The studio launch kit
A first week of setting up a dance studio's software, as a checklist you can print and pin up: what to do each day, and why it comes in that order.
- Steps
- 21
- Days
- 7
- Time in all
- 5 h 10 min
The studio launch kit · danceflow.io/studio-launch-kit
The first week
0 of 21 done · about 5 h 10 min left
- Day 1
The studio and its teachers
Steps: 3 · about 40 min
- Set the time zone, currency and opening hours Every lesson time, reminder and "today" is read from the studio's clock, so this comes before anything is booked. About 10 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Language and region, and Settings › Lessons and schedule › Opening hours
- Add every teacher A lesson needs a teacher, and an import matches each lesson to a teacher by name or email. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Teachers › Add teacher, or Import › Teachers
- Set each teacher's weekly hours The booking page offers only the hours a teacher is available. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Each teacher's page, under their hours
- Day 2
Students and families
Steps: 3 · about 1 h 5 min
- Export your student list to a spreadsheet Names, emails and phone numbers from your old system or your phone's contacts. One row a student. About 30 min · In DanceFlow: Your old system's export, or a spreadsheet you type
- Import the students and check the preview Nothing is saved until the preview is clean, so a typo is caught before it becomes a duplicate. About 20 min · In DanceFlow: Import › Students
- Link children to their parents A parent then sees each child's lessons and pays for them from one account. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Import › Families & guardians
- Day 3
Packages and what is owed
Steps: 3 · about 1 h 10 min
- Write down every package you sell Lessons in it, price and expiry. A package is what each lesson's credit comes off. About 20 min · In DanceFlow: Packages
- Bring across each student's lessons left The single thing students check first. A balance that arrives wrong costs more trust than a week of setup. About 30 min · In DanceFlow: Import › Package balances
- Bring across what students owe Money owed is not lessons left: it comes across as an unpaid invoice per student. About 20 min · In DanceFlow: Import › Outstanding balances
- Day 4
The booking page
Steps: 3 · about 40 min
- Set lesson lengths and prices What a student can book, and what it costs, is decided here once rather than on every booking. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Lessons and schedule
- Switch on public booking and try it yourself Book a lesson as a new student would, on your phone, before anybody else does. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Lessons and schedule, then the booking link in Settings › Studio › How people join
- Put the booking page on your website A visitor books without leaving your site, at any hour. About 10 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Studio › Show the booking page on your website
- Day 5
Reminders and messages
Steps: 3 · about 15 min
- Turn on lesson reminders The cheapest way to fewer no-shows is a message the day before. About 5 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Messages › Lesson reminders
- Set quiet hours Nobody wants a reminder at midnight. About 5 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Messages
- Send yourself a test See exactly what a student will receive, by email and by text. About 5 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Messages › Send me a test
- Day 6
Money
Steps: 3 · about 40 min
- Fill in your payment details and invoice settings What an invoice says, when it is due and when a reminder follows. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Money › Payment details and Invoices
- Decide your late cancellation and no-show fees A rule written down before the first late cancellation is far easier to keep than one made up after it. About 10 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Money
- Connect card payments Students pay invoices and packages online, and the money goes to the studio's own account. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Money › Payments & payouts
- Day 7
Going live
Steps: 3 · about 40 min
- Send each teacher their access Teachers see their own week and mark lessons taught, which is when a credit comes off. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Teachers, then each teacher's access
- Tell students how to sign in Their next lesson, lessons left and invoices, on their phone. It is free for them. About 15 min · In DanceFlow: Settings › Studio › How people join
- Run the old way beside the new for a week Check each morning that the two agree, then stop the old one. About 10 min · In DanceFlow: Home, every morning
The times are our estimate for a studio of about 75 students, not a measurement. A bigger roster takes longer to import. Your ticks stay in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
About the kit
Why this order?
Each day is the input to the next. A lesson needs a teacher and a student, a package is what a lesson's credit comes off, the booking page needs availability, and reminders need lessons to remind about.Does it work with other software?
The steps do: any studio system needs the same things in the same order. The lines that start In DanceFlow say where each one is if you use ours.Can somebody help me through it?
Yes. Setting up is included, and bringing your students and balances across is part of it. Start free, and email us whenever you get stuck.More free tools
No sign-up and no email asked. Each one works in your own numbers, and a link to it carries them.
What DanceFlow saves you Hours at the desk, lessons lost to a missed reminder and the tools you pay for, for a studio or an independent teacher. OpenPro-Am lesson price calculator What a year of private lessons costs, and the lesson at which a package pays off. OpenCompetition budget Entries, fees, your teacher, travel and coaching, per competition and per season. OpenFor independent teachers Your own schedule, students, packages and payments, at any studio you teach at. OpenYour first week, started today
Create your studio and a setup card on Home walks you through the first steps, with a count of what is done. Free during early access.