Opening your own barre studio is more than just creating a place for barre classes – it’s about building a welcoming environment where people (especially women) can build muscle tone, achieve fitness goals, and find a supportive community.
Barre studios combine elements of ballet with a barre, yoga, Pilates, and other forms of exercise, making them accessible for all fitness levels. Unfortunately, it’s not very popular yet.
Do you want to provide your members with something unique yet effective? Do you want to attract people who don’t even know about this type of physical activity although they would definitely benefit from it?
Here’s a comprehensive guide to launching a successful barre fitness business.
Key Takeaways
- Pure Barre Studio or Xponential Fitness are one of the leading franchises in this area, but who said you need to be exactly like them? Maybe there’s a completely different path for YOUR barre business?
- The main steps when establishing your new barre business are: defining your studio identity, choosing the right location, building a strong brand and workout concept, hiring skilled instructors, using efficient technology, and growing a loyal member community.
- A gym management software may be really helpful here, because it streamlines class scheduling, payments, and member management, saves time, tracks performance, and helps retain and engage members efficiently.
What Is a Barre Studio Actually?
A barre studio is a training studio dedicated to barre fitness, a workout style inspired by ballet barre techniques. Unlike a traditional gym, a barre studio focuses on low impact, high-intensity workouts that target specific muscle groups to tone muscles, improve balance, and enhance whole body strength.
At Pure Barre, Xponential Fitness, or similar studios, members participate in barre classes that combine isometric movements, small controlled weights, Pilates, and yoga-inspired stretches. These classes are designed for people of all fitness levels to meet their goals, from losing weight to building muscle definition, while maintaining a supportive community environment.
In short, a barre studio is where barre fitness, classes, and the pure barre philosophy come together to provide a welcoming, warm environment for customers seeking an effective and elegant workout.
How to Start a Barre Studio: From Vision to Opening Day
By following this step-by-step process, you can open a barre studio that delivers a low impact, high energy fitness experience while fostering a supportive community where clients can strengthen muscles,get closer to their goals, and enjoy life-changing results.
🩰 1. Define Your Unique Barre Identity
Start by clearly explaining: what is a barre studio in your world?
Barre blends the bar method, ballet barre, pilates, and other kinds of low-impact exercise into a results-driven barre workout. Decide whether your concept leans closer to a pure barre studio model, a hybrid fitness studio, or a fully independent barre studio you own.
Clarify your mission in the fitness industry: are you focused on mental well-being, confidence, weight loss, or performance-based strengthening and tone muscles goals? Your identity sets expectations for clients, members, and the broader world you’re building.
🧠 2. Research Creatively (Not Just Competitively)
Check out barre classes, and other types of fitness offerings in your location, including a studio of ballet, yoga, and pilates spaces.
Look beyond price and cost – analyze energy, music, class range, and community feel.
Understand franchise models like Xponential Fitness, the role of a franchise agreement, and whether a business partner makes sense. This process helps you spot gaps, benefits, and challenges before opening your own studio – franchise or not.
📍 3. Choose a Space That Tells Your Story
Your studio is more than a building – it’s an experience.
Select a location that supports visibility, accessibility, and an environment that attracts.
Plan the build out carefully: mirrors, equipment, flooring, and the ballet barre itself. The gym floor plan should support group classes, proper form, and safe movement for all fitness levels.
🎨 4. Build a Magnetic Brand
Your brand communicates who you are before the first class ever begins. Your whole fitness branding, from logo and colors to music, everything should reflect your balance, energy, and intention.
A strong brand attracts clients seeking barre fitness, low impact training, and a supportive community that feels core for their overall gym experience.
Pure Barre Example - Should You Follow the Tycoon?
Pure Barre is an example of a strong brand in the barre workout area, but you don’t really need to follow their business model. Your idea isn’t worse because it’s different. Who knows, maybe it will even turn out better over time?
💡 5. Create a Curriculum That Surprises
Design classes that challenge the body through isometric movements, small-range movement, light weights, and intentional focus. A great barre workout is a high intensity workout that remains accessible due to its low impact nature.
Offer variations for different fitness levels, clear expectations, and measurable ways to achieve training goals while you tone and sculpt muscles.
👥 6. Recruit & Train Rock-Star Instructors
Your teachers are the heart of your barre studio. Hire qualified instructors with strong teaching presence, cueing skills, and an understanding of anatomy and form.
Support barre certification and ongoing education so each teacher can confidently guide members, protect balance, and adapt movements across a wide range of abilities.
Instructor Is NOT Only a Teacher in Your Barre Studio
Your staff is the heart of your business. Through strong communication skills and professional experience, they help you attract new customers while retaining existing ones. Choose your teachers carefully and intentionally – they are your studio’s calling card.
💻 7. Build a Tech-Forward Ecosystem
Use modern systems for scheduling, payments, sales, and marketing. Read more about sports facility management software, it can save a lot of your time and money. What’s more, a smooth tech experience supports retention, tracks performance data, and improves every aspect of the client journey: from sign-up to class completion.
The best solution would be a dedicated barre studio software, created BY industry practitioners FOR industry practitioners.
🤝 8. Grow Community Before You Open
A strong community starts before launch. Host pop-ups, free outdoor classes, and social events that bring future members together.
Communicate your values around mental health, inclusivity, and supportive community so people feel connected before they even step into the studio.
📣 9. Launch with a Bang
Plan a launch that creates excitement across your world. Intro offers, referral rewards, and social campaigns help drive traffic.
Make the first meeting memorable by delivering high-value instruction, great songs and melodies, and an empowering atmosphere that builds confidence.
🧾 10. Refine With Data & Feedback
Listen closely to members. Use attendance, retention, and feedback data in a gym reporting software module to adjust class times, instructors, and programming. This ongoing process ensures your business evolves with your community’s needs.
Use our gym survey questions examples to keep up with all the necessary information from your members.
🌱 11. Cultivate Long-Term Growth
Growth may include adding new class formats, expanding your studio, or exploring franchise opportunities (read more on gym franchise cost).
Stay adaptable, manage cost, and continue developing your team to remain competitive in the evolving fitness industry.
🎁 12. Elevate the Experience
Details matter. Lighting, playlists, instructor coaching, and post-class engagement all enhance the overall benefit members feel. When people feel seen, supported, and challenged, they stay.
A Bit More About Barre Studio Software
Running a modern barre studio means balancing great classes with smart systems behind the scenes. The right fitness software becomes the operational backbone of your studio, allowing you to spend less time managing logistics and more time building community and delivering results.
Streamlined Operations
Barre studio software centralizes tasks. It’s a scheduling, attendance, memberships, and gym staff management software in one platform. From group classes organizing, payments collecting and reminding (in the gym billing software module), to instructor substitutions, everything lives in one place – reducing errors and saving valuable time.
According to WodGuru research, this software saves around 30 minutes per member each month by automating admin tasks like bookings, reminders, and payments.
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Better Client Experience
Easy online booking, automated reminders, and a gym check-in system providing smooth entrances create a seamless journey from a client’s first class onward. This convenience builds confidence, improves gym membership retention, and supports a consistently welcoming environment.
Smarter Sales & Revenue Management
Gym automation, flexible memberships, class packs, intro offers, and automated billing simplify sales while protecting cash flow. Clear reporting helps owners align pricing with client training goals like strength, toning, or weight loss.
Data That Drives Decisions
Gym reporting software module makes it possible to follow attendance trends, class performance, and retention insights. Fitness owners are able then to refine schedules, improve programming, and strengthen marketing – all based on real data, not guesswork.
Stronger Instructor & Community Support
Built-in tools help manage qualified instructors, track performance, and maintain teaching consistency. Client profiles, milestones, and gym communication tools & features help grow a supportive community that keeps members engaged and loyal.
Built for Growth
As your studio grows – adding classes, instructors, or locations – scalable fitness software ensures consistency and stability. It’s not just a convenience; it’s an essential foundation for a sustainable barre business.
In short: great barre studios run on great systems. The right software keeps operations smooth, energy high, and everyone focused on movement, results, and community.
Try now, for free!
Manage your gym
like a pro
Get more online bookings and increase your gym profit
Bonus: Differentiation Ideas
• Integrate workshops with a ballet or ballet studio influence
• Offer goal-based programs for weight loss or body strength cycles
• Combine barre workout, yoga, and pilates into specialty classes
• Highlight mind-body connection and mental health benefits
• Create signature challenges that build loyalty and community
Starting a gym? Start with the right foundation. WodGuru provides the essential software infrastructure you need from Day 1: booking, billing, and member data. Launch strong, grow fast.
FAQ
Barre is a low-impact exercise that combines ballet-inspired movement, Pilates, and strength training to develop a strong, lean body, focusing on small, controlled motions and proper form.
A barre studio is a fitness location where members take group workout classes using minimal equipment like a barre, mats, and light weights, often run as a boutique fitness business.
Neither is objectively harder: barre challenges endurance and muscle burn through repetitive movement, while Pilates emphasizes core control and precise form; difficulty depends on your body and experience with other types of workouts.
Yes, barre can support weight loss by improving muscle tone, posture, and overall body strength, especially when combined with cardio exercise and nutrition.
Income varies by location, members, and cost management, but owners may earn anywhere from modest profits to strong six-figure returns depending on how the business develops and how well they market, sign up, and retain members.
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