How did you get into the industry?

I actually started yoga on a dare in college. I was in the co-op program at Northeastern University and one of the students I was working with had done yoga in the past. She dared me to try and I remember walking into a traditional Bikram studio in the back bay at 5:30A in the morning which was unheard of for a college student. The smell hit me and I just remember thinking I will never last in this place for 90 minutes. Once I was in the room, on carpet and under the fluorescent lights, I went between ogling at a small woman with snow white hair in front of me who was in full expression of every pose and staring at the thermostat on the ground next to me which read 114° thinking I’ll never be able to do that and how are we all gonna survive this. I went every day for the next month. I know, it shocked me too. Then I took a six month break until my next internship where my boss’s wife was a teacher. That’s where I really got into yoga and I started going every day. I participated in a work study program at the studio and I truly fell in love. Once I graduated college, I moved to Denver where I completed my first 200 hour teacher training in both the hot 26 series and Vinyasa. After Denver, I moved to Steamboat Springs where I became a manager of a very small yoga studio that could only hold 12 people. It helped me learn the operations of the business and how to keep things running. I did laundry. I worked on payroll. I was the right hand for the business owner.

After steamboat I moved to Bend Oregon in 2014, where there wasn’t a yoga studio for me to teach at and I met a woman that was opening the first Pure Barre studio in Oregon. I went through training and I fell in love with Pure Barre. I loved barre classes. It was a really nice way to learn. I worked for her for about two years before I became the lead barre teacher at the studio. It was definitely rocky. There were some things that weren’t working well on both our team and with corporate. I learned a lot in Oregon specifically how tricky working with a group of women can be. Many members of the team were supportive of one another; however, it wasn’t always that way with everyone. It was definitely something that held us back. The owner was an amazing person, but she was not at the studio that much and I just remember thinking that we needed someone there that could help bring us together. I was able to reflect on what I thought it would take to get the studio running. This is also where I learned a lot about corporate marketing in the franchise system. I was able to take classes and teach at a lot of other franchisees when I traveled which taught me a lot. I just made it my mission to become a really strong teacher and share that with others.

After moving to Maine, I became the lead teacher at the Pure Barre in Portsmouth right away and I was able to learn even more barre techniques as the Pure Barre brand and class types developed. I learned how to review classes and teachers, and how to work one on one with teachers. The owner of Portsmouth taught me how to really run a Pure Barre location well.

There was a hierarchy of team members and it just ran a lot smoother. I realized working at Portsmouth that I wanted to be closer to home and that if I was leaving Kennebunk to work out others probably were too. At the time I was teaching 21 classes in three states and I was exhausted. When my dad passed away unexpectedly in 2017, he left me $10,000 and somehow, I got the guts to write a business plan and work with the SBDC. I found a local bank and asked for money. I put my house up for collateral and the rest is history.

 

What’s New in the Business or in the Franchise Model?

I believe The Daily Sweat difference is that we offer so many different class types and it’s a real way to cross train your body without belonging to several different gyms. The other difference that we offer is the community. I strive to ensure that every team member knows our mission and our values. We review in interviews, once hiring when we review the handbook and from day one we talk about how we strive to make sure every person that walks through our doors feels like they’re walking down the red carpet. I also believe in continuing education. We host team workshops, student workshops and I make myself available. I help team members when they’re trying to learn something new, when they want to practice something and my goal is really to remove the stigma that I think comes with the yoga industry where teachers are collecting their own students and rather build a community atmosphere.

 

Where do you See Opportunities or Challenges for the Franchise/Business Moving Forward?

The opportunities that I see in the future are to expand into temperature therapies mainly cold plunge and sauna, I would love to see that at The Daily Sweat in Kennebunk. I’d also really love to redo our boutique space and have an area for when we do host trainings, or have workshops where people can sit and talk and really focus on that community feel.

The challenges I see for the business moving forward are hiring. I believe personnel has been difficult to find and maintain. On indeed we have a lot of trouble where people set up interviews or to take a class and talk afterwards and they don’t show up. However, I do believe that the wellness industry is growing and I think The Daily Sweat offers what consumers are looking for so there’s a big growth opportunity for The Daily Sweat to grow.

 

What is your Goal for the Business Moving Forward?

My goal for The Daily Sweat is to continue to build a team and community that feels well supported. I wake up every day grateful for the team we have and how they come together to support one another and our community. I believe that there is a balance between support and challenge and I hope to achieve that balance with both the team and the community. I’d also love to see The Daily Sweat in Kennebunk as I said above grow into temperature therapies I am anxiously awaiting the space next-door to be empty. It hasn’t been open for almost a year no so my fingers are crossed and I think it would be a really great opportunity for us. Additionally, my other goal for The Daily Sweat is to be able to share it with other people so they can start and grow their own businesses and feel successful at the same time.

 

Talk to us About Training and Support, How Do You Deliver?

We have definitely ironed out a lot of training and support issues over the last 5 1/2 years. I’ve built manuals for each of our class types some over several hundred pages that our lead team updates with each consecutive training. We have a Studio coordinator manual, that is updated ongoing. We have a team handbook so I think we have all the needs all the paperwork that a business needs to get started. I am available to our team as well and I think I haven’t done a great job at creating a good life work balance because I want everyone to be happy and that’s something that I’m working on. However, I think having weekly calls would be really beneficial so that everyone can stay on task know what their goals are for the week and feel super supported.

 

Your most difficult moment at the Franchise Business?

My difficult moment since opening our doors was definitely the government shut down during COVID-19. At that point we had only been open for nine months. I was in the process of finding out that I was pregnant with not one but twins and I was actually terrified that the business would fail. When I considered opening a new business, I thought of every possible scenario that could go wrong however, a global pandemic was not on my radar so it’s definitely something that took me off my feet for a moment. However, I chose to rally and emailed my team at about 8 o’clock at night. I told them all to show up the next day to teach that I would find a way for them to continue to make money while so many businesses were closing their doors and unable to support their team members and that’s exactly what we did. The team pivoted quickly and COVID-19 gave a lasting impact to us. We still offer live stream classes, which has helped maintain memberships for people that travel we also offer a home video library, which is really great for people that summer in Kennebunk and still want to work out with us when they are back home. We are very fortunate we had built a strong community that continued to support us through the pandemic and everyone that rallied behind us so we could keep our doors opened as so many existing studios that had than open for several years were closing their doors.

 

Define your Franchise Model:

A. Training and Support Model?
Training and support will happen both in person and virtually. It was recommended to have franchisees come out for three weeks and then for myself to be with them for a week prior to opening their doors. Support will really be all of the manuals that we have and developing even more. I think we can help define the marketing strategy that I used when I was opening the business which isn’t included in anything yet. Additionally, ongoing support with weekly or monthly phone calls has also been recommended.

 

B. What is the Fee Structure?
The fee structure is I believe $40,000 to open with a 7% royalty.

 

C. Territory Definition?
I don’t believe the territory definition has been defined yet.

 

D. Day in the life of a Franchisee?
I lived in breathed The Daily Sweat when I opened. I was there for every opening minute in the beginning and gradually as my team became more confident, I was able to spend more time at home. Some days I spend all day at home as I’m currently a graduate student as well and then there’s other days that I spend a big portion of my day at the studio. My goal is that the day in the life of a franchisee looks similarly as not every day is the same for a small business owner, and I want to ensure that not only the franchisee, but also their entire team feels supported and like they are able to run the studio.

 

What does Your Franchisee Do in the Business Every Day?

Every day we have a Studio coordinator checklist that our team is trained on and follows to a T as it matches the Studio coordinator manual. We do everything from posting on social media to calling clients before their first class, after their first class, we clean, we make sure washcloths are ready, we sanitize all of our equipment, etc. Additionally, we also keep the space really nice. We have diffusers running so it smells good and we keep the remote candles ready for restorative classes. The team really makes it all happen from the moment our doors open until they close at the end of each day.

 

Who is the Ideal Franchise Candidate?

I believe the ideal candidate is someone that wants to start their own business but doesn’t know how to start. I think it’s someone looking for a flexible work schedule, but also someone that still wants to work and wants to be part of a community and wants to in turn build their own community. The Daily Sweat is really how I made friends when I moved to Kennebunk and I am so grateful for that opportunity. It’s also the place I want to work out so I think having a strong drive for our personal health and well-being is very important in candidates in the future.

 

Success Stories and Failures with Franchisees?

So far, there are no success or failures.

 

What Goals Do You Have for the Franchise Model in the Future?

My goal really is to get started and to be the best operator that I can be. I want to ensure that everyone that comes into The Daily Sweat family truly feels like they’re part of their family and like they have a team rallying behind them and ready to support them in whatever it needs, they may have.

 

To connect with Tiffany Lathrop, Founder of The Daily Sweat, find her on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanylathrop/

 

To learn more about The Daily Sweat, visit the corporate site:  https://www.thedailysweatkennebunk.com/