Is Your Yoga Studio Managing You?

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Managing a yoga studio can be daunting. Anyone who has turned their love of yoga into a full-fledged business can tell you, that keeping track of classes, knowing what teacher is teaching when, which student has paid, who is using coupons or a special promotion, etc. can get a bit nutty.

Instead of trying to keep track of all these elements yourself, there are several great software programs designed specifically for running a mind-body studio, namely, yoga. You can integrate many of these software systems with a website, and even have students check into their classes and pay for them online, taking much of the accounting headache out of the equation. For yoga studio owners looking for great software, check out the following (relevant links are at the end of the post):

MindBody

This software is a bit of a pain to get started and while the company even provides free training to help educate you, it is definitely not the most user friendly at start up. Once you have it installed; however, and all your account settings in place, it still takes some study time to learn how to use it at its full capacity, but it is very effective and streamlines everything. You can even set different pay rates for different teachers and for different classes and integrate the scheduling software with your own schedule and have it update on your website in real time. MindBody is an industry standard, but it could use some help in its user interface.
PranaStudio

Management Software – This company has some great reports that can generate from their software. You can keep track of as may teachers as you like, and even multiple studios, attendance trends, and even run full-point of sale transactions if you have a boutique along with your studio, to track all those Yogi Tea and MC Yogi transactions as well as other retail items like yoga mats, t-shirts, yoga pants, etc. There is a video demo, which gives you an overview of the capabilities of the software.
KarmaSoft

Studio management software is a single-screen interface so you don’t have to navigate a software maze to help you grow your studio business. There are three main panels to sign in students quickly. You can also sell membership packages easily because they are color-coded. If you need to run the retail aspect of your business more smoothly, you can see the most purchased retail items at the top of your screen. The software is said to be engineered by yoga practitioners, and not just software engineers so it is easier and more intuitive to navigate than some other software programs on the market.
MyYogaConnectionThis is a relatively new product on the market, and it helps to manage your studio – powered by teamer. Yoga students can keep track of teachers through email, a custom website, and a myyogaconnection dashboard that you set up as a studio owner. There are also email building tools so you don’t need programs like constantcontact.com. You can also send mass text messages for your own sms campaign. You can also export your calendar to a stand-alone website or even your iphone. You can also allow students to compose Wiki entries so they can share their knowledge and experience with other students.

Keep It Personal

There are dozens of other software programs on the market, but I would be hesitant to try any that don’t have a proven track record. You could even call a few yoga studios and ask them what they are using and if they like the software they chose before purchasing your own. No matter which studio software program you decide to use to help make the everyday tasks of your yoga studio more convenient, you should always tailor it to your own business style – one that reflects your own personality and your personal strengths as a teacher and business owner.

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