As the owner of a swim school, dance studio, gym, or other youth activity center, keeping costs down and revenue up is the key to your success. There are certain expenses that are necessary to keep your business thriving but the idea is to monitor all expenses closely so you can make adjustments as needed.

Recently, Jackrabbit Class and our great friend, Sean Dever (CPA and founder of Express Payroll) worked together to present some tips on how you can manage costs after a closure. Many tips that Sean shared can be used in general to make sure your small business remains lucrative.

3 Tips to Help you Manage Costs as the Owner of a Youth Activity Center

With Sean’s previous experience in owning a gym and a swim school, he is able to relate to owners, like yourself, on a level that most accountants cannot. Here are 3 tips Sean shared to help you manage costs at your youth activity center.

1. Have a strong advisory team

Part of running a successful business of any kind or size is making sure you have a great team. Of course, you want to have great staff on board to make the experience at your youth activity center memorable, but you also need a team of experts behind you. How does that saying go? Teamwork makes the dream work.

But real talk – you need professional advisors on your side to lean on as your most-used resource. This includes, but is not limited to, an accountant and a lawyer. Friends with advice are great but experts are who you want to consider when making important business decisions that ultimately affect your bottom line.

With your advisors’ expertise, they can help you with things like:

• • What type of insurance do you need?
  • What kind of waivers and policies should your families agree to?
  • What does your monthly budget look like?
  • What amount should you keep your payroll expenses at?

And the list just keeps on going!

2. Have a pulse on your numbers

I get it – we aren’t all numbers people. And that is okay. But, as the owner of your youth activity center, you want to know where your numbers sit at all times. Whether you do it yourself or hire a bookkeeper as part of your advisor panel, you want to be able to see where you stand, financially.

What should you be looking for?

• • Are you over-spending?
  • If you are over-spending, what can you eliminate?
  • How much do you have in cash reserves?
  • Is it enough to cover you during a temporary closure?
  • If so, how long could you sustain your youth activity center with your cash reserves?

In the words of our friend Sean, ‘measure what you treasure’ and you will be in a much better position.

Having cloud-based class management software like Jackrabbit Class allows you to see your revenue numbers anywhere, any time. Whether you want a quick glance from the dashboard or an in-depth look from one of our robust financial reports, you have access to everything you need!

See the dashboard in action!

3. Have a budget and stick to it

It’s one thing to create a plan but you have to stick to it to see the results! Same goes for a budget. Creating the budget is definitely the first step but staying on track is the most important piece.

Whether your accountant takes care of the books for you or you use a program like QuickBooks to track your expenses and income, you want to make sure you are staying as close as possible to your target spending. Of course, there may be something that comes up unexpectedly – that can’t always be prevented. But, that is where your cash reserves can help you keep the rest of your budget on target.

An important part of your monthly budget is class management software that helps you run your youth activity center efficiently and effectively. With a cloud solution like Jackrabbit Class, you can export your revenue reports to QuickBooks to keep that budget on track.

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