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2017 YOGA STUDIOBENCHMARK REPORTSECOND EDITION

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CREATING A FINANCIALLY FIT YOGA BUSINESS 3

DEMOGRAPHICS 10 COUNTRIES 11 BUSINESS SIZE 12 GENDER 13 TIME IN BUSINESS 14

FINANCIALS 15 PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT 16 AVERAGE REVENUE AND EXPENSE 17 PERCENT OF TOTAL MEMBERSHIPS GIVEN DISCOUNTS 19 DISCOUNT PERCENT BY DISCOUNT TYPE 20 PERCENT OF DISCOUNT TYPE OFFERED 21 HOW OWNERS PAY THEMSELVES 22 STARTUP CAPITAL 23

FACILITY SIZE 24 MEDIAN FACILITY SIZE 25 MEDIAN SQUARE FEET PER STUDENT 26 AVERAGE RENT PER SQUARE FOOT 27

MEMBERSHIPS 28 STUDENT RETENTION 29 TYPES OF MEMBERSHIPS OFFERED 30 AVERAGE MONTHLY PRICE OF MEMBERSHIP 31 PERCENT OF STUDENTS ON AUTOPAY 33 AUTOPAY CONCERNS 34 METHODS OF PAYMENT COLLECTION 35

CLASSES 36 CLASS SIZE 37 WEEKDAY CLASSES PER DAY 38 TYPES OF YOGA OFFERED 39 OTHER SERVICES OFFERED 40

STAFF 41 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 42

MARKETING 43 NEW STUDENTS BY SOURCE 44 MARKETING ON DISCOUNT SITES 46 HEALTH AND WELLNESS PARTNERSHIPS 47

ABOUT THIS SURVEY: The following findings depict 110 individual survey responses.

Centered studios are defined as yoga businesses that generate at least $7,000 in monthly profit.

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However, these aren’t the only requirements to become a successful studio owner; it’s also

necessary to understand and effectively manage your finances to ensure your studio will serve

your community for years to come.

I feel very fortunate that I get to spend my days working with yoga studios, helping them

become wildly successful because I know their success translates directly into the success

and health of individuals across the world. One thing that I’ve learned is that while many yoga

studios share similar core values, they run their businesses in vastly different ways.

Last year, we released our first annual Yoga Benchmark Report as a way for yoga studios to learn

and grow from the successes and struggles of others in their industry. The purpose of this guide

is to help you identify strengths and weaknesses in your own business by getting a glimpse

into how some of the most successful studios are running their businesses. After reviewing this

year’s business metrics, provided directly from yoga studios across the world, it’s clear that once again building a strong financial foundation for your business is the most important component of running a successful studio. And in establishing this foundation, we found that

it freed the most successful yoga studios to also provide the best services for their students.

The data below was compiled from yoga studios just like yours. We divided the data into two

groups. Group 1, Centered studios, is comprised of the most financially successful studios,

generating more than $7,000 per month in net revenue. Group 2, Off-Balance studios, falls

on the other end of the spectrum and includes studios who are losing money each month.

If you participated in the survey, thank you; I hope this data simplifies the countless business metrics

you could be tracking and puts into perspective how studios like yours operate. For those who

didn’t have the opportunity to provide data this year, I hope you take the initiative to compile your

finances and take steps towards improving the financial health of your studio in the coming year.

Here is what I found...

Yoga is a spiritual, physical and mental discipline that requires passion and commitment from its practitioners. Similarly, passion

and commitment are also required for individuals who want to run

a successful yoga business.

CREATING A FINANCIALLY FIT YOGA BUSINESS

FROM PHIL STERN, GENERAL MANAGER, ZEN PLANNER

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Centered studios have more students

Generally speaking, the more students you have, the more money you have coming in. The

median student base for Centered studios is 700, while Off-Balance studios only have 100

students. These numbers differ from last year’s data but the results remain the same:

successful studios have more students and more students equals more revenue.

I know some studios have no interest in supporting 700 students. And that’s fine, your studio

can still thrive with a smaller student base! Being successful doesn’t necessarily mean having

the most students, but if you’re a smaller studio, you will likely need to keep a closer eye on

your monthly expenses. It all comes down to net monthly profit. Your studio needs to have

enough students, or revenue from other offerings like teacher trainings and workshops, to

cover your monthly costs of rent, utilities, taxes, payroll, equipment and anything else you

pay for each month.

BUILD A HEALTHY STUDENT BASE

Median Number of Students

700

100 OFF-BALANCE

CENTERED

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Centered studios better manage their revenue verse expenses

As I stated above, running a successful business comes down to being able to manage your

budget and maintain an average monthly profit that will keep your studio thriving. The average

monthly profit for Centered studios is $13,493 while the Off-Balance studios have an average

monthly loss of $2,058.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of managing your studio and supporting your

community of students, that properly tracking money going into and out of your business may

not get your full attention. Let’s face it, you most likely became a studio owner because you’re

passionate about yoga, not finances. However, you still need to find a way to manage the costs

of your business so you’re able to continue sharing your passion with your students for many

years. Maintaining a detailed financial record of all of your revenue and expenses is the path to

developing this discipline and is something that should not be overlooked.

To create this discipline, you should be tracking the exact, not estimated, numbers that you

spend on everything from retail to equipment to the holiday bonus you gave to each of your

employees. On the other side, you also need to track how much money you’re bringing in from

memberships, factoring in any students who may have discounts, drop-ins, retail purchases,

teacher trainings and any other source of revenue you offer. The bottom line is, your revenue

must be higher than your expenses.

UNDERSTAND YOUR FINANCES

Average Monthly Profit

$13,493

$-2,058 OFF-BALANCE

CENTERED

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Centered studios charge for the value of their services

Successful businesses provide top of the line services, allowing them to charge for the value they

deliver to their students. On average, Centered studios charge $227 for an unlimited membership

while Off-Balance studios only charge $90. With discounting, unlimited membership prices

decrease to $161 for Centered studios and $65 for Off-Balance studios. As a business owner, you

should stand behind your service and be confident in the value you provide to your students.

If you do this, your service should be priced at its value, and never discounted.

Think about it this way, imagine two studios have 100 students each. Taking into account the

average discounts for Centered and Off-Balance studios, the Centered studio is making $16,100

per month on memberships whereas the Off-Balance studio is making $6,500 per month with

the same student count. That’s a $115,200 difference per year.

Now, imagine you were so confident in your service that you didn’t discount. You’d be generating

even more revenue from memberships – a total of $22,700 per month for Centered studios and

$9,000 per month for Off-Balance studios - allowing you to enhance other areas of your studio

from new equipment to better teachers.

CHARGE MORE & AVOID DISCOUNTS

Average Unlimited Membership

Average Unlimited Membership with Discounts

$227

$90OFF-BALANCE

CENTERED

$161

$65OFF-BALANCE

CENTERED

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Centered studios better manage their space

Behind payroll, the largest expense most studios have is rent. More space does not necessarily

correspond to more success; you need to have an ideal amount of space for your student base.

Centered studios have a median square footage of 2,000, while Off-Balance studios are closer

to 1,200 square feet. Centered studios have larger spaces, but they also have more students to

fill that space. Just as we found last year, Centered studios spend more per square foot on their

space ($28/sf) than Off-Balance studios ($16/sf).

This just goes to show that it’s not about how much space you have but how efficiently your

studio utilizes its space. When you break down median square foot by student, Centered

studios have only three square feet per student while Off-Balance studios have 12 square feet

per student. As we said last year, this doesn’t mean that you pack your students in on top of

each other for each class. Rather you must plan your space accordingly. Look for opportunities

to better utilize your facility by potentially making your class space bigger, while reducing

unused space in the check in and welcome area. It also means that you fill your classes and

when you approach capacity, you add more classes. This point is really important: as you grow,

look to add more classes before making the jump to a larger space.

PROPERLY UTILIZE YOUR SPACE

Median Square Feet per Student

12 sq ft 3 sq ft

OFF-BALANCE CENTERED

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Studios grow faster by engaging with their communities

Yoga is known for being a communal discipline and engaging with their community contributes

to the growth of both Centered and Off-Balance studios. In fact, both Centered and Off-Balance

studios get more than 35% of their new students from referrals. Referral students tend to pay

more per membership, have a higher lifetime value, are more likely to refer additional students

and stay with your studio longer. All of which have a large impact on the long-term health of your

business. In comparison, only 15% of Centered studios and 11% of Off-Balance studios get new

students from discount sites including ClassPass, Groupon and LivingSocial.

And, there are still other ways to bring students in without using discount sites. 17% of Centered

studios and 12% of Off-Balance studios increase their student base through walk-ins. While

15% of Centered studios and 9% of Off-Balance studios use community events to bring new

students in their doors. Instead of offering what you believe to be enticing discounts to bring

students to your studio, the key to growth is engaging with your current students and your

surrounding community.

GROW YOUR COMMUNITY

New Student Recruitment Through Community Engagement(student referrals, local events and walk-ins)

OFF-BALANCE67%59%

CENTERED

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Running a successful yoga studio is a physical and mental process that requires passion

and commitment on behalf of the owner. It won’t come easy, but I hope this guide can help

push you in the right direction and encourage you to take a deeper look at the strengths and

weaknesses of your individual studio. I, and the rest of the Zen Planner team, would love to

answer any questions you may have to help you with your business needs. We look forward

to hearing from you.

Sincerely, Phil Stern General Manager, Zen Planner

Phil Stern is the General Manager of Zen Planner. He has three main

passions in life: family, mountain sports and building teams of great

people to grow businesses.

Phil cares deeply about small business success and works closely with

Zen Planner’s customers, partners and team members to ensure our

customers hit their business goals and achieve wild success. To this end,

Phil is an advisor and mentor to startups in Denver and Boulder. Phil also

blogs and delivers webinars about how fitness business owners can grow

their businesses without employing hard sales tactics and discounts.

Phil lives in the foothills of Colorado’s front range with his wife, son and

dog. He earned a BA from Bowdoin College.

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DEMOGRAPHIC

S

11

14%CANADA

68%UNITED STATES

11%AUSTRALIA/ NEW ZEALAND

4%EUROPE

3%OTHER

COUNTRIES (percentage of respondents)

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BUSINESS SIZE Business size is a designation determined by Zen Planner based on student count and its relation

to facility size and Profit and Loss Statements.

Throughout the remainder of our findings we have referred to facilities with 1-75 students per

location as “Small” (39% of respondents), 76-200 as “Medium” (19% of respondents) and 201+ as

“Large” (42% of respondents).

S

1–75M

76–200L

201+

Respondents

S: 39%

M: 19%

L: 42%

LMS

Total Students per Location

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GENDER (percent of students)

21%MALE

79%FEMALE

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S

M

L

TIME IN BUSINESS(in years)

<1 1-2 3-4 6+

9%

4% 20%

29%

15%

14%

14%

17%

14%

48%

44%

29% 43%

<1 YEAR

<1

1-2

1-2

1-2

3-4

3-4

3-4

5-6

5-6

5-6

6+

6+

6+

26% 26% 16% 11% 21%

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FINANCIA

LS

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Small Medium Large

Revenue

Memberships $481 $ 973 $4,888 $6,565

Drop-ins $979 $2,293 $7,891 $19,030

Merchandise/retail $24 $86 $556 $884

Events $121 $91 $1,661 $3,942

1-on-1 instruction $107 $721 $799 $1,431

Other $169 $471 $555 $500

Total Avg Revenue $1,881 $4,635 $16,350 $32,352

Expenses

Rent/mortgage $676 $2,449 $3,099 $4,239

Payroll $764 $3,205 $4,456 $6,948

Utilities and building expenses $154 $320 $416 $735

Equipment $40 -- $88 $86

Certification/professional fees $34 $49 $133 $285

Marketing expenses $110 $334 $1,127 $2,816

Insurance $50 $99 $180 $293

All other expenses $44 $322 -- $3,455

Total Expenses $1,872 $6,778 $9,499 $18,857

Profit $9 ($2,143) $6,851 $13,495

PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT(monthly average in $USD)

Number of students is a significant driver of revenue as demonstrated by the Large business Profit

and Loss statement. However, Centered studios prove you do not have to have a large student base

to be profitable.

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$47REVENUE

EXPENSE $47

REVENUE $39

EXPENSE $56

REVENUE $31

EXPENSE $18

REVENUE $46

EXPENSE $27

AVERAGE REVENUE AND EXPENSE(per student)

S

M

L

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Rent/Mortgage as a Percentage of Revenue

Payroll as a Percentage of Revenue

Sum of All Other Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue

S: 36%

M: 53%

L: 19%

: 13%

S: 41%

M: 69%

L: 27%

: 21%

S: 23%

M: 24%

L: 12%

: 24%

LMS

LMS

LMS

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PERCENT OF TOTAL MEMBERSHIPS GIVEN DISCOUNTS

S: 32%

M: 22%

L: 27%

: 29%

L

M

S

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32%OFF

Teacher

23%OFF

Military

Fire/Police/EMT

13%OFF

19%OFF

Student

DISCOUNT PERCENT BY DISCOUNT TYPE(average discount on standard membership cost)

Other

25%OFF

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PERCENT OF DISCOUNT TYPE OFFEREDPercentage of studios that offer the following types of discounts on their memberships.

69%

Student

Teacher52%

Military41%

Other19%

33%

Fire/Police/EMT

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Fixed Salary

Profits

Both

14%

59%

27%

0%

29%

71%

HOW OWNERS PAY THEMSELVES

AVG

AVG

AVG

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7%FINANCE COMPANY

12%BANK LOAN

STARTUP CAPITAL(average startup capital is $29,665)

15%FRIENDS & FAMILY

15%OTHER

51%SAVINGS

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FACILIT

Y SIZ

E

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MEDIAN FACILITY SIZE

1,033 sq ft

1,550 sq ft

1,200 sq ft

2,000 sq ft

S LM

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MEDIAN SQUARE FEET PER STUDENT This has been determined by the median facility size divided by the median number of students per business size.

S /LM

26 sq ft

10 sq ft

3 sq ft

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United StatesS: $8.12

M: $15.59

L: $22.13

CanadaS: $7.32

M: $12.96

L: $22.61

AVERAGE RENT PER SQUARE FOOT(average in $USD)

EuropeS: N/A

M: N/A

L: $22.59

OtherS: N/A

M: $10.42

L: $6.81

Australia/New ZealandS: $47.37

M: $42.64

L: $70.01

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MEM

BERSHIPS

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STUDENT RETENTIONChurn is the percentage of total students lost each month, while Net is the percentage of total students added each month minus the percentage of students lost each month.

15%

19%

10%

7%

ADDED

ADDED

ADDED

ADDED

CHURN

CHURN

CHURN

CHURN

10%

11%

6%

4%

NET

NET

NET

NET

5%

8%

4%

3%

S

M

L

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UnlimitedS: 14%

M: 25%

L: 22%

: 36%

LMS

LMS

2x Per WeekS: 4%

M: 8%

L: 3%

: 4%

1x Per WeekS: 19%

M: 7%

L: 6%

: 12%

TYPES OF MEMBERSHIPS OFFEREDThe average percentage of students that are on each type of membership option.

IntroductoryS: 10%

M: 16%

L: 9%

: 12%

Drop-InS: 21%

M: 11%

L: 14%

: 10%

3x Per WeekS: 2%

M: 6%

L: 2%

: 2%

OtherS: 9%

M: 5%

L: 1%

: 1%

Punch PassS: 21%

M: 22%

L: 43%

: 23%

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

L M S

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$26

$26

$18

1x Per Week

$46

S

M

L

AVERAGE MONTHLY PRICE OF MEMBERSHIP(in $USD)

$41

$35

$28

Introductory

$43

S

M

L

$25

$66

$22

2x Per Week

$57

S

M

L

$27

$38

$11

3x Per Week

N/A

S

M

L

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$15

$17

$18

Drop-In

$18

S

M

L

$100

$104

$74

Punch Pass

$125

S

M

L

AVERAGE MONTHLY PRICE OF MEMBERSHIP(continued)

$74

$71

$188

Unlimited

$227

S

M

L

$42

$67

$92

Other

$116

S

M

L

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PERCENT OF STUDENTS ON AUTOPAY

United StatesS: 17%

M: 37%

L: 35%

CanadaS: 24%

M: 52%

L: 45%

Australia/New ZealandS: 0%

M: 48%

L: 0%

CENTERED: 59% AUTOPAY

EuropeS: 0%

M: N/A

L: 55%

OtherS: 100%

M: 5%

L: 0%

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AUTOPAY CONCERNSHere are the main reasons many students have elected not to enroll in autopay at their studio.

22%DON’T SEE THE BENEFIT

8%SECURITY CONCERNS

13%OVER-DRAFT CONCERNS

57%OTHER(preference, forget to update cards or card changes, autopay not offered in region)

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METHODS OF PAYMENT COLLECTION

United StatesCredit card: 63%ACH/EFT: 13%Cash: 24%Checks: 19%Other: 20%

EuropeCredit card: 50%ACH/EFT: 60%Cash: 43%

OtherCredit card: 73%ACH/EFT: 29%Cash: 17%

CanadaCredit card: 56%ACH/EFT: 19%Cash: 29%Checks: 3%Other: 5%

Australia/New ZealandCredit card: 56%ACH/EFT: 52%Cash: 51%Checks: 3%

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CLASSES

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CLASS SIZE(average students per class)

S

M

L

7

9

11

17

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WEEKDAY CLASSES PER DAY(average number)

S

M

L

3

4

5

6

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Vinyasa S: 72%

M: 71%

L: 80%

: 100%

Hatha S: 67%

M: 62%

L: 65%

: 57%

TYPES OF YOGA OFFERED

Hot YogaS: 30%

M: 24%

L: 33%

: 57%

RestorativeS: 56%

M: 38%

L: 74%

: 86%

YinS: 49%

M: 48%

L: 63%

: 83%

AshtangaS: 12%

M: 5%

L: 26%

: 14%

IyengarS: 5%

M: 14%

L: 20%

: 0%

AnusaraS: 5%

M: 10%

L: 9%

: 0%

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

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AcupunctureS: 0%

M: 0%

L: 9%

: 0%

Massage S: 21%

M: 0%

L: 20%

: 14%

OTHER SERVICES OFFERED

Breathing/ Meditation S: 33%

M: 24%

L: 41%

: 43%

NutritionS: 12%

M: 10%

L: 13%

: 14%

No Other ServicesS: 37%

M: 29%

L: 28%

: 29%

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

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STAFF

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NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES(number of staff members for each position)

49%

60%

50%

18%

29%

18%

46%

9%

7%

8%

2%2%

6%

5%

5%

14%

10%

9%

53%

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

3

3

3

4+

4+

4+

4+

Full-Time Teacher

Admin/Front Desk

Part-Time Teacher

Studio Manager

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MARKETIN

G

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ReferralsS: 42%

M: 39%

L: 36%

: 35%

FacebookS: 26%

M: 18%

L: 20%

: 22%

NEW STUDENTS BY SOURCE(percentage of new students acquired by specific marketing sources)

Walk-insS: 9%

M: 13%

L: 11%

: 17%

GoogleS: 17%

M: 31%

L: 21%

: 15%

LMS

LMS

LMS

LMS

Promotional Discount Sites S: 4%

M: 13%

L: 10%

: 15%

LM S

Community EventsS: 10%

M: 8%

L: 9%

: 15%

LMS

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Other S: 22%

M: 3%

L: 7%

: 0%

NEW STUDENTS BY SOURCE(continued)

L MS

EmailS: 6%

M: 5%

L: 7%

: 3%

LMS

Other Social Networks (Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

S: 7%

M: 14%

L: 10%

: 4%

LMS

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MARKETING ON DISCOUNT SITES(percentage of studios who run deals on specific discount sites)

NoneS: 51%

M: 24%

L: 35%

: 43%

ClassPass S: 2%

M: 14%

L: 7%

: 29%

GrouponS: 5%

M: 10%

L: 4%

: 0%

LMS

LMS

LMS

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70%NO

30%YES

HEALTH AND WELLNESS PARTNERSHIPS(percentage of studios who have partnerships with other fitness, health and wellness businesses as a benefit for their students)

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Bring balance to your studio with Zen Planner.

Zen Planner makes yoga studios wildly successful. Our comprehensive, customizable

studio management solution provides you with the necessary tools to take your business to

the next level, enabling you to spend less time behind the desk and more time with your

valued students.

To learn more about what Zen Planner can do for your business, schedule your demo today.

SCHEDULE YOUR DEMO

zenplanner.com