How a solo yoga teacher in Calgary stopped doing admin in a notebook and grew her business
Sara Villamil used to track every class in a physical notebook, spending roughly two hours of back-end work for every hour she taught. Today that admin time is essentially zero, her revenue has grown substantially year over year, and she serves around 750 active students as a solo teacher in Calgary, Alberta.
Hear it from Sara
Her business was growing, but her website was stuck in the past
- Her website functioned more like an online brochure than an actual booking tool, and small changes would often break it
- She kept a profile for every student and logged every purchase by hand, with a physical notebook to double-check her own spreadsheets
- Her registered-series-only model left no flexibility for clients who just wanted to drop in
- A prior attempt to switch to Squarespace stalled out. Even with a design background, she couldn't get it to do what a yoga business actually needs
Introducing OfferingTree, built for the way yoga teachers actually work
- She found OfferingTree through The Connected Yoga Teacher podcast and started building her site from her phone
- With three kids at home, she needed something she could set up in small pockets of time, even from the stands at a hockey game
- Her booking, website, and financial tracking all moved under one login
- The manual notebook and spreadsheet system she'd relied on for years was retired
Everything Sara relies on to run her practice solo
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Website Builder
Sara built and still updates her entire site from her phone, often in short bursts between classes or from her kids' sports practices. No developer needed. IMAGE: Mobile view of a yoga teacher's OfferingTree website being edited
Website Builder
Sara built and still updates her entire site from her phone, often in short bursts between classes or from her kids' sports practices. No developer needed. IMAGE: Mobile view of a yoga teacher's OfferingTree website being edited
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Memberships & Packages
She moved away from registered series-only and now offers drop-ins, packages, and monthly memberships, giving her clients real flexibility and giving her recurring revenue. IMAGE: Membership tier selection screen
Memberships & Packages
She moved away from registered series-only and now offers drop-ins, packages, and monthly memberships, giving her clients real flexibility and giving her recurring revenue. IMAGE: Membership tier selection screen
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Booking & Payments
What used to take an hour of prep and an hour of follow-up per class now runs on its own, with financial tracking that's ready for tax season. IMAGE: Class booking and payment confirmation flow
Booking & Payments
What used to take an hour of prep and an hour of follow-up per class now runs on its own, with financial tracking that's ready for tax season. IMAGE: Class booking and payment confirmation flow
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Studio Community
As a solo teacher, Sara says being part of the OfferingTree Heroes program makes her feel like part of something bigger than a one-person operation. IMAGE: Community/coaching call screenshot or graphic
Studio Community
As a solo teacher, Sara says being part of the OfferingTree Heroes program makes her feel like part of something bigger than a one-person operation. IMAGE: Community/coaching call screenshot or graphic
From two hours of admin per class to zero
- What used to take an hour of prep and an hour of follow-up per class now happens automatically, freeing up hours every week
- Moving off registered-series-only and into drop-ins and memberships opened her practice to more students, including friends bringing friends
- She feels confident enough to experiment now, adding pop-ups, short sessions, and workshops without worrying about the technical lift
- She's designed two more OfferingTree sites for other wellness professionals in her circle, and is now rebuilding the prenatal and postnatal offerings she paused during the pandemic
A few more studio owners who felt the same way
How McKenzie Marquez hit 85% capacity while working another job
See how McKenzie hit 85% capacity on five hours of admin a month.
How a Yoga Studio Launched in Six Weeks and Grew to Two Locations
How a yoga studio launched in 6 weeks and grew
How Loren Greenwood grew her Pilates studio 50% with zero tech experience
Loren on running a studio she never had to learn to run
How Ahu Talsik grew from solo instructor to full team studio without switching platforms
How Ahu Talsik grew from solo instructor to full team studio
Ashes Yoga: How Ashley Built a Thriving Wellness Business
How Ashley Hagen used OfferingTree to build a growing coaching business.
The Limitless Studio: from Mindbody to OfferingTree
Why Megan switched to OfferingTree from Mindbody for her yoga studio
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