How This Nightclub-Inspired Dance Studio Is Scaling to Success
Olivia Kingston, owner of Madhouse Dance, was able to scale her business with the help of The Impact Lab, which provides education, support and resources for small businesses.
When one small-business owner’s passion meets Mission Edge’s resources, growth becomes a possibility.
Olivia Kingston is an entrepreneur who’s serious about having fun.
She’s the owner of Madhouse Dance, a San Diego fitness studio specializing in dance cardio.
Madhouse’s M.O. is to foster an inclusive, non-performative environment where participants are invited to “Dance like a Madwoman.” Classes are open to students of all abilities and range from “mild/medium” to “spicy” and are open to students of all abilities, allowing anyone to learn how to love themselves and their bodies through the fun of dance.
One of Olivia’s favorite aspects of dance fitness is the opportunity it offers to bring people together.
“Humans are intensely social creatures,” Olivia writes on her website. “The socialization aspect of dance creates a sense of belonging, community and adventure.”
The nightclub-inspired studio offers a dark environment in hopes that participants will feel free to let loose and “dance like nobody's watching.”
When Olivia came to Mission Edge this year, her business’s revenue was $26 thousand per month. She was hopeful she could use some of the experience she’d gained to open another location and hire more employees to be able to serve more students. She also wanted to offer online, on-demand classes for students who want the option to receive the same Madhouse experience at home.
Olivia brought the passion, and we brought our resources.
We paired Olivia with Carolynn, a fractional CFO who would help her identify the current financial state of the business and work with her on strategies for expansion.
Together, they dove in on the actual costs of Madhouse’s new online offering and discovered that the breakeven point for this portion of the business needed to be three times what it earned in its first month.
They also reviewed the last few years of her business and mapped out a growth trajectory. Based on that trajectory, Carolynn was able to help Olivia get some of her day-to-day financial operations in order, including a budget for 2023 and some tax payroll options for the self-employed.
It’s no secret that when you’re starting out on your own as a small-business owner, there are a lot of details, and it can get overwhelming fast.
There are a lot of things that no one teaches you, like how to do your taxes.
“I haven’t expanded to a second studio yet, but I was able to hire more people and add more classes to expand our current offerings,” Olivia said.
Here at Mission Edge our goal is to bridge that gap and provide the education, resources and support small-business owners like Olivia need to succeed.
To learn more about Olivia and what she’s up to, visit her website, madhousedance.com.
See how Impact Lab could help you gain financial clarity for your business in 2023
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