“A top priority of our business and employees is to make people feel at home and let them know that they are welcomed.”
While taking a picture of the front of Next Step Dance Studio, I looked over at a smiling Polly Schill who extended a wave and promptly greeted me. I had never met Polly before, but she instantly made me feel welcome.
During a recent visit with Polly, our Website Adviser, Ron Gould, learned why she has such a big and bright smile on her face – Next Step has grown from 170 dancers to nearly 550 in just three years, and they plan to surpass 600 by the end of next spring. To be completely honest with you, I’m pretty sure Polly is the type of person who would be smiling regardless of her business’s growth. She is building a business she loves. But who wouldn’t want to triple their business in a few years?
A Little Back Story
The Next Step Dance Studio, which now has two locations in Bloomington, IL, offers recreational and competitive level dance classes for kids and adults, including ballet, contemporary, hip hop, tap, ballroom, tumbling and cheer. Polly, who has a background in entrepreneurship and marketing, not in dance, purchased the business from Next Step’s Studio Director lovingly known by students as Ms. Darcey. “While talking with Darcey, I asked her what her dream for the business was. ‘To own my own place,’ she said. I thought, well, we can do that,” says Polly.
Combining Talents
Utilizing Darcey’s passion for dance and knowledge of the industry, Polly took over the operations side of the business and helped move Next Step from a 1,000 square-foot rental to their very own 4,000 square-foot building with three studios, a lounge for students, security system, merchandise store and room for parents to wait for and view their children practicing. The addition of the 2nd location earlier this year, just a mile from the main location, has doubled the space available for classes.
Polly now runs the business primarily from home as her staff of nearly 30 teach and work with students of all ages. And while she isn’t planning on opening a third location, Polly has invested every dollar of profit back into the business. “I have yet to take a salary from the business. Right now, it’s more important to me that my employees and our students are getting the best possible experience,” says Polly.
The experience those students have received has been in large part shaped by Ms. Darcey and also the Artistic Director Ms. Jesica, who joined Next Step in 2015. The addition of Jesica has resulted in Next Step’s competitive dance team (named Studio 4) winning countless competitions and awards. “We were previously competing at the performance level and winning lower-level awards. With Jesica’s expertise and leadership, we’re now winning the top awards at the competitive level, and she has been able to bring out the strengths in all of her students,” Polly states.
The Secrets to Their Success
Asked what, in addition to her staff and facilities, have set Next Step apart from competitors, Polly says that their website has “really transformed our business.” Polly started working with Mavidea in 2015 to have a new website built and to receive ongoing support. “Running a successful business is about being able to gain value from others, whether employees, contractors, or the companies you work with,” says Polly. “Working with Mavidea has given me access to website experts who can make improvements and changes in a tenth of the time I could,” she continues.
Polly showcases Next Step’s offerings and the company’s website in marketing campaigns and social media efforts to gain leads. Polly then personally follows up with each lead to tell them more about Next Step and make sure they have enough information to make an informed decision. “As business owners, we need to give a personal touch to our customers and let them know we care. Too often we rely on email and online messages instead of talking to them face-to-face or at least on the phone. It makes a huge difference.”
Growing Pains
Although she’s made the success of Next Step look simple, not everything has come easy. “With nearly 30 teachers hosting 150 classes and team rehearsals each week, it’s tough to get everyone in one place at one time and for everyone to feel like a valued part of our team,” says Polly. To bring her staff closer together, Polly has planned several upcoming team retreats and hosts regular staff meetings. “People can get anxious if they are not feeling valued. If they don’t feel like you’re taking care of them personally, they’ll go somewhere else, and we want to make sure all of our teachers feel like they are a part of the team.”
Personal Development
Growing herself as a business owner is something that’s just as important as growing her business. “If I didn’t develop myself as a business owner, the business could easily go in the opposite direction of where it’s headed now." Polly participates in two studio owner groups to learn from and share with other studio owners from around the country, which she states has been a key to her success. The two studio owner groups are both composed of studio owners, but have different focuses – one on building the vision and mission of a studio and ensuring that all students are properly taught and cared for, and the other on the tech side of running and growing a studio using website opt ins, lead pages, follow up systems, social media and advertising.
“Our growth would not be possible without the technology we’re using daily, including our website and online marketing,” says Polly. But as with any technology, it’s up to the person using it to get the most out of it. Polly has a firm grasp of her company’s key performance indicators at all times and makes sure all of her employees know and understand how the business model works and how technology plays a role. With a retention rate of keeping 89% of her students from one semester to the next, it’s clear that her efforts are working. Not only is her business growing, with typically a hundred new dancers each session, she is building a strong staff and customers feel cared for enough to keep coming back.
We’re inspired by Polly’s growth as an entrepreneur and the growth of The Next Step Dance Studio, and proud to have her as a client of Mavidea. To learn more about The Next Step Dance Studio, visit their website. To find out about their competitive team, follow @studio4_nsds on Instagram.
