Day 1

Module 1: Foundation & Numbers

The Real Problem

Most children's activity center owners have a vague sense of how their business is doing. They know if they can pay bills this month. They feel busy. But they cannot tell you, with precision, which program generates the most profit per square foot, which class times are bleeding money, or what their true student lifetime value is. You cannot grow what you do not measure. Day 1 forces a complete and honest financial audit.

Today's Objective

Build a complete revenue breakdown for the past 12 months, categorized by source, so you know exactly where your money comes from and which programs deserve more attention.

The Revenue Inventory

Pull every deposit, invoice, and report from the past 12 months. Sort every dollar into these categories:

Revenue Category	What Counts Here	Your 12-Month Total
Class Tuition — Recurring	Monthly auto-pay memberships, semester tuition	$
Class Tuition — Drop-In	Single class purchases, punch cards	$
Trial Class Fees	Paid trial sessions	$
Registration & Membership Fees	Annual enrollment fees, processing fees	$
Birthday Parties	All party packages and add-ons	$
Summer Camps	Weekly camp tuition	$
School Break Camps	Day camps, mini-camps	$
Private Lessons	One-on-one instruction	$
Events & Parents Night Out	Drop-off events, special activities	$
Merchandise & Equipment	Uniforms, gear, leotards, gis, art supplies	$
Competition & Team Fees	Team tuition, meet fees, travel	$
Other	Facility rental, grants, donations	$

Total Annual Revenue: $

The Critical Ratios

Once you have the totals, calculate these three ratios immediately:

Recurring Revenue Ratio: Recurring class tuition ÷ Total revenue. Healthy centers show 60% or higher. If yours is below 50%, your business is too dependent on one-time transactions.
Ancillary Revenue Ratio: (Parties + Camps + Events + Merchandise) ÷ Total revenue. Top-performing centers generate 25-40% of revenue from non-tuition sources. This is where hidden profit lives.
Per-Program Revenue Concentration: Which single program generates more than 40% of your revenue? Over-dependence on one offering creates vulnerability.

The Program-by-Program Profit Question

For each program you offer — gymnastics recreational classes, competitive team, dance ballet, martial arts kids karate, swim lessons, toddler mommy-and-me — estimate these numbers:

Program	Annual Revenue	Instructor Cost	Facility %	Rough Profit	Profit Margin
Example: Rec Gym (ages 6-12)	$48,000	$18,000	$4,800	$25,200	52.5%
Your Program 1	$	$	$	$	%
Your Program 2	$	$	$	$	%
Your Program 3	$	$	$	$	%

Facility % = estimate 10% of revenue for rent, utilities, and maintenance attributable to that program.

The Insight Exercise

After completing the table above, answer these questions in writing:

Which program has the highest profit margin? Why?
Which program has the lowest profit margin? What drives the cost?
If you could double enrollment in one program, which would generate the most additional profit?
Which program, if eliminated, would have the smallest impact on total profit but free up the most time and space?

The Daily Action Checklist

Pull 12 months of revenue data from your software or bank statements
Categorize every dollar into the revenue inventory table
Calculate your three critical ratios
Complete the program-by-program profit table for your top 3 programs
Write answers to the four insight questions
Note your total annual revenue and recurring revenue ratio on your dashboard (you will build this on Day 6)

The Revenue Rule

The centers that scale are the ones where the owner can recite their numbers from memory. Not because they have a photographic memory — because they look at them every week. Your revenue autopsy is the foundation everything else builds on. Do not rush it. Do not guess. Get the real numbers, even if they disappoint you. Especially if they disappoint you.

Tomorrow

Day 2 maps your costs. You need both sides of the ledger before you can make intelligent growth decisions.

Day 2

Tip: press ← /→ to switch days.