
Loading summary
Sarah Glanfield
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. Now I don't have to tell you that surrounding yourself with a group of like minded and success minded people is 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. Today we're diving into a topic that every studio owner needs to master and that is the topic of finances. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to scale, understanding your numbers really is the key to unlocking the full growth potential of your business. In this episode, I'm joined by a CPA and fractional CFO who specializes in helping boutique fitness studio owners just like you to thrive. We'll be breaking down the most common financial mistakes that studio owners make, the best practices for keeping your books in order and and how to use your numbers to make smarter business decisions. Trust me, this is an episode that you can't afford to miss. Literally. So grab your notebook and let's get into it. Well, hi there, I'm Sarah Glanfield. 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. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset, and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio. This is the Pilates Business Podcast welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saran Blanfield and I'm so glad that you're here with me today because we are talking about a really super fun topic, I promise. And it's something that I know that many of us kind of perhaps find and feel a little bit of some roadblocks, some kind of some challenges around. And that topic is the topic of numbers. And I'm really lucky to know A lot of different folks in this industry. And when I come across people who I think you guys would really benefit from from listening to, I always invite them onto the show. And today I am welcoming Sue Ellen Brantley from Healthy Balance Bookkeeping to share with us her insights and knowledge when it comes to the numbers within your boutique fitness studio business. Now, Sue Ellen is a cpa, a fractional cfo. We're going to talk a bit more about what that is in a moment. And a bookkeeper, and she is on the same mission as us to help make the world a healthier and happier place. She spent over 15 years working as a corporate account executive within a large conglomerate in the accounting and finance department. So she knows her way around numbers, but she wanted her work to matter. And so she opened Healthy Balance Bookkeeping just last year to be able to support studio owners and wellness practices just like yours to make more money and to expand in your community and to grow. So welcome, Sue Ellen. I'm so glad you're here.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Sarah Glanfield
So why don't we kick off with sharing? Why don't you share with us a little bit about that transition from working within an office in a sort of a big organization in the accounting and finance department, to transitioning into owning and opening your own bookkeeping company and why you kind of chose to focus on this wonderful world of movement that we're in.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, absolutely. So it has been one of the most exciting transitions ever. I. I guess just to back up when I was going through my corporate life, you know, I just never felt like I fit in, really. I just felt like I was living in this box. And, you know, we accountants get us. You know, there's some stereotypes out there about us sometimes that we have the bean counters, we're boring, with no personalities. And I am just exactly opposite of that. I love to lead a fun and adventurous, exciting life. And I just always wanted my work to matter. And I just felt like working in this corporate environment, I just felt like my work was really just going towards, you know, the big corporations, the big shareholders, the big boardrooms, and I really wanted my work to matter. And so it took me a while, but I finally took the leap into entrepreneurship and started my business. And it has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done so far. I really focus on health and wellness studios just because I'm super passionate about the industry and my own life. I practice all forms of wellness in my own life. You know, I used to be an athlete and an Avid weightlifter. And back then I would go to Pilates and yoga like every now and then just for my off day, my easy workout, which kind of makes me laugh now because we all know Pilates will humble us for sure.
Sarah Glanfield
True.
Sue Ellen Brantley
But it wasn't a few years ago. I was going through some rough times, kind of a rock bottom, and I started going to Pilates and yoga on a regular basis. And I truly found the benefits of these types of workouts outside of just, you know, that 45 minute physical activity. And I got hooked. And so I really just. My mission now is just to support these business owners and making more money and growing their businesses because I saw the impact that it had on my own life and I'm just super passionate about bringing that to more people in our world. You know, I truly believe in abundance and that if we can, if I can help those business owners make more money, create more abundance in their own life and in their businesses, that that just means more good happening in our world. And so yeah, I took the leap, started last year and it's been super fulfilling since.
Sarah Glanfield
Awesome. Congratulations. I always, always love to hear how people get started and, and why and what they're, what they're motivated by. So thank you for sharing that. So, so let's dive into talking about some of the, some of the numbers and obviously you know your way around all the different reports and all the different numbers that, you know, any business, and especially studio owners should be tracking. So when talk me through and perhaps share with, with everyone listening, what, what types of businesses and what kind of stages of businesses kind of come to you looking for your book bookkeeping services and, and what, what kind of, do you kind of, how do you get started with them?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, so it's a wide range. Sometimes I have businesses coming to me about this time of year, we're recording this in September, where they'll say, I'm behind on my bookkeeping, I need help, I haven't looked at my books all year. And so we want to get them caught up for the year or they'll show up at tax time and say, hey, help me get caught up. And so it's either that or they're looking to grow and scale and they realize that they need to get their books in order. And so they'll come to me and say, I know this is a problem and I know in order to grow my business I need help around this and some guidance. So it's a wide range of either starting their business, just getting started and I'm helping them open and get their accounting system set up in a way that's meaningful to help them run their business all the way up to, hey, I'm ready to scale and help me understand the numbers and dive into them more and put in strategies in place to help me reach these big goals that I have for myself.
Sarah Glanfield
Awesome. Do people come to you before they open or what kind of phase of business do people find you?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah. So I recently just started working with a studio. She just started her business earlier this year and came to me with her, her business plan. Here's my dream and here's what I'm building. And so we worked together to set up her books in a way that is going to be meaningful for her business. And so when we think about our books, you don't want to look at the books of a studio in the same way that you're going to look at the books of, say, like a restaurant. They're completely different industries, completely different businesses. So we want to make sure that we're getting their books set up in a way that is meaningful for studios. So she came to me and I have pretty much a framework in which I'm setting up my each studio's books kind of in a consistent way to where we're getting the data that is going to help her manage her business from the get go. So, yeah, I got her book set up and then we just monitor the numbers on a monthly basis as she's open. So I think we're six months in now with her. So definitely see early stage businesses.
Sarah Glanfield
Awesome. That's good to know. There's no. So, you know, I think numbers and tracking numbers and all numbers. You know, I work with the studios I work with, I don't do bookkeeping for them, but we look definitely look at their key numbers in terms of revenue and sales, but also some of those other kind of really critical numbers to, to sort of track from a business development and business growth perspective. And it's often, you know, I think for any business owner, especially even as those like you and I who perhaps really enjoy the numbers, to take the time and dedicate time to sitting down and kind of not just tracking them, but then reviewing them and trying to understand what the numbers are telling us. So can you share a little bit about what you see are some kind of common, I don't want to say mistakes, but maybe some challenges or things that you see studio owners do that might make it more challenging for them to be looking at the numbers?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, so there are some common Mistakes, we'll say that I see quite often when I'm first getting into the books of small business owners in general. And I, I guess before I get into that, just want to caveat. If this is you, if you're doing any of this stuff, there is no shame in this. I think nine out of 10 business owners that I talk to for the first time, they come to me with some sort of shame statement about themselves. I can't believe I let it get out of this hand. I. I should know these numbers. I can't believe, you know, it's such a mess. I'm so embarrassed. Insert shame statement here. So there is no shame if you're doing any of this. But I will say you are the CEO of your business and it is your responsibility in getting this stuff in order, whether that be you understand it yourself and implementing this stuff, or you hire someone like myself who can help guide you through this process. So we're not shaming ourselves. So one of the first things that I see quite often is the mixing of personal and business expenses. I see this all the time. And there's some reasons why we want to make sure we're not doing this. You want to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses so you can truly analyze the operation of your business and how it's performing. It's going to help you plan for the future. It's going to help you reach your specific goals that you have for yourself. And if you have everything muddied up, it makes it very difficult to do that. So that's the first reason. There's a couple other reasons as well that I don't think many business owners realize. And the first would be tax deductions. If you have things mixed up, say you got audited by the irs, it would be very difficult to prove what's a personal expense versus a business expense. And you run the risk of potentially losing tax deductions, which means that you would be paying the IRS more taxes, potentially interest penalties. And none of us want to pay the IRS more than we have to. Right. So. And then there's a third reason. But I'm just going to caveat. I'm not an attorney, so I'm not going to dive too deep into this. But there's potential legal repercussions that could happen if you're mixing expenses that they could potentially come after your personal assets if your studio were to get sued. So we definitely want to keep personal and business expenses separate. A couple other things that I see, and I briefly touched on it is not looking at your numbers on a regular basis. I know this isn't the most fun thing for a lot of studio owners to do, but you don't want to wait until tax time to start looking at your numbers. And there's a couple of reasons why. A, you want to know what's going on in your business so you can make adjustments and changes during the year if you need to. Right? You want it. You're the CEO. Again, you need to know how your business is operating throughout the year. You can't just wait until February or March. March and tax time, it's too late to make any adjustments at that point. And then secondly, again, just comes back to taxes. So if we want to reduce our tax liability, there is a strategy behind that and you have to do that during the year in which the tax year is occurring. So you can't wait until February or March to do your books. It's too late to implement any tax strategies and therefore you could be paying more taxes to the irs. Again, we don't want to do that. And then the last thing I would share I see quite often is just running your studio without a plan. I don't think a lot of studio owners sometimes have a plan in place. You know, they'll have a goal for themselves, but no plan to actually get there. And so what is that saying? If you, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right? So, so we have to have a plan in place to reach that goal. Whether that be you want more time, freedom to spend with your family, or you want to have multiple locations and scale your studio. You have to have a plan in place in order to reach that specific goal that you have for yourself.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah, absolutely. All such critical as great advice. Really, really great advice, you know, and I just going back to the first one about mixing expenses, I think the temptation is there and I think that especially if you start off and you are a small business, there's always that. I see it a lot. The sooner that you can make that very clear distinction between your business and your personal expenses, the better for your business and for all the reasons you mentioned, of course. But also, you know, I often, I'm frequently having conversations, as I know I'm sure you are also about valuation of your studio. And if you want to sell your studio, if you want to have evaluation put to your studio, then you're going to need to have books that are clean. And that means that you cannot, you know, you don't want to be kind of trying to figure out which expenses were what and where they went. Um, you kind of want to have all that really dialed in. And, and the, the, the sooner you do that, the better because often people actually want multiple years of numbers to be able to kind of when they do their due diligence on a studio. So there's a lot of really good reasons for that. Um, so I really appreciate you sharing all that great advice. And the plan too is so important, right? That's a, it's a really important for every business. Every business.
Sue Ellen Brantley
And especially if you want to scale your business financing, they're going to want to see true books for your studio. So if you want to get financing, you can't have things muddied up. So that's just another reason as well.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah. And you know, and as we're seeing increasingly as this industry is evolving, you know, the ability to access financing is increasing for even much smaller studios that perhaps, you know, years ago, and I say years ago because I've been doing this a long time, might not have been as accessible. And so we're seeing a lot more interest, external investors and you know, more and more of the studio owners that I speak to who are doing well, even if they've only been open maybe 18 months or two years, are getting approached from all different angles asking about, hey, how can I, can I, can I, can I buy into this, can I buy into this business? Can I fund you? Can I help you expand? I think what you have is great. And you know, we want, you want to be able to be ready to take advantage of those opportunities if that's part of your plan.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Right?
Sarah Glanfield
Like if that's part of what you want to do, then you know, you want to, you want to be ready to go, you don't want to be scrambling. So yeah, it's all of those reasons. So, you know, you are looking at studio's numbers on a day to day basis. So what are some sort of best practices recommendations for really making sure that you know, you're not going to be scrambling at the end of the year or the end of the quarter or the end of the month when it comes to your numbers and maybe picking up the phone to you and saying, hey, I need your help, but what's the best, what do you recommend your studios do?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Well, first and foremost, you need systems in place. So having some sort of accounting system, whether that be Quickbooks or Xero, there's other systems out there. You want to have a system in place and you want to automate as much as possible. I know you talk about this and in your podcast and in your coaching, but anytime that we can automate our processes and systems and just get one thing off of our plate makes it easier, get the thinking out of it. So there's ways that you can automate your finances and your systems and then you want to again set up your books in a way that is meaningful for your studio business. So getting your P and L and your report set up in a way that is going to help you manage the operations of your business. So one example I'll just share is like for instance, your income. A lot of times when I'm looking at studio owners books, you'll see their income and it's just one line. It'll show they got paid from stripe or square, wherever the money came from. But that's not telling us what they actually sold. Did you make your income from drop in classes or teacher trainings or privates or merchandise? What did you actually sell? And so we want to set up your books in a way that is meaningful, that you can see the trends of what's going on in your business that is going to help you make decisions, see seasonality, you know, and spot things that will help you plan for the future. So then you want to make sure that you're set, you're looking at your books on a monthly basis. And so I would say every month set a money date for yourself. Sit down, do your bookkeeping and look at the numbers. And you're not just looking at the month on its own because that doesn't really tell us, it tells us what happened in that month. But we want to be comparing to prior period. So you want to look at the prior month, you want to look at the same month last year, you want to look at the year to date, trends, the history. And again, that's really going to help you understand the seasonality in your business. Maybe you had some large expense that you paid last year that you forgot is coming up this year. And so it's a one time cost and it helps you plan and forecast for what's to come. So we're always looking at what the story of the numbers is telling us to, where we can implement different strategies and changes in our business to help us increase the profit. And then I'll also offer, so that's like a monthly review. But I would also share, I would love if like once a week you do just a, a little pulse check on what happened in the week prior. You're the CEO again, you want to understand what is going on in your business. So, you know, on a Monday, just check in, what were my sales last week? What was my attendance? Did I gain any members? Did I lose any. Any members? And just keep a pulse, check on what's actually going on in the business. And again, not waiting until tax time to know this stuff because it's. It's way too late at that point.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah. As proactive as you can be is. Is always so much better. And I think once you make a commitment to yourself to be kind of proactive and to check in weekly and then monthly and so on, you find that I find and what I observe and what studio owners tell me is that they find it much. It gets easier. It's almost like the hurdle is just sort of committing to the thing. And I think a lot of it's always helpful to be able to sort of talk through what the story behind the numbers really is. Because, you know, the questions that I answer for my studio owners are questions like, is this a good profit margin? Is this what my conversion should be? Is this what my retention should be? And, you know, that's a big question to answer. Right. Because there's a lot of other things that are tied to that answer and whether or not it's good or could be better or perhaps is not so good. But, you know, because there's a lot of different things that go into those numbers, but you want to understand what those numbers are telling you as well. And so having often having a fresh set of eyes on those numbers, talking it through with someone who sees numbers like this regularly, can help also to fill in some of those gaps. And then I think you can develop that skill over time just from seeing those numbers and seeing what they mean and understanding what they say. You can kind of look at your. You kind of know what your kind of targets are for, say, retention or new members or sales and sales growth. And, you know, obviously something I talk about a lot, especially, you know, well, with all studio owners, actually. And it's. It's global. The seasonality in the businesses that we have is global. And so you kind of have to know what it means for your business as well within. Not just within sort of the whole of the industry. So it's always helpful.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every studio is different. Right. And you need to understand what's going on in your business. And the way that we're really doing that with my clients is we have a tracker, you know, a Google sheet where we are keeping track every single month of these key performance indicators. These key metrics of what happened in their business and we're looking at the trends month over month. And I do agree with you and think it's exciting for studio owners when they start to understand the numbers and they can see when they are making changes in their business, how it actually impacts the numbers. It almost becomes like a game, you know, like we're going to, we're going to work on this and to see the impact of what you're implementing in your business on the actual numbers I think is exciting for them.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah, I'll never forget a studio owner that you are working with, who joined, who's also in my group. She started tracking her numbers and like, I think maybe two months or three months into the program she, she posted in our group chat, she was like, holy, this works.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Exclamation mark.
Sarah Glanfield
Like, you know, it does work. Yeah, it does. And now she's, you know, looking at expanding and adding locations and all these things and it's sort of like, you know, you have to take these stepping stones, right, to be able to get there. And yeah, it's great to see when, when people have the, the, you know, when you kind of take that step, when you commit to it and when, you know what you're looking at. And having, like I said, the external support is really important too because, you know, we can't be experts in everything. Right. And you know, I don't know why we think we should be, but that is often the way that we approach business.
Sue Ellen Brantley
So yeah, yeah, we all have our zone of genius. It's how we contribute to the world. And it's okay to lean on others who might have the expertise that are going to help you grow your business. I know sometimes it's scary to invest in ourselves and invest in our business, but it does pay off in the long run.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah, for sure, for sure. So we talked about some of the metrics, but why don't we do a quick rundown of perhaps some of the key metrics that you recommend studio owners should be monitoring on a regular basis?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, for sure. I think first of all, you need to know your top line revenue. Right? And like I shared earlier, understanding what is driving that revenue? Where is the revenue coming from? Is it your drop in classes, your memberships? If you have teacher training, where is it coming from so you can understand the source of your income. And then you want to understand your net or your gross profit, which is looking at your income, less the cost to run your studio, which is really like your salaries that you're Paying your, your contractors or your employees and understanding what your gross profit is. And then you also want to understand what your net profit is, which is when you bat, you take your gross profit and you back out all of those extra expenses to run your studio. Right. So all the other things that are coming up in terms of cost. And then I would also share, you want to understand your cash flows because this is important to manage, you know, the future of your studio and understanding how much does it actually cost and how much cash am I outlaying on a monthly basis. So what are the cost of my expenses? If you have any sort of debt payments that you have to pay, and then if you have any owner draw owner's draws that come out. And so understanding what your cash position should be and making sure that you have enough reserved to cover those cash outlays.
Sarah Glanfield
Yes, hugely helpful. The cash flow is. Is really important, actually. And I think one of the things that we learned when we went through Covid was kind of need to have a little bit of cash on hand, you know.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yes.
Sarah Glanfield
And you know, I think we've seen, although I will say, like my studio owners have done excellent the last, you know, this out of COVID And we've. And you know, even during the summer months, we've seen strong summer for most of the, for many of the studio owners, but some studio owners, studios saw a bit of a decline, seasonality, clients are out of town, traveling, all the things for the summer. Right. And we see then like the nerves start to set in. But if you've kind of factored in that seasonality into your expectations and into your goals and targets, but you also know you've got that cash on hand to lean on, then you're still in a very good place. Right. And so when it comes to having how many months of sort of, I know there's sort of. In terms of operating costs, what would you recommend people have set aside and accessible?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah. So this really depends on your risk tolerance and how you feel. But I would say at a minimum, having three months on reserve is a good place to start. If you are less tolerant to risk, maybe that's up to six months. You know, it's really just depends on how you feel. But I think a good place to start is having three months on hand of what your cash expenditures are and having that just sitting in an accessible cash account that you can access. If we have some sort of catastrophic event happen that you're covered for a few months.
Sarah Glanfield
Yeah, for sure. And I was gonna say you mentioned yes, it has to be liquid. You have to be able to access it quickly. And so you don't want to have to be trying to change your investments around or pull it out of different accounts. You want to have it accessible for that period of time. And then I know in the past on this podcast, and it often comes up, people talk a little bit about the profit first approach. What's your kind of perspective on this and how do you, do you integrate that into the work that you do with your clients?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Some of them, yes. It all depends. There is a lot more management that comes with profit first because if you're not familiar with it, it's multiple accounts to manage your cash flow. So you have your operating account, but then you have separate bank accounts that are set up for your taxes, for your saving and what have you. So you have to keep up with it, you know, so every month you have to be making sure that you're doing your transfers from your operating account into your tax account, into whatever accounts you have established. I do think it is a great way for business owners to manage their cash and making sure, you know, that comes up all the time. It's tax time, it's time to pay your estimated taxes and the cash isn't there because they haven't planned for that. So I do think it's a, a method that helps business owners stay accountable and putting that cash aside, knowing that it's not money that I can spend today because it doesn't go to the government. So I do think it's useful if you stay on top of it. It does, there is some accountability behind it that's needed for sure.
Sarah Glanfield
It's interesting to me. I mean, my personal perspective is you do have to be very organized because having those five is, it's five right accounts that this, this framework recommends. There's a lot of accounts to kind of keep on top of and make sure that it's, you know, a lot of account numbers, a lot of, you know, and that's just for your business. So, you know, you want to, you do have to be organized. But I think that as long as you are being smart about how you're managing your cash in your accounts or your account, and maybe you are probably you, you and you're setting aside an amount and you're not looking at your bank account as sort of like this, this sort of bank, this pot of money that you can spend all of immediately, then I think you're probably going to be able to, to manage it without having all of those accounts but, you know, I think everybody has a different kind of approach and has different kind of mindset around it. So I'm just curious. Interesting. So I won. One more question for you. So, you know, we're seeing so much growth in this industry right now, and a lot of, like I mentioned, the studio owners are looking to expand and add locations. So what sort of one piece of advice that you would give to studio owners who really, truly want to scale and grow their businesses?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, it comes back to the books. I mean, you have to have your books in order if you were trying to open a new location. You have to have your books in order and truly understand your current business before you try to just shift that into another one. So having your books in order, having them set up in that way, that is meaningful to your business and deeply understanding your numbers. What is working? What is not working? What is driving profits? Are you reaching the profit margins that you want for yourself? Where might you be losing money? Are you missing out on opportunities that you could be taking advantage of, like, really, truly understanding that business model? And do we want to replicate that in the next studio? You know, of course you have to find a location, and it might be a little bit different than your current studio, but you want to make sure that you understand the first one before you just go and implement it into another one. Because you might want to make some changes. Something might not be working in the current one. And that all starts with your bookkeeping.
Sarah Glanfield
Absolutely. Great advice. Thank you so much, Sue Ellen. I really appreciate all of your insights. Why don't you take a moment just to share where people can find out more about how you can help them with their bookkeeping and where they can find you online?
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yeah, absolutely. So I hang out on Instagram all the time. Healthy Balance Bookkeeping. You can go to my website, healthybalancebookkeeping.com I actually have a free KPI tracker I would love to share with your listeners. So if you go to HealthyBalanceBookkeeping.com tracker, they can download some of those KPIs that we talked about earlier that would help them start monitoring your KPIs in your business. There's a link on my website with. Let's just set up a free chat and we can go through your books and see how I might help you reach your specific goals for your studio.
Sarah Glanfield
Awesome. Thank you so much.
Sue Ellen Brantley
Yes, absolutely.
Sarah Glanfield
So if you love what you heard today and you'd like to hear more, I would be so appreciative if you could take a quick minute and go to wherever you're listening to this and rate and review and follow this podcast. It would mean so much to me and help you to help us to get this podcast out there into the community so that other studio owners and wellness practitioners just like you can feel encouraged and supported on their journey in our industry. 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. There is no warning, one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.
Pilates Business Podcast: Mastering Your Studio’s Finances with Sue Ellen Brantley
Host: Seran Glanfield
Release Date: October 21, 2024
In the episode titled "Mastering Your Studio’s Finances," Seran Glanfield dives deep into the financial intricacies that boutique Pilates studio owners face. Recognizing that understanding and managing finances is pivotal for both budding and established studios, Seran brings in expert Sue Ellen Brantley to shed light on common financial pitfalls and effective strategies for sustaining and scaling a Pilates business.
Sue Ellen Brantley is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and fractional Chief Financial Officer (CFO) specializing in supporting boutique fitness studios. With over 15 years of experience in corporate accounting and finance, Sue Ellen ventured into entrepreneurship by founding Healthy Balance Bookkeeping. Her mission is to empower studio owners to enhance their financial health, thereby fostering growth and community impact.
Sue Ellen Brantley (04:45): “I wanted my work to matter. I truly believe in abundance and that if we can help those business owners make more money, create more abundance in their own life and in their businesses, that means more good happening in our world.”
Sue Ellen identifies several recurring financial missteps that studio owners often encounter:
Mixing Personal and Business Expenses
Combining personal and business finances complicates financial analysis, tax deductions, and can lead to legal repercussions.
Sue Ellen Brantley (10:34): “One of the first things that I see quite often is the mixing of personal and business expenses. You want to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses so you can truly analyze the operation of your business.”
Neglecting Regular Financial Reviews
Waiting until tax season to address financials hinders timely decision-making and tax strategy implementation.
Sue Ellen Brantley (10:34): “You don't want to wait until tax time to start looking at your numbers. You want to know what's going on in your business so you can make adjustments and changes during the year if you need to.”
Operating Without a Strategic Plan
Lacking a clear financial plan can lead to unstructured growth and missed opportunities.
Sue Ellen Brantley (10:34): “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You have to have a plan in place to reach your specific goals.”
To navigate these challenges, Sue Ellen outlines essential financial management practices:
Establish Robust Accounting Systems
Utilize accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero to automate financial processes and maintain organized records.
Sue Ellen Brantley (17:01): “First and foremost, you need systems in place. Having some sort of accounting system, whether that be QuickBooks or Xero, there's other systems out there.”
Set Up Meaningful Financial Reports
Customize Profit and Loss (P&L) statements to reflect revenue streams specific to Pilates studios, such as drop-in classes, memberships, teacher trainings, and merchandise sales.
Sue Ellen Brantley (17:01): “We want to set up your books in a way that is meaningful for studios... to see what they actually sold.”
Conduct Monthly Financial Reviews
Dedicate time each month to review financial statements, compare them with previous periods, and identify trends or anomalies.
Sue Ellen Brantley (17:01): “Every month set a money date for yourself. Sit down, do your bookkeeping and look at the numbers.”
Perform Weekly Pulse Checks
Regularly monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) on a weekly basis to stay informed about sales, attendance, membership changes, and other vital metrics.
Sue Ellen Brantley (17:01): “Once a week you do just a little pulse check on what happened in the week prior.”
Sue Ellen emphasizes the importance of tracking specific financial metrics to gain a comprehensive understanding of business performance:
Top-Line Revenue
Identify and analyze revenue sources to understand which services or products drive the most income.
Sue Ellen Brantley (23:35): “You need to know your top line revenue and understand what is driving that revenue.”
Gross and Net Profit
Calculate gross profit by subtracting the cost of running the studio from total income, and determine net profit by accounting for all additional expenses.
Sue Ellen Brantley (23:35): “Understand your net or your gross profit... understanding what your gross profit is.”
Cash Flow Management
Monitor cash inflows and outflows to ensure the studio maintains adequate liquidity for operations and unexpected expenses.
Sue Ellen Brantley (23:35): “Understand your cash flows because this is important to manage the future of your studio.”
Maintaining healthy cash flow is critical, especially in managing seasonality and unforeseen downturns.
Reserve Funds:
Maintain at least three months' worth of operating expenses in an accessible account to safeguard against emergencies or revenue dips.
Sue Ellen Brantley (25:55): “I would say at a minimum, having three months on reserve is a good place to start.”
Liquidity:
Ensure reserve funds are easily accessible without the need to liquidate other investments, providing financial stability during challenging periods.
Sarah Glanfield (25:07): “You have to have it accessible for that period of time.”
The discussion touches upon the Profit First methodology, highlighting its benefits and challenges.
Profit First Method:
Requires multiple bank accounts to allocate funds for taxes, savings, and operating expenses, promoting disciplined financial management.
Sue Ellen Brantley (26:59): “There is a lot more management that comes with Profit First... every month you have to be making sure that you're doing your transfers.”
Benefits:
Helps business owners stay accountable and ensures funds earmarked for taxes and savings are not inadvertently spent.
Sue Ellen Brantley (26:59): “It's a method that helps business owners stay accountable and putting that cash aside.”
Considerations:
Demands organizational rigor and consistent adherence to the allocated budgeting framework.
Sarah Glanfield (26:59): “You do have to be very organized because having those five accounts...”
For studio owners aspiring to expand their businesses, Sue Ellen offers the following guidance:
Ensure Financial Foundations Are Solid
Before opening new locations, thoroughly understand and optimize the financial health of existing studios.
Sue Ellen Brantley (29:11): “You have to have your books in order if you were trying to open a new location.”
Analyze and Replicate Successful Models
Identify what works in the current studio and adapt those strategies to new locations, while being open to necessary adjustments.
Sue Ellen Brantley (29:11): “Understand the first one before you try to implement it into another one.”
Strategic Planning for Growth
Develop detailed financial plans that align with expansion goals, ensuring each new studio contributes positively to overall profitability.
Sue Ellen Brantley (29:11): “Do you want to replicate that in the next studio? You want to make sure that you understand the first one.”
Seran Glanfield wraps up the episode by reinforcing the significance of financial mastery in running a successful Pilates studio. Sue Ellen Brantley encourages studio owners to seek professional financial guidance to navigate complexities and achieve sustainable growth.
For studio owners seeking to enhance their financial management:
Seran Glanfield (31:05): “There is no warning, one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this.”
Key Takeaways:
By adhering to these strategies, Pilates studio owners can achieve financial stability, foster growth, and create a thriving, impactful business.