Cash Flow for a Kids Enrichment Business (Episode 18)

Episode 18 · June 4, 2026 · Guest: Jeannette Sermak-Proulx, Plaza Production One Mobile Dance Studio

Cash gets tight in a kids enrichment business because you pay instructors on schedule while school-paid programs pay weeks after they start. Close the gap three ways. Add classes that renew monthly alongside your 8-week and semester programs. Collect parent-paid tuition at registration. And ask school partners to pay before the first day. Some will say yes.

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Jeannette Sermak-Proulx is the founder and CEO of Plaza Production One Mobile Dance Studio. For decades she has brought dance classes directly to schools and communities. She built her first partnerships before the internet, with a phone and a script. This episode of The Youth Enrichment Leader is "Cash Flow for Kids Enrichment Businesses with Jeannette Sermak-Proulx." Here are my notes.

Why is cash flow so hard in a kids enrichment business?

Because the money goes out before it comes in. Jeannette described a program that starts in January and may not be paid until March, since many schools pay by check after services. Meanwhile her team and her dance teachers are paid on schedule. I live this too. With a contracted program, you front instructor pay and materials.

How do I smooth out cash flow?

Keep the cash flowing. Jeannette said it sounds obvious, and I asked her to say it again. Her fix was to add programs that renew monthly, so fresh revenue arrives every month on top of the 8-week and semester cycles. It's still a challenge for her. It's a smaller one now.

Here's the gap in numbers. Example figures. Swap in your own.

• A school-paid program runs 3 classes a week for 8 weeks. Instructor pay is $45 a class: 24 x $45 = $1,080. Materials are $240. You front $1,320.
• The school's check arrives around week 10. For ten weeks that $1,320 comes from somewhere else.
• Add one parent-paid class that renews monthly: 12 kids x $80 = $960 on the first of each month. Over those ten weeks, three payments arrive. 3 x $960 = $2,880.

Different renewal cycles cover each other. I compare the models in per-session or monthly tuition.

Can I ask a school to pay before the program starts?

Yes. Ask every time. In contracted programs I write payment due before the first day into the agreement. Some partners go with it. Some tell me they don't do that. Either way I asked, and the terms are clear. Parent-paid programs are simpler. Families pay when they register, before the first class. For contracts, see how to invoice a school.

How do I win school partnerships without a marketing budget?

Pick up the phone. Jeannette learned cold calling at a phone sales job early in her career. She studied how it worked, wrote her own script, and started calling schools between performing jobs. That's how her business grew.

People ask how Journey to STEAM got to 75+ school sites. Same answer. I block time each day and call. Emails go unanswered. The person who picks up is at work and usually wants to help. Almost nobody calls anymore, so calling sets you apart.

She also walks in. She brings a small pail of cookies with her logo on them and a card with a QR code to her website. One after-school director told her she couldn't discuss programs until June. Jeannette told her she had only come to say hello and drop off cookies. That director will remember her in June. She started with ordinary cookies and a business card on the pail. In hot weather, keep them on ice in the car. More in my guide to getting your program into schools.

Why run a mobile program instead of a studio?

For Jeannette it's the mission: bring dance to children who wouldn't get it otherwise. In most families every adult works, and Saturday is already soccer, swim, groceries and laundry. A studio asks a parent to drive and wait, and it usually costs more. So she brings the studio to the kids. I weigh both models in school-based vs studio-based programs.

How do I hire instructors who stay?

Pay well and screen carefully. Jeannette reminds her team that enrichment is one of the first things a family cuts, so every class has to be excellent. She pays better than average to get excellent teachers. Her process:

1. Intake form. If it comes back incomplete or wrong, that tells her about commitment and following directions. She stops there.
2. Interview, based on the form.
3. Online teaching audition.
4. Three references, called after the audition, so she can ask about what she saw. Is this teacher always that quiet? How is her classroom control?
5. Background check for everyone, substitutes included. She pays for it. Requirements differ by state, so check with your state agency.

It takes time, so she asks schools for schedules early and starts hiring early. One tweak from my side: we collect reference contacts on the pre-interview form and call them once we want to hire. It saves most of a week.

What keeps a kids program in business for decades?

Value, relationships and communication. Here's what she named:

• A year-end recital, so parents see what their kids learned.
• A human answers the phone.
• She talks with her directors and principals, by phone and in person.
• A free demo class when she starts at a new school. A flyer can't do what a dance teacher in the room can. Kids go home asking to sign up.
• A refund when a child doesn't take to it.

When schools closed in 2020, her team moved classes online the next week, at the same times, and later taught outdoors in small groups. Her closing advice: put yourself in the shoes of the kids, the parents and the school administrators, and always communicate. I've been the principal who didn't reply and the teacher who didn't love an after-school program using her classroom.

Listen if school payments leave you short every term, if you run a mobile program, or if you've been emailing schools and hearing nothing. Dance operators can also see enrops for dance studios.

Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts

Frequently asked questions

Do parents pay before or after a program?

Before. In parent-paid programs, families pay when they register. The delay comes from contracted programs that a school or district pays for after services.

Should I offer a free first class?

Jeannette gives a free demo class when she starts at a new school, so kids and the director see the program first. I let a child try a class when there's space. Both cut down on refunds.

Do I need branded cookies to visit a school?

No. She began with store-bought cookies in a pail with her business card on it. A phone call alone already puts you ahead.

When should I check an instructor's references?

She calls after the audition so she can ask specific questions. I collect the contacts before the interview and call once we want to hire.

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Arielle Hammond, Ed.D. is the founder of enrops and host of The Youth Enrichment Leader, presented by enrops.