Should your club charge during the school holidays?

It’s one of the questions club owners ask most, and one of the most argued about. Should you charge families during the school holidays?

What we do

We run our classes through the school holidays, so we charge every month, the same as always. Families get their classes, and the club has a steady income all year round.

Not every club can do that, or wants to. If you close for the holidays, the answer is still simple. It just has to be decided before you set your price, not after.

Your bills don’t take a holiday

The holidays might be a week off for the children, but your rent, your coaches, your insurance and your own bills keep coming. This is your income. You can’t just stop getting paid for a week, or for six.

So the real question isn’t “should I charge in the holidays?”. It’s “how do I make sure the club brings in what I need over the whole year?”. That yearly total is your revenue, and it’s the number to plan around.

Two ways to do it

1. Keep charging, to hold their space

Charge the same every month, open or closed. The monthly fee pays for their child’s place in the class across the whole year, holidays included. A family who stops paying over the summer frees up their space for someone else.

It keeps your income steady, and it makes the space feel valuable. A place in a popular class is worth keeping.

2. Only charge while you’re open, and price for it

If you’d rather not charge while you’re closed, that’s fine, as long as your price takes it into account. Work out what you need for the year, then divide it by the months you’re actually open, not by 12.

That’s why our pricing guide works out your price over 10 months. Close for part of the year and take 10 payments, and you still make what you need. Stay open all year, or charge all 12 months to hold the space, and the other two months are a bonus.

Why some parents push back

Some parents feel it’s unfair to pay for weeks when the club is closed, and a few will cancel for a month and rejoin afterwards. Depending on how your club works, that can cost you a lot over a summer.

Most of it goes away when it’s clear from the start. If families know when they join that the fee covers the year and holds their place, holidays included, there’s nothing to argue about later. If you only charge while you’re open, they know that too, and your price already covers it.

Losing families every summer and winning them back in September is churn, and it’s expensive. Some never come back.

A quick checklist

1. Decide whether you’ll run classes in the holidays.
2. If you close, either keep charging to hold the space, or divide your yearly figure by the months you’re open.
3. Tell families how holidays work when they join, not when the holidays arrive.
4. Put your holiday dates where parents can see them, early.

Questions