Business Podcast.
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Have you ever wondered what books you could be reading to help inspire you and fuel your success in business? Well, listen in because today I'm sharing my favorite reads that have really shaped how I think about business, about leadership, and about growth. From Marketing to Mindset, these are the books that I recommend most regularly. So stick around because I'm going to break down the best takeaways from each of these books, plus how you can apply those insights into your studio business.
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Well hi there, I'm Sarah Glanfield.
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I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place.
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All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset, and some support along the way.
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Join me as I share the real.
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Life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio.
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This is the Pilates Business Podcast. Hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saran Glanfield and today we're diving into one of my favorite topics which is books, books and books and books. I am a an avid reader, although I will say I don't get to spend as much time reading as I would like to. I still really, really enjoy a good book and I certainly have a big stack of books I want to read on my bedside table. And so with all of that in mind, this is an episode that actually I've been wanting to share with you for a long time. But the problem I've had is actually in narrowing down the the books that I really wanted to dive into and share with you. So I think I've done it. And so I wanted to take some time to sort of talk you through some of my favorite books that have really shaped the way that I think about business, have really informed many of the concepts that I introduced to the studio owners that I work with and how we can kind of apply those, some of the principles from these books into your growth for your studio business. So I know that many of you probably are similar situations where you are juggling a lot of things and perhaps you don't have the time to sit down in the afternoon and snuggle up with a good book and read all about business. And maybe that's not what you want to be reading about, but when you land on a good book, it can really shift the way that you see things. It can give you new perspectives, perhaps even some practical guidance. But more importantly, it might give you that spark of inspiration that you might need to take your business to the next level. Now, the books that I'm sharing with you today are books that I lean on over and over and over again. These are books that I think truly stand the test of time. They're not focused on specific trends or tactics that are only relevant today. And that's really sort of in alignment with the way that I work with my studio owners, because I'm here to help you build sustainable businesses that support you and your lifestyle and the life that you want to live, not just over the next two months, but over the years to come. And so these books, this especially this combination of books that I'm going to share with you today, I'm hoping will give you some inspiration and perspective on leadership, how to manage your team, how to think about marketing in a more sort of cohesive and perhaps more sophisticated way. Okay, so the very first book that I want to share with you is a book that I probably read for the first time, I want to say way back probably 2015, so, you know, almost 10 years ago. And I still believe this book stands the test of time. It is still highly relevant today. And if you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it is a relatively quick read and it is called the E. Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. And I love this book because this book is really about how to structure your business. And the reason why it's so powerful and the why I, I think it's such a great book to read for all business owners, no matter what business you're in, is because when we start our businesses, we're often thinking about how we can validate our business idea, how we can make sure that we get have a sort of a minimum viable business model. We making money, we're getting clients and we start to sort of build from there. And when we get to a certain point, we often find that we have hit the capacity of the number of hours we can dedicate to our business, which is often when many of you come and find me, which is a good time to come and find me. Because in order to grow and really grow your business, you also, you can't just be thinking about growth. We also need to be thinking about scale. And scale is where you work one hour and produce multiple result, multiple amounts of results. So you're multiplying your revenue by working one hour versus taking one hour to get one hours of revenue. And so we want to think about scale. And this book is really all about how to truly scale your business. And the biggest sort of takeaway that Michael Gerber shares in this book is that in order to scale your business, you have to work on your business, not just in your business. And in that he shares that it's critical to implement systems. Everything you should be doing in your business should have a system or a process behind it and the success of your studio and ultimately the. Your ability to scale will completely depend on the systems that you put in place, not your personal involvement. And so it sort of helps to sort of make that shift from being the doer and the deliverer of all the things to perhaps being that leader who creates and manages systems and teams that you're not that hands on person with a hand in every part of your business that you can step back and allow your systems and processes and the people that you work with or for you to help you to scale your business. And this I think is a sort of the foundation for some of the work that I do with my Thrive studio owners where we help, where I help them to implement systems in their businesses and how you can think about where you can implement systems in your business. And so the E Myth Revisited is a great book. If you haven't read it yet, please, please, please. This is not, I think this is kind of like the number one, to be honest. If I could recommend just one book, this probably would be it because I want to see you build a sustainable business, which means that often that means that you need to be able to take some time out. Okay, so moving from systems to my second favorite book that I want to recommend to you, and this is a book more tied to your brand so, so much of the work that I do with the studio owners inside of my marketing intensive and my Thrive group coaching programs is related to how you can stand out from the crowd and solidify your brand as a strong presence in your community. And so I share lots of tools and resources and take you through the exercises that you need to really craft that marketing message that's going to help you to stand out, not blend in. And the book Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller is a really good book to talk you through how you can clarify your brand message and really connect with your audience, your clients on a deeper level. And a lot of the key elements that he shares in this book, I think are really critical. So a few of them I want to share with you. First of all, one is that it's really important that your messaging, your marketing messaging is simple and clear, and that doesn't mean dumb. You can be sophisticated and simple, but clarity is critical because what we know is that the more confused a client is, the less chance they will be a buyer of your services, of your offer. So it's really important to have very clear messaging that really clearly articulates the value of what you have to offer and how it truly benefits your audience, your clients. Now, he also has this, this sort of framework called the Hero's Journey. And this is where instead of putting yourself at the spotlight, under the spotlight or as sort of the hero in the relationship you have with your clients, that actually you are the guide and your client is the hero. And he kind of goes into this in a lot of detail. And it's really fascinating how this shift can really change the way that you communicate with your clients. Because in the past and, and perhaps sort of the antiquated approach to marketing in, in the fitness world has been this idea that the, you have to be this perfect specimen of fitness and movement. And the reality is that's very, very hard to, to, to keep up and, and to even get to in the first place. And so it's actually quite a relief for many to recognize that actually you are the guide. You are the expert that people lean on for support, guidance, advice and encouragement. And actually it's your client who shows up regularly and commits, who is sort of, we would call, quote, unquote, the hero. So it's a very interesting shift in the way that you think about how that relationship and what you mean to each other. And so this really helps you to think about how you can articulate the value of what you have to offer, how you help your clients and that leads to helping you to put together some really compelling website copy, great social media content that sort of truly captures the attention of your followers as well as potentially even class descriptions and welcome emails that can really speak directly to your ideal client. So that's a fantastic book as it's called Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. Okay, so book number three is this is Marketing by Seth Godin. So I think that he is one of the most incredible teachers of marketing. If you get the chance to follow him, to learn from him, highly recommend you do. Especially if you enjoy marketing. You can really, really, really, really nerd out on all things marketing with Seth. And this book is, is really his book where he challenges you to think about marketing not as selling, but more about as a way to introduce and serve and impress and delight your clients and how it is actually showcasing the, an opportunity or delivering on a hope that they have. Um, and instead of actually being sort of like this pushy, tactical, sleazy, slimy sales experience, which is what we all want to avoid. I'm pretty sure I do and I know many of you do as well. And so Seth Godin has great concepts that he shares in his book around how to think about marketing. And the way that he approaches many of his sort of his concepts is from a place of starting with or focusing on reaching a smaller, more engaged group of clients who truly resonate with who you are and what you do. And I think this is really powerful because the, one of the biggest mistakes I see studio owners making all the time is that we're trying to reach so many people that we're actually speaking into a void. We're so generic with our marketing that we're actually trying to reach everybody but failing to reach anyone at all. And when you start to peel back and you get really super specific on who it is you're talking to, it's incredible how powerful that is for your marketing messaging. So focus on reaching and thinking about that really small group of very engaged clients and helping them to fill to, to with what it is they're looking for you to help them with. And then he also is a big advocate of building trust and that this is critical to that sale. And of course, you know, Seth is not necessarily an expert in boutique fitness, but what the way that this applies so nicely to our industry is that our interaction with our clients is a long term relationship. They're not coming in just one time for one session, we hope. Right? That's not the plan, that's not the goal. We want them to keep coming back. And in order for them to keep coming back, they have to trust you. And so his perspective is that that trust is absolutely critical. And so very consistent communication, very authentic communication that builds trust over time is what helps to build those long term relationships. And what we know is that long term relationships drives higher lifetime client value, which is only good for you and your business. Okay, so that is. This is Marketing by Seth Godin. Now those are a couple of marketing books. I've also talked to you about sort of business structure. Next I want to talk to you about leadership books and how to kind of think about your role as a leader of your business. And often when people come to me, they're often at the place where they have truly become the bottleneck in their boutique fitness business growth. They are wearing a lot of hats, they're doing a lot of things. They see more potential in their studios for perhaps more revenue, perhaps other opportunities like adding on teacher training or additional workshops or even an expansion in the studio space itself. But they're not sure how to get there because they've reached the limit of what they know how to do. And it's the next phase of growth is going to be all about developing leadership and management skills so that you can oversee that expansion of all facets of your business. And that requires your personal professional growth as well. And so investing in your leadership skills. And we talk about this a lot inside of Thrive, my, my business coaching program. We talk about leadership skills, we talk about management, we talk about how to, to, to work with a team that is really high achieving. And I think that anytime you can invest in learning more about what makes a good leader, the more it will come into your world. And I think my, my favorite book on leadership is going to be Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. Now Simon Sinek has got some fabulous pieces of content around business. The other favorite of mine is his the book about why and actually I would just recommend you go and listen to his TED Talk on that. It is quite old at this point but still so incredibly powerful and relevant. But for the book, for this book club that we have right here, the book I want you to read is called Leaders Eat Last. And it dives into the importance of really creating that culture within your studio amongst your team of trust and that you are there to support your team and their career growth as well. And it's really important to be able to trust your team and that your team also trusts you. And it's very fair to say that many studio owners who once perhaps worked as once perhaps worked as teachers elsewhere, may not have had the best exposure to their manager or their boss. And that not everyone who has a business is a great leader. And it's possible that you've only seen not so great leadership skills in action. And so perhaps you're wondering, okay, well, what does it take to be a good leader? And what's possible for my business if I had great leadership skills? And let me tell you, when you have a team who feels truly like they are allies in this with you, who know their responsibilities, who are willing to show up and work for those responsibilities, to complete those responsibilities, to action those responsibilities, and who really are able to work very cohesively together, the energy that creates for your business, for your growth, but also for the community that you have in your studio is so incredibly powerful. So creating a space inside of your studio where your team feels like they are a part of something, where they belong, also will trickle down into the experience that they give to your clients. And there's a lot of ways that you can do this in your business. I've talked a bit about them here on the podcast. I talk about them all inside of Thrive. We workshop it through there as well, with lots of resources and examples and templates as well. But your leadership ability is going to be one thing that you have to invest in if you want to grow your business, and especially if you have even just one person working for you. Okay, so Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. Plus, really Anything by Simon Sinek is pretty good and probably well worth a read. So now I want to shift again to perhaps a different approach or different approach, different kind of concept when it comes to management and leadership. And this is a book called who not how by dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And this is all about how to think about achievement and goals and success in your business. Because we often, when it comes to having ideas, we often focus on how to do something, right. But this book kind of encouraged you to ask, who can help you do it? Who can help you to complete those tasks, to help you reach those objectives, right? And it opens the door to perhaps not utilizing more of your time, but actually to leveraging other people's expertise and skills and time to achieve better and faster results. And so the idea in this book is that trying to figure out how to do everything will 100% limit your potential, right? Imagine if you had to figure out how to build a website, build your Facebook ads campaign, right? Imagine if you had to figure out how to build your Equipment. Right. There are some things we already outsource. And then this sort of encourages you to think about where else you could delegate and outsource and what that opportunity might look like for your business. When I, I'm going to be totally honest, when I first read this book, there were some things in here that I didn't really agree with for lots of reasons. But actually this. The more it sat with me and having gone back and read it again for a second time, yeah, it pretty much shifts a lot of how you think about your role in your business. So I really, really recommend it. And some of the themes that includes in there is things like how to leverage collaboration and your team, how to think about your time and your energy, how to really sort of perhaps hone in on that mindset that is going to help you to get to the next level. So who not how is a great book to read. If you're feeling perhaps some resistance around hiring and delegation, or perhaps you're feeling like you are tapped out and you need help, this is going to really help you to think beyond. Now, my final book, the one I saved for last, is I think, one of the books that I have read over the last year that has actually, it was probably before that I first read it. That has truly profoundly shifted for me a lot of the way that I think about my business and I think how the way that I have perhaps impacted many of the studio owners that I work with. And the book is actually by the same authors as the prior book I recommended. It's written by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Harvey Hardy. Sorry. And this book is called the Gap and the Gain. And this is a mindset book. It's about how to. It's a. It's a powerful framework really for measuring progress and success and achieving happiness. And essentially it comes from a place where it says that the key to really a fulfilling business and life and true success lies in focusing on and sitting in a place where you recognize your achievements and your successes and the progress you have made, as opposed to sitting in a place where you're constantly looking ahead and striving for more and trying to get further ahead constantly. And so it's about where you're measuring yourself, starting from. And so the idea is that if we constantly compare ourselves to perhaps this future goal, which is what they call the gap, this is often going to lead to feeling not good enough, less than frustration, disappointment, maybe even, you know, just. Just sort of like you're, you're procrastinating. And this, when we sit in this place, those sort of negative emotions actually impact then what we see as possible for ourselves. On the flip side, the authors of the book propose measuring success by looking back. Looking back down the mountain, as I usually say, at how far you've come. And this is what they call the gain, which when you sit in a place of recognizing your accomplishments, you feel satisfied, you feel empowered, you feel competent and capable and even motivated. And that puts you in a different frame of mind when it comes to thinking about what comes next. And I have to say, if you are kind of struggling with Am I getting anywhere? I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. This is a fabulous book to read and I have to say I have read it more than once. I often will listen to it on the car when I need a little bit of a pickup and a little reminder of this sort of framework. And it really is quite powerful. I think the approach can actually be applied not just to business, but across your whole life. So it really helps to give that more positive growth mindset, which we know is so powerful. And I think that's going to be my one bonus book, which if you have never read the Psychology of success by Dr. Carol Dweck, it ties in quite nicely with the gap in the gain because it. It also discusses the idea of how your mindset can truly impact your success and your happiness. And you know, I can usually tell when I meet someone, I relatively quickly, if I have a discovery call with a studio owner who's interested in joining my programs, you know, over having done this now for over 10 years, I can usually tell if someone has that, that character to really, really go for it. And it's not about the skills because most people can learn the skills, especially if they have the right mindset. And so often it's that mindset that comes first and the skill set that comes later. So we need both to be successful in business and in life. And so if you've been focusing a lot on the skill set, maybe it's time to think about the mindset as well. So I hope this list of my favorite books has given you some little bit of inspiration to maybe go and check out that book, one of those books or a few of those books to help you when it comes to building and growing your studio business. I really, really, really believe, as I'm sure you do, that building a business is a journey and we are learning along the way. And the more that we can learn and educate and inform ourselves and then apply what matters most to our business, the better our business will be. So as a quick recap, because I know I was a while ago that I started off with the very first book, I'm going to list them for you really quickly. The first one is the E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. That's all about systems and structure and being able to scale. Then I mentioned Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. This is all about how to clarify your brand message and connecting with your clientele. Seth Godin, in his book this Is Marketing is all about how to think about marketing in general, how to serve and delight your clients versus just sell to them. And then I talked about Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and really Anything by Simon Sinek I really like. And then the last two books I mentioned were both by the same authors, dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And the first book I mentioned was who not how. That was how to think about your team and your growth as bringing people into your business. And then finally the Gap and the Gain, which like I said, I think is one of my favorite mindset books that I've ever read. So I hope that was helpful to you as you go about building your boutique fitness studio business and I appreciate you listening in. If you enjoyed this, please let me know. Hop over to Instagram and let me know which book you wanted to your startup with from these book recommendations or if there's one that I miss that you absolutely love. I'd love to hear about it because I'm always, always, always keen to add another book to that bedside table stack of books that I want to read. Have a great and fabulous rest of your week and I'll be back next week.
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Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder.
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There is no one way to do.
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What you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this.
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Thanks again for joining me today and.
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Have a wonderful rest of your day.