Inner Fire Yoga
www.innerfireyoga.com
Entrepreneur’s Burning Inner Fire Creates Successful Yoga Business
SBDC Assistance Helps Yoga Business Succeed
When Marit Sathrum moved to Madison from California in 2002, she didn’t plan to become a business owner. But a “for lease” sign in a vacant shop window, led this MBA-bearing yoga instructor to fulfill her dream of opening her own yoga studio. Though serendipity played a role in Sathrum’s decision to open her studio, her business expertise and assistance from the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC) enabled her to turn her business into a success story.
In 2007 Sathrum decided to move her business, expanding both the facility size and the services she offered to her patrons. That’s when she contacted SBDC business counselor Jack Reiners at the advice of a fellow entrepreneur.
“She told me how great it was for her and her business to have this free business counseling,” recalls Sathrum. “Before I knew it, I was working with Jack and Rena Gelman, who was in training at the time.”
Sathrum says she was fortunate to have not just one but two business advisors. “I think of them as really solid advisors, sounding boards. They keep me on the straight and narrow,” says Sathrum, who still consults with Reiners and Gelman on a regular basis. “I have received really strong financial and analytical help from them as well.”
Quality Business Management Creates Expansion and Employment
Sathrum custom built her eco-friendly studio on Madison’s University Avenue. “Since then business more than doubled,” she says. “I think the move and changing my business plan is the reason. But that was completely dependant on Jack and Rena helping me to make the decisions along the way that ultimately resulted in the growth of my business.”
Since opening her Inner Fire Yoga, Sathrum has grown from one to five lines of business within her studio, and she will soon offer yoga teacher training. Inner Fire Yoga currently employs seven people and contracts with 15 others to provide a range of service from yoga to massage therapy.
Sathrum reflects on the success of her business. “There are a lot of Yoga studios that don’t do as well. I’m an MBA and I know you have to develop the other parts of the business: marketing, accounting, public relations, outreach. We do a lot of community outreach. We have raised over $25,000 for charity.”
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