Written from inside a studio
Notes for studio owners.
What it costs to open, what to charge, how to fill the hours nobody books, and how to compare booking software without sitting through four demos. No gated PDFs.
Opening a studio
Showing up when someone searches “reformer pilates near me”
For a local studio, the Google map result matters more than the website. How to set up a Google Business Profile for a reformer studio, get reviews without begging, and send searchers straight to booking.
What to post on Instagram when you run a reformer studio
Not a content calendar. The handful of post types that actually move someone from scrolling to booking a reformer class, and how to keep it up in fifteen minutes a day.
Opening a reformer studio in Spain: the paperwork, in plain English
Autónomo or SL, licencia de actividad or declaración responsable, insurance, music licences and the hojas de reclamaciones. A checklist of what a small reformer studio in Spain needs before opening day.
Is a reformer studio profitable? A worked example
Revenue per reformer, fill rate, rent and instructor pay: a worked month for a six-reformer studio, the break-even fill rate, and the three numbers that decide whether it works.
What it costs to open a reformer studio, in the order you pay it
Reformers, fit-out, insurance, software: what a small reformer studio actually pays out before the first class, and what can wait until money is coming in.
Your first ten clients, and where they actually come from
New reformer studios do not fill from advertising. Here is the order the first ten clients arrive in, and what to do so the tenth brings an eleventh.
Do you need booking software before you have any clients?
A new reformer studio is asked to pay a monthly subscription months before it takes a single booking. Here is when you actually need software, and what it should cost while you are still fitting out.
How many reformers do you actually need?
Your machine count is your revenue ceiling per hour and the hardest thing to change later. How to size a studio from your real week rather than your best one.
Your first timetable, and why fewer classes is the right answer
New studios open with too many classes and spend six months teaching to three people. How to build a first timetable you can fill, staff and survive.
Choosing software
What booking software actually costs a reformer studio
Most Pilates booking platforms will not publish a price. Here is how the pricing models in this category differ, what to work out before a demo call, and what we charge.
Reformer Pilates Booking vs bsport, honestly
bsport is a serious platform built for boutique fitness at scale. We are built around the studio itself. Here is where each of us is the better answer, including where they win.
Twelve questions to ask on a booking software demo
Most Pilates platforms quote rather than publish. Print this, ask all twelve, and get the answers in writing before anybody sees your card details.
Switching booking platforms without losing anyone
What to export before you cancel, what breaks if you get the order wrong, and how to move a reformer studio's clients, credits and schedule across without a dark day.
Pricing and packs
Privates and duets: should a small studio offer them, and at what price?
Private and duet reformer sessions earn more per hour and lose you a group class slot. When they make sense, how to price them against your group classes, and how to keep them from eating your week.
What to charge for a reformer class in Spain
Real drop-in, five-pack, ten-pack and unlimited price bands for ten Spanish markets, and how to pick your position in them without undercutting yourself.
Should you offer a free first class?
For a new or quiet reformer studio, almost always yes. For a studio with waitlists, almost always no. How to tell which one you are, and how to set it up so it does not leak.
Packs, memberships or drop-ins: which mix actually works
Healthy reformer studios take most of their money from packs and memberships. What each one does to behaviour, and the mix to aim for in your first year.
Running the week
How to pay a reformer instructor without breaking the studio
Per class, per head or per hour: the three ways small reformer studios pay instructors, what each one rewards, and how to work out what you can actually afford.
No-shows: why a full class still has two empty reformers
Boutique studios lose a meaningful share of booked spots to no-shows and late cancels. Where they come from, what actually reduces them, and why a fee is the last tool, not the first.
A refer-a-friend offer that clients actually use
Word of mouth is how most people find a reformer studio. How to design a referral reward that costs you little, when to pay it out, and the timing that makes clients bother.
From first class to regular: the first month of a new client
Most clients who leave a studio decide in their first few weeks. What to do before, during and after a new client's first reformer class so they come back for a second, a fifth and a tenth.
What to ask before someone's first reformer class, with a form to copy
A short health and injury questionnaire for reformer studios: what to ask, when to ask it, what to do with the answers, and how to store them without creating a data problem.
A cancellation policy for reformer studios, with a template to copy
What notice period to set, whether to charge for late cancellations and no-shows, and a plain-English policy you can paste onto your booking page.
The 11am Tuesday problem: filling the classes nobody books
Your rent and your reformers cost the same whether a class runs at three people or at eight. Practical ways to lift the fill rate on the hours that are quietly losing money.
What to do when a client stops coming
Boutique studios lose about a quarter of their clients a year and almost none of them say goodbye. How to see the fade while it is still reversible, and what to send.
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