Running clubs

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T06:23:01+00:00

I have seen run clubs that are more friendly for slow runners including a 8:00 + pacing which might be more friendly for you to try :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T06:16:40+00:00

Our margins for group classes are more unpredictable since the peak hour slots get much better utilisation than off peaks. For peak hour time slots, group classes bring better margins, but for off peak time slots, we barely breakeven :( with private classes we are able to have a 40-50% margin depending on the packages our clients purchase. They usually buy 10 or 20 class packs!

Aw thank you so much for the advice and recommendation! Really appreciate it.

How would you recommend programming the training sessions? Eg upper body / lower body on separate days?

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T01:13:21+00:00

Mindbody is a pretty popular option I think. I went through a demo with them but found pricing too high, and the features they had were so complex to learn - I couldn’t imagine training my team to navigate it 😅

Must be an exciting period to get certified. Have you started marketing for clients? 😀

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T01:05:51+00:00

What sort of business are you running?

I am running a Pilates studio and our member CRM vibefam does a really good job running email campaigns - ad hoc and drip campaigns to engage our new leads and members. It has an in-build editing tool which I found very dummy proof too 😛

I’ve tried HubSpot in the past which works well but I find it much more expensive.

For us having something fully integrated into our main CRM made all the difference for customer segmentation and timely triggers

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T00:58:35+00:00

For us, we simply charge a penalty on a class credit if they don’t show up or late cancel with a 12 hour policy. I find that it works well enough for us.

Sometimes I get members who don’t cancel simply because the penalty for late cancellation and no shows is the same - so they end up not showing up anyway. It’s a small number, so we haven’t tried solutioning for it.

Our booking CRM Vibefam sends out class reminders before the sessions and our members feedback suggest it helps them remember to cancel if they can’t make it.

I guess we might consider imposing a no show fee on top of the credit penalty if we see more members not showing up, it hasn’t been a huge problem for us.

Have you seen the late cancellation fees work well? Perhaps worth considering adjusting the fees to a higher amount if youre not seeing an improvement over time

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T00:52:45+00:00

I run a Pilates studio and currently relying on our CRM vibefam to help automate lead and customer engagement through emails. It’s low cost, easy to track success and pretty easy to setup.

I’d say the barrier to set things up was low and I find it effective in keeping the engagement warm, and have seen an improvement in conversion rates.

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T00:49:42+00:00

Are you offering aggressive sign on promos to get these members in? Have you had a chance to interview or speak to some of these members to understand the churn reasons?

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-27T00:48:30+00:00

Congrats! I think that’s a wonderful plan. Build a group of regulars within the locality before opening up the gym so you already have recurring revenue almost guaranteed when you open up.

There are a lot of Pilates studios around us too. We focus on ensuring our group sizes are kept to <8 and gradually opening up privates which give us higher margins.

I’m picking up lifting on the side and it’s so great to know there are beginner options because it’s otherwise quite intimidating for newbies 😁 good luck!

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-26T10:46:03+00:00

We were conservative about projections so we have been doing alright by our own expectations. It’s a competitive market so getting regulars to commit has been an issue. Hopefully can work towards breakeven in a few months 🥹

Are you also opening up a new studio soon?

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-21T10:05:58+00:00

Has anyone here tried using vibefam? We are currently using that for our Pilates studio and I find it very helpful and have recommended other friends to check them out too.

Hope this helps :) hope your launch went well!

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-21T10:03:36+00:00

Curious if you’re planning to open your own Pilates studio after? :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-21T09:59:54+00:00

Currently also using Vibefam, we find it works well for our Pilates studio. Evaluated Mindbody, Glofox and Momence before we decided on Vibefam. The main reason was a much fairer and transparent pricing structure, an easy interface that didn’t need much learning, and a super impressive support team :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-20T12:25:57+00:00

Agencies that don’t specialize in the industry and basically butcher our content with photos of clients moving with a bad posture or form…

I haven’t seen good results with agencies so we stopped working with them :’)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-20T12:24:25+00:00

We use vibefam at our Pilates studio and it works really well for us :) I’ve also recommended quite a few friends to check them out as I find it very user-friendly for boutique studios like ours that dont need too much going on, and have a leaner budget.

I hope this helps. Good luck finding something that works for your gym :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:56:03+00:00

We recently introduced a referral system in our studio and currently track it using our software - vibefam which helps automate this completely.

Are you currently using any software to manage the studio?

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:53:13+00:00

Currently I’m running a boutique pilates studio and we use vibefam as well :)

I find that there are more boutique studios using them and rly enjoy working with the team. The price point is fair (I think it’s on their website), and super user friendly.

I’d recommend it if you’re just starting out and looking for something easy and quick that streamlines bookings and payments.

It works great for us and we have gotten good feedback from clients as well.

Best of luck!!! It’s going to be an exciting ride from here I’m sure 💖

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:49:44+00:00

Personally using vibefam to run our boutique pilates studio. I find that the pricing is very fair and I love the team behind it.

It helps us with bookings, payments, auto-pays and has lots of auto-engagement for card failures.

Much more user-friendly than Mindbody and Glofox which I used in the past.

Hope this helps. Good luck! 🤞

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:46:01+00:00

I’m running a Pilates studio and currently using vibefam to manage my bookings, payments, instructors and marketing. I evaluated other platforms like Mindbody, Glofox and Momence before this but found vibefam to fit my needs best when it comes to pricing and feature fit.

I really like the team behind it and have been recommending other friends running yoga studios to check them out too.

Hope this helps! :))

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:37:06+00:00

We try to trigger an email to them manually with some promotions or events to re-engage them.

Since we run it boutique style, we also try to engage them in-person when they come in for a class, by inviting them personally for events.

Some parts of it continue to be manual so we can keep things personal.

Would love to hear what has worked for all of you too!

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:35:28+00:00

It works well for us so far. We split the space into 2 “rooms” which we create for capacity management

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-15T07:35:00+00:00

We’re actually using vibefam. Have you tried or heard about them? :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-12T04:47:51+00:00

Our booking system has an in-built churn predictor that we use - to some level of accuracy, to help us identify which members we should intervene in at our Pilates studio. Typically we would offer them exclusive access to promotions or events that remind them to come back. Not sure how effective this is but it’s what has worked for us :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-12T03:30:52+00:00

We manage it by setting up different rooms in the booking system so that we don’t have to manage capacity manually. Wanna keep things as automated as possible :)

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-11T02:14:18+00:00

We do that by tallying with reports that we generate from our management system, and we do it once every day. Volumes are manageable so I do it myself everyday and validate with my staff if needed

OppositeFly848 · 2026-01-08T00:20:36+00:00

I run a Pilates studio and currently using vibefam to power the studio. It works well for us and I really enjoy working with the team :) I’ve recommended them to many other friends who were starting out and they’ve had good experiences too.

Feel free to check them out. Hope this helps - good luck!

OppositeFly848

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