Failure sucks. Admitting failure sucks even more. So why admit it? Partially it’s a pity-party. Poor me, look what a dumb-ass I am…. Mostly it’s to show I ain’t got it all figured out.
Many years ago when I sold my first yoga studio I swore I’d never own another one, and we all know better than to say never. Two years ago I found myself in a situation to buy and take over an existing studio. What compelling reasons did I have for getting into another one when I said I’d never do it again?
“Things are different. I’ve learned so much since then. I know what NOT to do.”
And I did avoid the mistakes of my first studio…only to make a whole new set of ’em on the second one. What did I do wrong? Pull up a mat and grab some green tea….
- I ignored my core demographics. I wanted to bring in fiery, strong classes and the peeps wanted nothing to do with sweat. Nothing. I hammered this square peg for almost a year.
- I took myself out of the business. I didn’t want to teach a whole lot of classes so I let someone else be the primary teacher. It was difficult for people to associate me with the studio when I wasn’t there.
- I got pregnant. This is like drinking and deciding. Crazy, fluctuating hormones AND a baby who came early created the perfect petri dish of poor decision-making. (Not just one poor decision but like 50.)
The urge to quit has entered my mind a 1,000 times. Former clients flew the coop so fast I could only watch the feathers settle. I was essentially told I was an asshole for the way I ran my business. Family has repeatedly said to walk away. Not a big love-fest of encouragement to stick around.
Damn my stubbornness! Damn my desire to undo the damage of my mistakes; to make right what went wrong; to create that image I had in my head when I got the notion to do it again. Damn, damn, damn, damn!
I’m not giving up. It may have to look and be a little crazy while I reset the apple cart. I’ll have to ask forgiveness for the nomad existence until the exact right location is found, with the exact right combination of teachers and classes.
What do you love about where you practice?
What would you like to see in a new and improved studio?
