Changing a Business Model Overnight
Week 3 of Corona-social-distancing practices. Still in a new reality, adjusting and adapting. I am grateful that my friend, family, and client communities are still safe, and I am so appreciative that I could continue my business online.
So what has this transition been from pre-COVID to mid-COVID over these past 3 weeks?
While my studio was still open we were hearing about cases ramping up within the States, after we had been hearing about it all over the world for the past 2 months. We started buying more hefty sprays and wipe disinfectants in order to have the shared equipment even more sanitized after every session. Some clients started talking about the virus more constantly, and we wondered if we would ever be hit as hard as Italy had been, but all clients were still attending their sessions regularly. Many group fitness and rehab studios started to lose some business as members were wary of joining a group session with so many people altogether. However, since I work only with one or two individuals at a time, we continued doing business as normal. About 2 weeks before we closed we started wondering about the scenario if we would have to close, and how long would it be, that it's so unlikely, and well, it would likely only be a couple of weeks.
It was labeled a pandemic. Other businesses started being restricted. Public gyms started limiting how many people could attend each class. Schools started moving classes online, closing for a few weeks. It was labeled a state of emergency. I sent my clients a group email detailing new precautions I was taking in the studio and the latest information from the CDC.
Then, late on Friday the 13th, a client gave me a heads-up that other private clubs in our immediate area were closing. Sure enough, after our board met the next morning, they decided the club was being closed indefinitely starting Monday. Since my studio is within the country club, I also had to close my business until further notice.
Immediately, I started emailing clients telling them we would be closed for a while, and that I would be continuing sessions for people either in-home or virtually. I set up a zoom account and got to work scheduling everyone as best I could. Meanwhile, many of my clients were also in business crisis mode, being told that they would soon also be closed for being "non-essential" businesses.
My initial concern was continuing to make an income and maintaining a connection to my clients. Next, I wanted to figure out how to keep my clients in their fitness and rehabilitation routines that they need either for limiting chronic pain, or general fitness and well-being. Especially in times of stress, it is important to continue exercises as this helps keep our immune systems robust, and it is also beneficial to maintain some level of routine and normalcy as this helps keep our mental well-being strong.
Many texts and emails later, I had a tentative schedule of a few people set each day. I was going to be commuting to clients as far south as the Marina, East to Westwood, North to the Palisades, and mainly around my studio location of Brentwood. Instead of everyone coming to me at my studio, I would be commuting around West LA to meet them in their homes. I would pack a bag with Pilates props that would hopefully give them an addition to the mat work since they are used to using our Pilates equipment of reformers, barrels, cadillacs, and wunda chairs. Overnight, I went from running my own private studio back to feeling like a newbie, independent contractor, teaching one-off sessions around the city. Even though I know I didn't actually lose my business, it felt like my whole business that I had developed over the past 8 years had just disappeared.
After the first few days, I realized I couldn't continue going to various homes to train people, and clients who had scheduled at-home sessions started canceling due to fear of new updates we were hearing about the virus. With the high rate-of-spread of this virus, going to various homes was putting myself, my husband, and my clients at risk, especially my older clients, and those with underlying medical conditions. So, I had to again change my plan, and move every session online.
Once again, a long email went out to my client base, detailing my latest decision, which virtual meeting program I would be using, and how they could download the program and set up an account. I sent out links to the site, a list of recommended home exercise props they could purchase, and how payment and scheduling would work outside of the studio.
Initially, I didn't have everyone on board, and I still don't, but I do have 20 sessions each week instead of my normal 35 sessions, and I don't think I even could take on my normal full load virtually. It is both enjoyable having this change to work from home and set up a new arm of my business, and scary, not knowing how long this might be the situation. In some ways, it is also much more challenging teaching virtually. I'm used to standing and walking around the studio all day, whereas now I'm sitting in front of my computer on my yoga mat. Usually, I only use my computer to do my own research and writing and watch shows at the end of the day. Now, I am working on my computer all day, teaching each session before I get to my research, writing, and shows. Normally, I would be able to manually stretch and adjust my clients as needed, whereas now I have to intently stare at the screen in order to not miss an incorrect movement, to verbally describe each adjustment I want them to find. I'm also even more concerned than normal to make sure each session is beneficial for each client, so they don't think they're losing out on anything by doing virtual versus in-person sessions or doing mat work versus equipment work.
It can be challenging to convince people that mat work is just as beneficial as Pilates on the equipment. The equipment can be fun, fancy, and unique, and clients tend to feel that they are getting more out of equipment-based classes than simple bodyweight mat exercises. However, originally the mat program was created as the main objective, whereas the equipment was the tool to help people understand how to use their bodies against resistance. Even now, in classical Pilates, the client is supposed to be able to find the same resistance within their own bodies after adapting to the resistance against the springs.
In this way, some of the hesitancy for clients to incorporate virtual mat privates is that they don't understand the value of Pilates without equipment. Others have needed time to settle their own lives, with their kids now in school at home, their businesses in crisis mode restructuring, and their other general concerns and anxieties within the current events.
One client who I haven't trained for the past two weeks texted me that her back started bothering her, that she never realized how her weekly regular sessions kept everything in check, and how it's amazing how much is triggered when you stop. This reveals the value of the Pilates method as it can be done anywhere with no equipment needed, it can be adapted to all ages and abilities and can be used for general wellness as well as corrective exercise for acute and chronic injuries.
With all the changes happening in all the businesses, with every industry being hit, how will this all change how we work for the future? We have all the tools we can use to reach more people than solely in-person studios. We can reach a broader base, taking out the barriers to the attendance of location, time, and cost… "it's too far", "there's too much traffic", "I don't have the time"…well we are seeing that your sessions can be done in your own home just as effectively. For studio owners, the overhead cost can be significantly reduced, for just the cost of liability insurance, reliable internet, and a membership for a video conferencing program, scheduling service, and payment service.
Should we move completely to virtual training, or should we even have the main bulk of training be online? Not necessarily, as I still think the in-person connection is important. But this does give us a lot of opportunities to expand who we can reach, where we can teach, and how we can structure our businesses.
A silver lining within these strange times…
