Updates to pass management and website widget builders

We're always pushing out updates to Tula and today we have a bunch of improvements that will give you more power than ever before. We've added another state to passes (trashed) so you can keep them better organized, we've completely re-organized our website widgets section to make building custom payment forms and calendars easier than ever before and we've brought in additional filter options so you can create even better calendars and payment forms.

Trash your passes

You've always been able to mark a pass as active, or archived but after some time things could get a little unwieldy with passes from older events. Now you have the option of trashing your passes so you can not only remove them from sale, but they'll also stop showing up as options in your reports. For the relevant reports such as the payroll report you'll have the option of including or excluding your trashed passes as a group. So the various states will now look like this:

• Active Passes are available for sale and can be targeted individually for reporting purposes.
• Archived Passes are NOT available for sale, but CAN be targeted individually for reporting purposes.
• Trashed Passes are NOT available for sale, and can NOT be targeted individually for reporting purposes. 

Website Widget Reorganization

We've made our website widgets easier to use and more powerful than ever before.

Basic Setup

Now when you choose the basic setup, you'll have an individual tab for each of the Calendar, Payment Form, and Student Access widgets that will contain both the embed code that you put in your website, and a preview of that that widget will look like in your site. (Note, you're logged in as yourself, so you'll see your name whereas your students will of course see their name when they are logged in.)

Custom Setup

When you choose the custom setup option, you'll now see the color selection options at the top of the page, along with the Live Preview. Below this you'll see tabs where you can preview your color selections right inside the app. 

More filters means power

Along with the reorganization of the widgets page, we've also added some new filters to make our calendars and payment forms more power than ever before.

Custom Calendars

With the custom calendar section now you can create separate calendars for your regular classes and special events, and continue to create specific calendars for an individual event series or a group of event series'. Combined with the ability to allow your students to register for an entire series/group of events all at once, this new set of functionality gives you more power than ever before when it comes to managing your calendars, events and registrations.

Custom Payment Forms

As is the case with the calendars, you can also create as many custom payment forms as you like. Now in addition to creating individual custom payment forms, you can also choose to use the default settings from your online payment form settings.

More power than ever before

This group of updates gives our customers more power than ever before to create the perfect experience for students who visit their website. Whether you have multiple special events, have a business that focuses on courses/series, or whether you simply want to display individual instructor calendars on their own pages, Tula gives you more power than ever before to create the custom experience you and your students deserve.

We hope you like these updates as much as we do!

A little big update: Rapid Credit Card updates for students

We just pushed out a nice little change that'll make managing your members a little easier. For a long time now we've supported memberships and recurring billing, but if someone's card declined and they needed to update it, they had to get in touch with the studio.

No more!

Now, if any member has a credit card failure when we send them an email alert, we also include a link that will take them directly to a credit card update page. Even better, we'll auto log them in so all they need to do is click the link, and update their credit card.

What's great about this update is it also includes a foundation that'll allow us to more easily help new customers migrating to us from other systems.

We hope you like this little enhancement and let us know if you have any questions about i!

Strengthen Episode 4: Sharing Presence

I had the good pleasure of talking with NYC based yoga instructor Leo Rising on Thursday morning about the business of yoga from the teacher's perspective. We talk about a wide variety of topics ranging from building community at a studio, base rates for group classes, the importance of privates and a host of other things. I had a great time talking with Leo and am grateful for the opportunity to talk about a lot of the industry challenges in a mutually respectful way.

On a housekeeping note, I'm also making some changes to the format of the show. First, it's being renamed from 'Strengthen your Studio' to simply 'Strengthen'. This will better reflect the fact that we're talking about the entire industry of yoga. 

Also, I'm now recording these interviews via Google Hangouts on Air. This will allow people who are interested in watching the interviews live to do so and I'll start tweeting out when the live episodes will be recorded. I'll then use the audio from that to post the podcast episode. 

Check out our discussion below by subscribing to the show in iTunes, or listening to the audio or watching the video embedded below.

---

---

Andrew and Leo talk about the business of yoga from a teacher's perspective.

Enthusiasm

One of the most under appreciated and unrecognized traits of successful people is Enthusiasm. It's incredible actually, just how much enthusiasm can act as a counterweight to a deficiency in another area.

Companies often get funded based on the enthusiasm of the founder. Employees are given promotions over workers that might technically be more skilled because of enthusiasm. Acquisitions are completed because of enthusiasm. 

Presidents are elected not on their experience or their intellect, but by the amount of enthusiasm they're able generate. 

Of course, the reverse of this is also true.

People often get divorced not because of the intense arguments, but because of the absence of enthusiasm for each other's successes. You can be technically proficient, intelligent, etc., but if you don't like what you do, if you're not pleasant to be around, that can overwrite a great number of your qualities.

I think it's important to be aware of this reality on a regular basis. People shouldn't be disingenuous of course, but if you're able to regularly look at the world and your work through a lens of excitement, I think that's a special trait, and one that's likely to ultimately make you and others better off.

And of course, the real opportunity this presents is that Enthusiasm is free, requires no experience, and is a massive multiplier. The challenge is that it requires effort, insight and importantly requires you to be vulnerable.

Once again, therein lies the opportunity.

Starting from scratch: Standing up your business infrastructure

So you've decided you want to start your own business, or you know that as an independent contractor it's time to make a few things more official, and bring things to the next level.

Awesome, it's business time!

Getting started can seem overwhelming because it's difficult to know where exactly to start sometimes, but also because thinking about forming a business, getting things online and everything else all at once can seem overwhelming. But remember, even sending a human to the moon is a series of individual tasks completed in a particular order.

So let's go, get that business started!

Forming your business with your state

The first thing you want to do is search for your state's Secretary of State office. For example, information about forming an LLC in the state of New York can be found here: http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/llcguide.html

The secretary of state website is pretty much always where things start. You'll search the state database to make sure the name you wan't isn't already taken, and then you can form your business by filling out the right application. Usually the fee is somewhere between $300 and $600. 

Obtaining an FEIN

Once you've filed with the state, you'll have your business name, so you can proceed with getting your Federal Employer Identification Number from the federal government. This can be done very easily online at the IRS website here: https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/How-to-Apply-for-an-EIN

The reason this is the second step is because in order to obtain an FEIN you'll need to have your business name. 

Establishing Bank Accounts

At this point you officially have a business, so it's time to set up bank accounts. I recommend  getting a business checking account, business savings account, and business credit card. Often times, the simple act of opening a business checking account will qualify you for a business credit card. 

Now at this point you have a legal entity with a Tax ID, Bank accounts to collect revenue, and you're registered with your state. (Note: Depending on your city and the business you're starting, you might need to obtain a city business license as well, so spend a moment to search that. But the heavy lifting if you're establishing you're yoga business is probably done now, from a legal standpoint anyway.)

Taking payments, Tracking Revenue and Recording Expenses

Now that you're a business, one of the most important things you need is for it to be easy for people to pay you. Head on over to http://squareup.com to get a square account so you can easily take credit card payments in person. Then, head on over to http://stripe.com and set up an account there. A slew of web services, including our own Tula Software, integrate with Stripe to power payments. Having a stripe account will allow you to easily take payments online in a number of ways. 

Next, go get some accounting software. I recommend http://lessaccounting.com because it's easy to use and hooks up nicely to most banks.

Stand up a website

Now you'll want a website to showcase your business. We generally recommend Squarespace as they're easy to use, mobile ready and have great themes. Of course you have another of other options such as http://wix.com and Wordpress, but we're particularly fond of Squarespace. You can also secure a domain through Squarespace, but I recommend getting one that you control directly through http://hover.com.

If you're going to be using Tula, you might want to check out this video about building a website for your yoga studio with Squarespace and Tula. 

---

At this point you have all the primary foundational elements you need to run and operate your business: A legally formed business, the ability to take payments, a bank account and website. Of course, as you get going you'll end up using a whole host of things I haven't outlined here, but this will get the initial infrastructure of your business going. Good luck and feel free to leave any questions in the comments and we'll help as best as we can!