Two groups, one studio, Tuesday at 7pm
A local martial arts club hires your studio every Tuesday evening. A yoga teacher asked to rent it for a six-week course on Tuesdays too, and the manager agreed by email, forgetting the club. Meanwhile, your own timetable added a Tuesday 7pm class for members. On the first night, three groups turn up.
Invoices for hire are sent at the end of each month, by hand, and two hirers are behind on payment. One hirer has been given a key, another a fob that also works in the main gym. Nobody is quite sure what the hirers' insurance covers, or whether their documents are up to date.
Space hire lives outside the gym's systems
Studio hire is useful income from space that would otherwise sit empty. It is usually handled informally because it started small.
- Hire bookings are in a separate diary from the class timetable.
- Enquiries arrive by email and phone and are agreed individually.
- Rates and terms vary between hirers.
- Invoices are raised by hand after the event.
- Access for hirers is managed with keys or fobs given out personally.
- Hirers' documents, such as insurance, are not tracked.
The class timetable changes each term, and hire arrangements are agreed months ahead. When the timetable moves a member class into a slot that was promised to a hirer, nobody notices, because the two schedules are never compared.
Cancellations are informal too. A hirer who does not turn up, or cancels the day before, may or may not be charged depending on who took the message.
Clashes, late payments and loose access
Clashes with member classes are the most visible problem, and members notice when their class is moved for an outside group. Double-bookings between hirers damage relationships with regular groups who bring steady income.
Invoices sent late are paid late. Keys and fobs held by hirers are hard to control and may give access to more of the building than intended. And if your procedures require hirers to hold certain documents, not tracking them leaves a gap.
Enquiries also go unanswered. When someone asks whether the studio is free on Sunday mornings, the manager has to check two diaries before replying, and the enquiry cools.
Studio hire booked like a class
- The class timetable and hire bookings share one calendar for each space, so availability is always real.
- Hirers request bookings through a page that shows free slots only, choosing one-off or recurring sessions.
- Your hire rates and terms are applied: peak and off-peak rates, block booking prices, deposits and cancellation terms.
- Hirers pay in advance by card through Stripe, or regular hirers are invoiced automatically through Xero or QuickBooks with direct debit.
- Hirers' documents that your procedures require are uploaded and their expiry dates tracked, with reminders.
- Door access is issued for the booked times only, through your access control system, and limited to the studio entrance where possible.
- The manager approves new hirers and sees all hire income by space and hirer.
| Issue | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Clashes | Separate diaries | One calendar per space |
| Rates | Agreed by email | Applied from your rate card |
| Payment | Invoiced late | Paid in advance or invoiced automatically |
| Access | Keys and all-areas fobs | Timed access for booked slots |
| Documents | Not tracked | Uploaded with expiry reminders |
What documents and terms you require from hirers is for you and your advisers. We make sure they are collected and kept current.
A studio that earns without the admin
Hirers book real free slots and pay on time. Members' classes are protected. Access is limited to the hours and doors hirers need. The manager deals with approvals and the odd query rather than diaries and invoices.
With clear availability and simple booking, you may find more groups want to hire your space in the hours it sits empty.
You also see, for the first time, how much each space earns across member classes and hire, which helps when deciding how to use it.
Is this your studio?
- Studio hire is managed in a separate diary.
- Hire bookings have clashed with member classes.
- Hire invoices go out late and are paid late.
- Hirers have keys or fobs that open more than they need.
- You do not track hirers' documents.