Understanding Your Swim School Business Through Data: The Key to Growth and Success
August 30, 2024
In today’s data-driven world, knowing and understanding the numbers behind your business is not just advantageous—it's essential. Whether you’re in the swim school industry or any other field, data provides critical insights that can shape strategies, optimize operations, and drive growth. Here’s why having a deep grasp of your business data is so important.
The Power of Data and Analytics in Your Swim School Business
Imagine you're at a trivia game with a countdown clock. Each question's timer represents a real-world decision you might face in your swim school business. Just as the trivia game relies on timely responses and accurate answers, your business decisions should be supported by up-to-date and relevant business intelligence data.
The Case for Robust Swim School Data Collection Over Time
Let’s dive into an example from the swim industry, a field like any other where data can make or break a business. Research involving 147 swim schools across 28 states in the U.S. and provinces within Canada uncovered a wealth of insights that offer new perspectives for decision-making.
One of the most surprising findings was the nearly equal balance between business choices to conduct session-based versus perpetual monthly enrollments. Many in the industry assumed that one model would dominate, however, for the most part the decision is driven by a business’ desire to manage cash flow.
The data, drawn from over 7.5 million swim school enrollments and 1.1 million individual students, also provided deeper insights into student retention and progress. For instance, it showed that the age a child enters lessons appears to have an impact on the duration of participation. For example, a child entering at the age of one or two is likely to have a longer relationship with the swim school compared to a child who enters under the age of one.
Additionally, birth order can also determine the duration of engagement. Research indicated a second born is more likely to participate for longer than a first born. This may in part be related to the age of entry results, which indicated the initial age of engagement as first born is more likely to enter a learn to swim program in their first year of life. These insights allow swim schools to refine their operations by identifying exit points, and ultimately increasing retention rates which, in turn, should impact the safety of our children.
Most importantly ensuring a valid sample size, across a longer timeframe, will produce the best results. In our case recognizing the impact of business interruptions caused by COVID closures was critical to obtaining successful results. Failure to account for significant events can have an adverse effect on the outcome of any research. By leveraging such comprehensive data, swim schools can identify growth opportunities, anticipate challenges, and adjust their strategies to stay ahead in a competitive market.
Importance of Long-Term Data
Having a long-term data set is crucial. Short-term data lacks the depth needed for comprehensive analysis. Participation across all industries is cyclical. For example, an Olympics year is known to have a positive impact on initial entry and engagement. By comparing current data with historical data, businesses can track trends, measure success, and make informed decisions. For instance, the research found that the average duration of engagement in swim lessons increased from 22 to 30 months over the past six years. As mentioned earlier this duration may be skewed due to the interruption caused by COVID where children were forced to take a break in learning. Those who returned then have an unexpectedly longer duration. Over the coming years it will be interesting to see whether this value returns to pre-COVID levels or remains as shown for 2023. This example highlights the importance of ongoing data collection to understand shifting patterns and adapt strategies accordingly.
Key Metrics to Monitor
Understanding various metrics helps businesses gauge their performance and identify areas for improvement. Here are a few critical metrics from the swim industry research:
- Trial Lessons: The study found that our cohort conducted approximately 200,000 free trial lessons. This represents approximately $4 million in chargeable lesson spaces. Knowing how to convert these trials into paying customers significantly impacts your profitability.
- Retention Rates: Understanding that retention rates relate to individual students is critical to this metric. Retention is not based on how many total students you have month over month or from one session to the next. Retention is based on knowing whether each individual student returns to continue the program. Knowing that it costs five times more to attract a new student than to retain an existing one, retaining students longer can also significantly impact profitability. The data revealed that as many as 75% of children exit swim programs by age eight; the need for effective retention strategies across all ages can have significant impact not only on your business but also on the learning outcomes for our children.
- Exit Triggers: Factors such as class level, and age can contribute to when parents elect to withdraw their children from swim lessons. Attendance is a great indicator of a potential flight risk. For example, monitoring the lifetime attendance of a child can help you identify reduced commitment to lessons. By understanding these triggers, businesses can implement measures, address them, and improve retention.
The Role of Data in Enhancing Your Swim School Customer Experience
Data not only helps in making business decisions but could also be used to enhance the customer experience. For instance, understanding why parents choose to withdraw their children from lessons—whether due to financial reasons, dissatisfaction, or other commitments—can guide improvements in service and the need for greater communication.
Practical Application of Data Insights
- Improving Enrollment Strategies: By analyzing trial conversions and retention data, businesses can refine their enrollment strategies. For example, if the data shows a high drop-off rate after a certain period of time, it may be worth investigating the reasons behind it and adjusting your interaction and targeting your messaging accordingly.
- Optimizing Resource Allocation:
Data can help determine the most effective use of resources, such as instructor utilization and marketing efforts. For instance, knowing which months see the highest exits can inform marketing campaigns to boost retention during those periods.
- Enhancing Customer Communication:
By understanding common concerns and feedback, businesses can tailor their communication to address specific issues, improving customer commitment and brand loyalty.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Business Analytics
As technology continues to advance, so too does the field of business analytics. At iClassPro, we are committed to integrating advanced technologies into our platform. Our goal is to ensure that you always have access to cutting-edge tools to manage and grow your business effectively. With Business Intelligence tools and the Data Warehouse, you'll be able to maximize your data's potential, making more informed, data-driven decisions with confidence.
Our robust cloud-based platform, enhanced by the data warehouse in conjunction with Microsoft Power BI (or other BI tools), empowers you to harness the full power of analytics. This means you can access current insights, enabling you to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and seize new opportunities as they arise.
Watch the Full Video for Deeper Insights
In the video below, Barbara Smith, Head of iClassPro Product, breaks down the key concepts discussed, providing visual examples and additional insights that will help you fully grasp the importance of understanding your business data. Whether you're a visual learner or simply want to reinforce the information covered here, the video is an excellent resource.
Conclusion
The insights derived from data are invaluable. They not only illuminate current performance but can also guide future strategies and decisions. In the swim industry, a robust understanding of data can lead to more effective operations, longer customer engagement, and increased revenue. As the saying goes, “What gets measured, gets managed.” So, dive into your data and let it guide your path to success.
About Barbara Smith, Author
Barbara has an impressive and well-rounded 30-year record in software development within the learn-to-swim industry. She authored the Splash learn to swim program before partnering with iClassPro. In 2017 Barbara self-funded industry research providing insight into the participation of 240,000 individual children in Australia and NZ. She has been fundamental in supporting swim school owners to utilize business analytics to support better decision making and lead the current North American swim school research project. In addition to her software knowledge Barbara is a swimming parent from newborn through to the transition to college athlete. Barbara has been a swim club president, race secretary, and a national qualified technical official. Barbara has presented in multiple countries for industry leaders, regulatory bodies, and small business owners.
