Ready Set Dance chosen as national finalist

Preschool performing arts program Ready Set Dance has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 AusMumpreneur Awards in the categories of Customer Service and Business Excellence. The AusMumpreneur Awards, presented by The AusMumpreneur Network, celebrate and recognize Australian Mums in business achieving outstanding success in areas such as business excellence, product development, customer service and digital innovation. The awards are designed to recognize the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business in a way that suits their life and family.

Ready Set Dance began in 2015 when five dance studio owners/mumpreneurs brought their collective knowledge and skills together to develop a preschool performing arts program. Natalie Ettingshausen, Jade Barnes, Belinda Agostino, Priscilla Severino and Glenda Yee completed trial runs of the program in their own successful dance schools for a year before the program expanded to 20 locations in NSW.

Word quickly spread about the success of the program and how it transformed dance studios in enrolments and financial success. Now in 2017, the program runs in over 80 locations throughout NSW, QLD, ACT, VIC, SA, WA and NZ.

In an official statement, the Ready Set Dance founders recounted, “Our inspiration came in two forms. Firstly, our passion for the performing arts and the rewards received from seeing the magic of dance passed on to new generations. Our other inspiration came from our own children. It wasn’t until we sat through preschool classes in our own existing business that we realised the gap in the market and the need for something new and fresh.”

“Upon research of the powerful mummy market we also felt confident that our idea would be both personally and financially rewarding. A standout feature of our business is that we engaged the writers of Australian kids television to create original music corresponding to dance specific lessons that attract boys and girls. We credit this business decision with a lot of our success and it came from our mummy inspiration.”

The Ready Set Dance leaders said that being selected as a finalist for the 2017 AusMumpreneur Awards means so much because it will help spread the word about the program. “The creativity and confidence a program like this can build and the rewards and happiness giving your child the gift of dance can bring!”

Business is not always easy and Ready Set Dance has overcome challenges but it has also seen great success. The Canberra location grew from eight to 87 students in six months with access to big budget branding and support systems. At a training day in January the licensee broke down in tears and thanked Ready Set Dance for its business. This was a moment that symbolised the impact the business had made.

On a customer level, Ready Set Dance has also witnessed some amazing milestones. An email from a mum of a student with cerebral palsy and another with a severe speech delay were just two examples of the success of the creative content the mums had all invested so much in.

Ready Set Dance’s first trip to New Zealand was also very rewarding, seeing their characters Twirl and Freeze in another country was “amazing.”

While it can be challenging to run a successful business whilst raising a family, Ettingshausen gave this advice to others thinking about starting their own enterprise: “Create a business that you are passionate about because you will be spending a lot of hours there. Start creating systems early, recording your knowledge as you go so that when you grow, someone else can do your job.”

For more information on the 2017 AusMumpreneur Awards, visit www.ausmumpreneur.com. This year’s winners will be announced at an Awards Dinner at Doltone House in Sydney on Friday, August 25.

Check out www.readysetdance.net.au for program details.

Photo courtesy of Ready Set Dance.