How Ritmo Barre Valencia opened its second studio almost full

Company Overview

Ritmo Barre Valencia opened a second studio four kilometres from the first. The plan was the usual one, open the doors and fill it over six months, which is where most of the financial risk in a new site sits.

Challenge

• A new site normally takes six to nine months to fill, all of it at full cost
• There was no way to sell memberships for a site that did not exist yet
• Existing members near the new location had no route to transfer or add it
• Running two sites on separate systems would have doubled the admin immediately

Solution

• The new site was set up in Solstice Studio OS and Solstice Member App before opening, with a founding member offer members could buy immediately
• Existing members could add or switch sites themselves, and 60 took up the option
• Class timetables and bookings were live before the doors opened, so week one ran like a normal week
• Both sites run on one system, so group reporting and billing did not change at all

Results

• The second studio opened with 197 pre sold memberships against a target of 120
• It reached break even in its second month rather than the expected ninth
• About 60 existing members added the second location, which increased their spend
• Administrative overhead of the second site was close to zero, because it shared one system

Customer Testimonial

"Opening a second site is the scariest thing a studio owner does, and the fear is entirely about how long the room stays empty. Being able to sell memberships before the building existed changed the risk profile of the whole decision. Break even in month two instead of month nine is the difference between expanding again and not."

Diego Herrera, Co-owner, Ritmo Barre Valencia

Key Benefits

• A new site configured and selling before opening
• Members able to add or switch sites themselves
• Timetables and bookings live from day one
• One system across both locations

Solstice Fitness Studios let Ritmo Barre Valencia sell its second studio before building it, reaching break even in month two rather than month nine.