Hi, I’m Donna Bordeaux with PYOPAccounting.com . We’re CPAs who specialized in dealing with the ceramic arts industry. I want to talk to you today about the minimum experience price in your studio. Huh? What could that be? Alright. When you go to the movies, what’s the minimum experience price. It’s the cost of the ticket. You have to at least buy the ticket to get in. You can’t get a deal on that where you don’t spend. At least let’s say depending on your area, 10 to $15 for a ticket. All right. If you want to budget a experience and you want a cheaper price, you’re going to have to go at a time when they’re less busy. So you might be able to get them at a price that’s slightly cheaper nowadays. I don’t even know if matinees are any cheaper anymore. The minimum experience price is how much you have to pay for that ticket.
Now, how much is the maximum experience price? Well, don’t go on. I don’t know. I, last time I went to the movie theater, I spent $30 on tickets. I also spent $32 on drinks and popcorn. I didn’t have a meal. I just had some popcorn and drinks. Yeah. I have to have the IC. Right. So do you have your customers the opportunity to spend more, but be okay if they spend at the minimum, make sure that you’re still getting enough pay to keep your studio operating and to pay your staff to be there. So a mistake that I currently see in a lot of studios is they have smaller items. They say I want to let the kids paint. I want, you know, some mom has five kids. They can’t come in and each paint a $40 item. I get that. However, there has to be a minimum experience price.
So I encourage you to take those smaller items and put those on the shelf. Maybe those are reserved and you only have a special way that you can get access to those. Maybe they’re for parties only. Okay. Let’s make sure that every single person who comes into your studio spends at least 20 to $30, I think has gotta be the minimum. If you figure that they’re there for an hour to two hours on average, you’ve got to make sure that you’re getting your money’s worth. You can’t have a staff member be there to help and end up making $5 on a two hour, visit your studio. He just can’t stay in business that way. So make sure that you have a minimum experience price. And that’s not saying that everybody who walks into your studio has to give you at least $20. I want you to have the lowest-priced item so that when they pick that item, they’re still going to end up paying you the $20.
Maybe that’s a mug, a plate. I don’t, I don’t care what the item is, but you have to take those little add on items and set those aside. Perhaps those $5 items that you have are for kids who are five and under, only, and they have to be with an adult purchase. Or perhaps those items are only available as an add on to a product. So if you’ve got the mugs and you want to put the little eyeballs on there to buy the mug, okay. Set a minimum experience price. And I’m going to talk about one other thing that I see as a common price. Okay. I’ve come up a problem. I’m sorry. Many studio owners tell me, Oh, but I’m going to lose customers. I’ve got customers who have five kids and mom can’t afford to come in and just pay a $40 an item or $20 an item for each child.
All right. I’m going to let you in on a little secret to listen up. Got your ears on. Ready? Write this down. Not everyone can come to your studio. I’m sorry. You’re not a charity organization. You are a for-profit business and you must earn a legitimate profit to be able to keep that service available to your community and to stay in business. Okay, I’m an accountant. I’m not going to sugar. Coat this for you. You have to make money. All right. So make sure that your studio is set up so that you can stick around to help your community have an outlet for creative events and creativity. And you want to have everybody have fun, but you can’t be a charitable organization. That’s there for everybody. There are going to be people who cannot and should not be affordable to come to your studio and that’s okay.
Right. It’s okay. You really shouldn’t be the charitable organization that can allow people who have $5 to spend to come to your studio. You can’t afford to be that place. That’s called a community center, a government-funded organization that does charitable events. You are not that studio. Okay? So your takeaway for today set a minimum experience price. Today. Don’t allow anything to be on the shelf that you can buy by itself. That is less than that minimum experience price. I promise you, when you look at what you gained by doing this, the rewards will be immense. The revenue will go up and it will help your studio sustain in hard times. And in good times, both, okay. Do yourself a favor, set that minimum experience price, and don’t forget, allow people to have the maximum experience price. If they want to. Don’t cheap out, let people spend more money with you.
Don’t force your own budgetary constraints on your customers. Your customers have of money to spend. That’s why they’re at your studio. Allow those who have more budgetary allowance to spend more on your studio, encourage it. It shouldn’t be the oddball transaction that somebody spends 40 or $50 in your studio that should happen all the time. It should be the oddball characteristic. When somebody spends the minimum experience price, you should be ranging in a bucket size or a, a basket size. You should be hitting 45 to $50 on the average sale in your studio, at least. And that’s going to be dependent on the area that you’re in, but do set that minimum experience price today. Make sure that you have plenty of opportunity to spend more than that as well. Get those little items, tuck those on the side, keep those for parties or add ons only or special ways that people can access those, not as a standalone purchase. All right. I’m Donna Bordeaux with PYOP Accounting . Hope to see you and talk to you soon. Thanks.
Donna Bordeaux, CPA with PYOPAccounting.com.
Creativity and CPAs don’t generally go together. Most people think of CPAs as nerdy accountants who can’t talk with people. Well, it’s time to break that stereotype. Lively, friendly, and knowledgeable can be a part of your relationship with your CPA as demonstrated by Donna Bordeaux and PYOP Accounting.com. Donna and her husband, Chad, who is also a CPA, have over 50 years of combined experience as entrepreneurial CPAs. They’ve owned businesses and helped business owners exceed their wildest dreams. They have been able to help PYOP studios earn 4 times more profit than the average PYOP and are passionate about helping industries that help families build great memories.
