How building a strong brand led to growth
Self-described as fun, exciting and unforgettable, Simon Says Dance (SSD) have been pushing the boundaries in dance classes since 2011. With a passion to create engaging experiences for young people, the business has grown from a handful of students to 800+.
Simon and his business partner Craig have spent the past few years developing and expanding the dance studio, and now have over 85 classes every week in their own venue.
Innovation paving the way to success
To provide more opportunities for children passionate about dance in Edinburgh, Simon opened SSD in 2011 offering unique dance classes. As a relatively new dance style at the time, Simon spotted a gap in the market to attract attention and build a business based on new and emerging dance styles including Commercial Dance.
Today SSD has the biggest Commercial Dance offerings throughout Central Scotland thanks to their strong USP and sense of purpose. With demand increasing for different dance styles, the studio expanded into offering everything from tap to house to jazz and musical theatre.
But this hasn’t been the sole factor for success; it’s been propelled by building a strong brand and relationship with customers.
"If I had to describe ClassForKids in 3 words it would be amazing, supportive and streamlined.”
Standing out from the crowd
A large part of SSD’s success has been down to maintaining their vision. Throughout the studio’s history, Simon has always created fun and engaging sessions, whether in traditional or emerging dance.
And he’s never left that USP behind despite growing rapidly. But with rising numbers and increasing demand for classes, Simon knew change was needed to help manage daily tasks; keeping on top of class schedules, invoices and payments became unmanageable as the studio grew.
And that’s when business partner Craig joined the business. With a strong background in business and HR, Craig brought a strong track record in commercial experience to help the dance studio improve operations and continue its growth.
But as Craig came to grips with the business, he realised operational change was key to success. With a studio of 500+ and demand for more spaces, Craig focused on improving the customer booking experience and giving staff more time back. After speaking to a local kids activity provider in the area, Craig started to look for a new addition to the team.
Tapping into pain points
With a strong brand and vision already in place, Simon and Craig wanted to take the dance studio to the next level. And that’s when ClassForKids joined the crew.
After speaking to the team at ClassForKids, SSD quickly ditched the spreadsheets, mountains of paperwork and the dreaded payment chase. With the ClassForKids system, Simon and Craig began to focus on other key business areas including growth.
Using the ClassForKids system has helped move the brand’s marketing efforts forward. Simon and Craig have been able to integrate the system with their website providing an easy 3 step booking and payment process for their customers.
Thanks to this, the studio has increased its annual income by 13% in the last year. Now customers find booking and paying easier than ever before, and have the convenience of accessing their booking information online, 24/7.
Thanks to the system, Simon and Craig can easily communicate with all of their customers in a matter of minutes to provide important updates including invoices and changes to classes.
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