Guide
Opening a second studio location: what breaks first
A second studio does not double the work of the first one. It changes it. Questions you never had to answer, such as whose member someone is and who may change which timetable, arrive on opening day. This guide sets out the ones that break first and what to settle before you open.
Why it is different
What changes when you open a second location
With one studio, every rule you have is a rule about that room. With two, every rule needs an answer to “which one?”: which studio a membership works at, which manager may change which class, which cancellation window applies, and which front desk a member calls.
Most of those questions have an easy answer. The trouble is that they turn up one at a time, in front of a member, after you have opened. Settle them on paper first and the second location opens as a business decision rather than a series of improvisations.
Last reviewed October 9, 2026 by the Slate Fit team.
First to break
Memberships: does a member at one studio get into the other?
This is the question members ask in the first week, so answer it before you open. There are three common models:
- Every location. One membership works everywhere. Simplest to explain, and it rewards members who move around, but the busier studio can fill with members who signed up at the quieter one.
- Home location only. A membership works at the studio it was sold at. Easy to forecast, and it can feel restrictive once members know the other studio exists.
- Home location plus a premium tier. A standard membership works at one studio and a more expensive one works at both. More to explain, and it often matches what members will pay for.
Whichever you choose, write it on the product itself rather than in a staff note. In Slate Fit a membership or class pack can cover every location or only the ones you pick, so the rule is enforced at booking rather than remembered at the desk.
Second to break
Staff access: who may change what
With one studio, the manager and the owner can both change anything, and that works because they share a room. With two, you will have a manager who runs one studio and should not be moving classes at the other.
- Decide, for each person, which studio they run and what they may change there.
- Decide who may give someone else access, and keep manager access with the owner.
- Give the front desk at each studio access to that studio.
- Make sure every staff member has set up their authenticator app before opening week, so nobody is locked out of the desk on day one.
In Slate Fit, staff roles are given for the whole business, a region or one studio. A manager who asks to change another studio’s timetable, staff or policy is refused outright, and staff cannot reach any staff screen until they have set up a second factor.
Third to break
Policies: one rulebook or two?
A late-cancellation window that suits a 6:00 AM commuter studio may be too strict for a studio full of parents at 10:00 AM. You can run one policy everywhere or let one studio differ, but decide which before the first fee is charged, because a member who is charged under the wrong studio’s rule will remember it.
Write down the business-wide rule first: the cancellation window, the late-cancellation fee, the no-show fee, and whether an unpaid fee stops a member booking. Then list only the places where the second studio is different, and why. In Slate Fit a policy set for the business can be changed for one studio, a class type can have its own booking and cancellation windows, and staff can see each studio’s rules and the level each one comes from.
Fourth to break
The timetable and the people on it
Two timetables share one pool of instructors, and the first double-booking usually happens in the second month, when somebody covers a class at the other studio. Before you open:
- Build the second timetable from scratch, around its own rooms and its own members, rather than copying the first.
- Keep one list of which instructor teaches where and when, and check it every time you add a class at either studio.
- Decide who covers a class when an instructor is ill, and at which studio they would rather not teach.
- Leave travel time between studios if anybody teaches at both on the same day.
Each Slate Fit location has its own rooms and floor plans and its own timetable, and repeating classes hold their local time across the clock changes in March and November.
Fifth to break
Members: one account, two front desks
A member who joins at the new studio may already be a member at the old one. If the two studios keep separate lists, you end up with the same person twice, two balances, and a confused member at both desks.
Keep one record per member across both studios. In Slate Fit a member has one account and books at any location you allow, and a member’s balance is the sum of every credit given and every class taken, wherever they took it.
Before opening day
A checklist before opening day
- Membership and class pack rules written for both studios: where each product works.
- A staff list with each person’s studio and what they may change there.
- Business-wide cancellation and no-show rules, plus any differences at the new studio.
- The new studio’s rooms laid out, with a floor plan for every room that books by spot.
- Its timetable built and checked against every instructor who also teaches at the first studio.
- An email to existing members saying what the new studio means for them.
- One quiet week planned for the new front desk before the first big class opens for booking.
A timeline
Working back from opening day
- Twelve weeks before: decide how memberships work across the two studios, and price them.
- Eight weeks before: decide who runs the new studio and what they may change.
- Six weeks before: write the policies, and list where the new studio differs.
- Four weeks before: lay out the rooms and build the timetable.
- Two weeks before: tell existing members, and open bookings for the first week.
- Opening week: keep the timetable light, and keep an owner on the floor.
With Slate Fit
Running two locations in Slate Fit
The second location joins the business you already run: same members, same products, same rules, with its own rooms, timetable and staff. Staff access follows the locations people run, and a membership covers whichever locations you choose.
Multi-location studio softwareOpening a second location FAQ
Should a membership work at both studios?
It depends on what you want each studio to do. One membership everywhere is simplest; a home-studio membership with a more expensive one that works at both often matches what members will pay. Decide before you open.
Should both studios have the same cancellation policy?
Start from one business-wide rule and change it only where the new studio genuinely runs differently, such as early-morning classes.
What usually goes wrong first?
Members asking whether their membership works at the new studio, and a manager at one studio changing classes at the other. Both are easier to settle before opening day than after.
Do members need a second account for the new studio?
They should not. Keep one record per member across both studios, so balances and history stay in one place.
Can Slate Fit run both locations?
Yes. Each location has its own rooms and timetable, staff access follows the locations people run, and memberships cover the locations you choose. Multi-location studio software.
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