Om Sweet Om Yoga Success Story

A Little About Om Sweet Om

At Om Sweet Om in Port Washington, New York, they've worked hard to create a home for their community, where people of all ages, shapes and sizes can receive the many proven benefits of yoga. They help others connect to their most divine nature, see their own light, beauty, power, and capacity for love and joy. Om Sweet Om offers a variety of yoga classes, kids/prenatal yoga, teacher trainings, workshops, retail, and private yoga sessions. Om Sweet Om has seen great success since coming to one of the inaugural MINDBODY University events in 2006.

MBU: Tell us a little bit about Om Sweet Om. Gail Grossman: Om Sweet Om is a single-location yoga studio located in Port Washington, New York. We offer yoga classes, private appointments, teacher training, workshops and retail. On average, we see between 300-500 clients per week. We've been in business for over 5 years and using MINDBODY for about 4 years. We signed on with MINDBODY in January of 2005.

MBU: When did you attend MINDBODY University? Gail Grossman: One of the first events offered, in New York City November 2006.

MBU: Why did you originally attend MINDBODY University? What were your hoping to gain by attending the intensive? Gail Grossman: We were looking mostly for hands-on training and better understanding of the software system, but we were also interested in learning business theory and best practices to increase our profitability.

"Our revenues have steadily increased an average of 40% per year over the last 3 years and I attribute some of it to natural growth, but a lot of it to MINDBODY."

MBU: How did MBU help you change your business and take it to the next level? Gail Grossman: We implemented the following strategies and software functionalities after learning about them at MBU:

• First of all, we were not using the integrated merchant account processing system. Shortly after seeing its benefits at MBU, we added that feature to our system. That was huge! Online store sales were about $15,000 that first year. This contributed to our revenue increasing 30% that same year!
• We added a new student introductory special, $40 for the first month of unlimited classes, and we saw 2.5 times more new clients in the first year of offering this special! This introductory special continues to bring clients in our door to experience our services.
• We started offering monthly auto-renews (AutoPays) at a discounted price ($109/mo). This price made us feel sick to our stomachs at first, and now, it's a big reason we are thriving. We were able to sell 97 of them in 90 days, bringing in $10,000 in recurring revenue. AutoPay's have been about 20% of our total revenue since we started offering them, and our clients love them too!
• I love that I can link the events we have to our newsletter in Constant Contact, which I was using prior to MBU. And shortly after MBU, you guys integrated with it, so it would update automatically from our MINDBODY system! Love it!
• We have gone green, we no longer use paper to sign people in, we converted our clients to signing in with key tags after MBU. This was met with some resistance, but again, just takes time to train them! There are so many features I still don't use, and hope to implement, and I am just so excited by all that I can do. I loved the marketing advice as well as the financial reporting advice, and all the changes that you have made over the last few years have made MINDBODY even better!

MBU: What do you find are the major challenges as a business owner? Gail Grossman: All of the following are major challenges:

• Making my business financially viable/profitable
• Increasing net profit
• Increasing client base/class size
• Time management
• Staff management
• Teacher/"talent" management
• Marketing
• Client retention
• Systemizing overall operations
• Daily operations
• Retail

MBU: Do you feel like MINDBODY University has helped you surpass some of these challenges? Gail Grossman: Without a doubt! With MBU I was able to focus on my business and see results. With MINDBODY, I am able to keep my finger on the pulse of my business even when I am not physically present. It is a huge benefit, to be able to work at home and know what's happening at the studio, or even if I take a vacation! Although I try not to stay too connected!

MBU: Is there any advice from MBU that isn't well known or that you would recommend to other business owners? Gail Grossman: I found the ability to understand the reports to be the biggest help. Before, I knew I could run them, but I couldn't understand them, or how they would be beneficial.

MBU: What lies in the future for you and Om Sweet Om? Gail Grossman: GROWTH! Yoga is growing, and there is such a huge need for it. I just feel like we are bursting at the seams, and with what's going on in the economy, I am so grateful. I would like to believe that our community will continue to thrive, and that I can continue to offer even more services. I look forward to offering more training and workshops as well as integrating our retail boutique into MINDBODY and selling more product online. We take it one day at a time, but who knows, with this software, another location could be down the road...