Dancesmiths'
Fred Astaire Dance Studio
Teaching Cordova, Bartlett & Memphis Ballroom and Latin dancing lessons.
Dancesport, Ballroom, Latin, Social and Party Dancing
(901) 213 9393 2435 Whitten Rd. Suite 106 Memphis, TN 38133
As seen in The Commercial Appeal.
Getting the steps down
Plan helped dance studio duo put best foot forward
By Mark Watson
January 24, 2005
Fred Astaire Dance Studios / Dancesmiths, Inc.
Owners: Beth and Benji Smith
Address: 2435 Whitten Road, Suite 106
Number of employees: Five
Phone number: 213-9393
Web site: www.dancesmiths.com
It may only take two to tango, but it takes a lot more than that to make a go of a dance studio.
That's what Benji and Beth Smith found out when they started their own franchised Fred Astaire Dance Studio, at 2435 Whitten Road, in August 2000.
They turned to Beth's father, Dick Jensen, a counselor at the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), who helped them develop a rigorous business plan and obtain financing.
"He rode us mercilessly about that business plan," Benji said, grinning. "It's about one inch thick and spiral bound, and it has been used more than once for other folks to take a look at."
Beth said, "We're not only a success for SCORE, but a new generation of success for Fred Astaire Dance Studios."
Through SCORE, they met Mickey Ison of Bean Ison & Ruleman, Certified Public Accountants, who helped prepare projected profit-and-loss statements and has helped with taxes.
"We went to the accountant to figure out what kind of company we needed to be and what kind of budget we needed to set," Beth said. "It was very beneficial in learning what we needed in order to have all of our ducks in a row."
Benji said, "We knew a lot, but with some of the numbers, we didn't have a clue about."
They work with the owner of the other area Fred Astaire Dance Studio, at 1789 Kirby Parkway, on advertising and training.
Initially, they thought they could serve as their own dance instructors, but found demand so heavy they needed more staff. The business now employs four people full time and one part time.
The biggest challenge has been finding appropriate teachers.
"The last time we did an ad, we had a couple of hundred people call," Benji said. "You may actually interview 10 people. Of them, you may only wind up with two or three you would consider in training. We did three training classes last year where we ended up with no one in the end."
The couple has had to limit their class size because they demand high-quality instruction, which is impaired by an inability to hire good new instructors.
Beth, 41, said, "We're in the dance business, so we're looking for business-minded dancers."
Sales have increased each year -- by 30 percent in 2004.
"Right now, the typical dance studio would hope to have about 300 new students a year," Benji said. "In 2004, we had about 720 new students."
The company's Web site, www.dancesmiths.com, generates about a third of new students, he said.
The first quarter is typically busy, because people resolve to learn how to dance or to dance in order to lose weight. The first few months of the Smiths' new business were slow. But in the first quarter of 2001, the studio had 280 new students, Benji said.
"We try to make it easy for them to find us," he said. "We've done the traditional stuff, advertising in the Yellow Pages and The Commercial Appeal."
The couple work hard to ensure that they can be reached whenever a customer calls.
"It's amazing to find out how long people have been thinking about doing this, so you're crazy not to answer that phone the first time," Beth said. "It brews in people for a long time, and when it gets to a boil, you'd better be there."
Benji, 35, came into the business as a college student, studying English at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.
"My buddy and I, we wanted to meet women," he said. "So we'd do club dancing. Then we started doing shows. At one of them, there was a couple dancing, and she was a dance teacher. She said, 'I saw your show, and I'm doing training for a class of dance teachers, and why don't you come?' I said yes, and the other guy said no. The next Monday, I was in training class, and I've been doing it ever since."
Benji worked in North Carolina for a while, then was recruited to Memphis, where he met and married Beth, who had been a student. The couple started working on opening their own studio in 1998, and looked at several locations around the country before the top executives at Fred Astaire suggested they open another studio in Memphis.
The couple committed that they would not raid their current employers' student base but interviewed their students about where they lived, and determined that a studio in the Bartlett-Cordova area would be most appropriate.
Once they settled on a location, they spent $20,000 on a high-quality wooden dance floor and floor-to-ceiling mirrors on the walls to make it easier for students.
"We always try hard to make people feel really comfortable," Beth said.
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