On 8th January 2012, Perform was 12 years old and I, for one, can’t quite believe it. It was January 8th 2000 when I started my first ever Perform class at Primrose Hill Community Centre with just 4 children. And now, 12 years later, we have over 4,000 children attending our classes every week in over 200 venues from London to Brighton, to Winchester to Leighton Buzzard and to Oxford.

I’d started planning Perform in June 1999 and my business partner Will and I had spent hours and hours even before then thinking of how we could create the best ever drama workshops for young children. We’d worked for other drama schools and we wanted to do something better. Something with child’s development at the heart of the workshops instead of vocal technique, dance steps, lines and auditions. An opportunity for young children to have fun with drama, dance and singing, but without the pressure of having to be “talented” or competing with others.

Luckily, we already had lots of experience in theatre and teaching children. But what we didn’t have was the experience of running a business and that has definitely been interesting. Interesting, exhausting, exciting, frightening (at times), exhilarating (at others) but ultimately rewarding.

As it’s the start of a new year, lots of people will have made New Year’s resolutions including thinking about starting their own businesses. If that’s a long-term goal of yours then why not start planning now? I think the beginning of the year really helps to focus the mind.

I  celebrated Perform’s birthday on the 8th Jan with 206 teachers learning the Circus and Hercules Beat songs and dances for the Spring Term. But, for many, January 8th will be the start of something brand new and exciting. For anyone who is thinking of launching their new business this year,  I thought I’d give you my Top 6 Tips for starting a new business.

1. Only start a business if you believe in the product 100%. It has to be amazing and something that you absolutely love.

2. Nurture your business as you would a newborn baby. There will be hard hard work involved. Sleepless nights, worry, lack of money, but once you get through the hard first few months (or years with a business), it will be worth it.

3. Keep a strong belief in your original idea. Loads of people said to me, “Don’t open drama classes in North London, it’s already full of them”. But I knew that what we were offering at Perform was a unique children’s drama class and that there would be space for us – especially for parents who want their children to just be confident and happy rather than little starlets.

4. Have an amazing business partner. In the words of Velma Kelly from the musical Chicago – “I can’t do it alone”. Find someone to start your business with who compliments your skills – i.e. is good at what you’re not good at. I was so lucky to find Will, my business partner. It also really helps to have someone to talk things over with.

5. Create a reason you can’t fail. One of our motivations was having to pay back a personal bank loan. The fear of default or being saddled with debt over several years kept us working through the bad times to make the business a success because we felt we had no choice.

6. Just do it. Just like having a  baby, there will never be a perfect time to start. Running a business is constant work in progress. Once you have done the planning, the only way to find out if it will work is to jump in then refine and improve as you go.  You’ll often be surprised at what works and what doesn’t.

If you’ve started your own business, the best of luck. If you can offer any more suggestions, please get in touch. And Happy New Year!

Because we now have quite a few schools, many people think that Perform is franchised like most other drama, dance and singing organisations. But we aren’t. Everything is centrally run and we are very specific about the sort of teacher who works for us – specifically, we only pick the  fabulous sort. Which is why I actually really enjoy the contracting part of my job, because it means that I get to talk to them all.

It’s not easy to get to be a Perform teacher. Simon Fielding (our Regional Partner) and I audition around sixty actors on the first Monday of every month. We ask them to prepare and play a drama game for us. If they get through that round, they have to learn and perform a dance routine, and if they get through the dance round, they have to sing a song and then have an interview with us.

We make no apology for the gruelling process we put them through. Not only do they have to be able to act, sing and dance, they also have to demonstrate that they’d be brilliant with children. We are normally left with about five people! X Factor is tame compared to Perform.

The successful people are invited to two days of training where they learn the Perform teaching style and, if they are successful, they watch workshops and then, with the support of an Area Partner, can start cover-teaching for us.  Obviously, all the normal CRB and reference checks are made too.

Part of the beauty of being centrally run and not a franchise is that we all have the same curriculum – so at the moment everyone is madly learning our Circus and Hercules Beat Resources for next term. Check out our Lion Tamer and Hercules Beat dance videos!

This means that, if any of our talented teachers get acting jobs (and they do), it’s not catastrophic as the person we put in their place will be equally brilliant and will also know exactly what to do in class because we all follow one programme. From the children’s point of view, yet another fun person comes to teach them.

You might see your Perform Teacher at class at 4pm and then on Eastenders at 7.30pm and, whilst we try as much as possible to keep consistency, I’d rather Perform children be taught by inspirational and talented actors who might get jobs because of their skills, than people who aren’t so special.  I’ve heard too many scary stories of am-dram loving retired bank managers buying theatre school franchises and that is not the way of Perform.

The big question that parents always ask me is “How do you get your teachers to be SO ENTHUSIASTIC”? And anyone who has ever been to a Perform class will agree that our teachers love what they are doing. After all, how could you not be enthusiastic when you are acting, singing, dancing and playing crazy games with a gorgeous group of children?

Sometimes actors have to do boring jobs when they are ‘resting’, so I think they feel privileged to be passing on their love of theatre to children – practising their own performing skills every day by singing, dancing and playing colourful characters in improvisations. Some use it as a time to practice their accents so, if you see a teacher playing an Irish character in class, you might find they have to use an Irish accent for an audition the following day!

However, their common bond is not only their talent and work ethic, it’s how much they love and enjoy working with children. They are passionate about helping children develop the Perform 4 Cs and this really shows in the classes.

As it is our end of term, I’m watching a different presentation  every afternoon at the moment. And I must confess, I’m not just proud of all the brilliant Perform children, I’m also thrilled at the most fantastically talented and caring teachers that teach them at Perform. A big thank you to you all.

And if you know anyone who might be an amazing Perform Teacher, please ask them to send us their CV. We’d love to hear from them.

This type of question always makes me blush a bit because, until I started Perform,  I had absolutely no business experience whatsoever! I studied drama at university and was a theatre actress performing mainly in musicals in the West End and on tour.  In between acting jobs, I would teach drama, dance and singing to young children.

Ridiculously, I didn’t even have an email address when I started Perform never mind anything resembling a business plan. If I’d gone on Dragons’ Den and had been asked questions about gross profit and turnover, I would have been one of those contestants who bow their heads and look embarrassed.

What I did have, however, was a belief that I could make a difference to children through the performing arts and a passion to do it. When I opened my first Perform class in 2000, I had spent years before that dreaming about having my own school. Working for other children’s drama schools gave me the experience to know what worked and what didn’t work. I was able to learn my craft when working for someone else and work out how I could make it better. I didn’t want to replicate the competition. I wanted to make something brand new; something fresh and different to what I had experienced as a child and to what I had observed as a teacher.

I had no kids of my own then and I think that enabled me to think out of the box a bit. It let me try something a bit different and be bold. For example, we’ve always allowed Perform children to sign up at any point throughout the term rather than being restricted to term starts like other organisations. This allows children who are overwhelmed at the start of a new school year to join at half-term once they have settled into school. I also wanted to run things centrally with a dedicated team producing specially written songs and scripts used across all classes (rather than another re-hash of Oliver!) and evaluating all the teachers so that we could ensure a consistently high  quality across every school – something which I know most franchise operations struggle with.

Finally and most importantly, I knew that what I wanted to do wasn’t being done properly by anyone else. Every other children’s drama school was paying lip-service to social skills and confidence then filling the classes with the rigorous drilling of  vocal exercises, “tap and modern”  etc. I wanted to put confidence, concentration, coordination and communication at the heart of every class so that the songs, games and exercises served the children rather than the other way around.

Running a  business is very hard work but also extremely rewarding when it goes well. As a result, lots of people are looking for a business idea all the time and there’s a huge selection of books, television programmes and internet sites dedicated to the subject. My own view is that you shouldn’t ever start a business unless you are obsessed and passionate about your product – it’s the thing that will keep you going when times are hard.

For example, when things aren’t going as well as planned, I still know that every child can benefit hugely from Perform whether they are painfully shy or extremely confident and this spurs me on. Drama is amazing for children; it gives them essential skills that will help them throughout life and I am a direct beneficiary of that having been a very shy child myself. My passion for that transformative process is the thing that drives me on to expand and grow my business and means that my lack of experience in other departments doesn’t matter so much.

If you want to start your own business, go for it! Don’t be put off by not having a business background or  experience – that can all be gained as you go along. But…only go for it if you love and adore what you will be doing and know that you are offering something better than anything else out there. Don’t do it if you think it is good – it has to be amazing. And be prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before.

After all, if you’re working at something you really believe in, it hardly ever feels like work!

It went pretty well – all things considered. But, afterwards, when I was talking to the parents about my plans to eventually open Perform all over London, one of the mums said that my greatest challenge would be finding great people to run the classes. People who would do an amazing job every week whether you are there or not.

11 years,180 teachers and 4,000 children a week later, I agree!

The biggest challenge and the most time-consuming element of my job is recruiting.  And that’s simply because it’s not just important – it’s the most important thing. Having fantastic teachers is the only way we can guarantee the standards of our classes.

Perform teachers have to be “triple threats”. For anyone that’s not familiar with the musical theatre term, that means able to act, sing and dance. They must be brilliant with children, totally professional, have staggering energy…and like getting up at 6am on Saturday mornings.

So how do we ensure that every one of our 173 classes has a teaching team that lives up to this?

11 years ago, we’d interview prospective candidates in an office-type situation. Chat to them, discuss their CV and experience etc. Some of them were brilliantly qualified drama teachers but put them in front of a group of 4-8 year olds and they’d panic, revert to baby mode and the children would be so bored that I’d have to step in and take over the class. That was in the early days!

After a year, we started to do proper auditions. Seeing auditionees on their feet leading a drama game was revolutionary and showed us if they had the right Perform qualities.
Now, on the first first Monday of every month, we invite 60 prospective candidates to an audition-type workshop where they are asked to play a drama game. Those who get through that and have Perform potential, we ask to stay and learn a dance routine. If they get through that round, they get to stay and sing a song.  How many are left by the end? On a good day, about 5. Simon Cowell eat your heart out.

Because it’s not just about being able to act, sing and dance. Perform teachers have to have the P Factor. They have to be able to inspire, excite and engage a group of 20 children who have just had a long day at school. They have to be the kind of people who the children want to be and the parents want their children to become. And, when they show us that they have that spark, that’s when they go to stage 2: Perform Training.

They come to our basic teacher training (which lasts several days) and, if they get through that, they are asked to watch several classes. After that,  we start them off gently with an Area Partner evaluating their first class and discussing it with them at length. If they do well, they can finally start teaching for us under the supervision of an experienced Producer. Phew!

It really is difficult to get into Perform and I always joke that I wouldn’t get in these days! But it is true. We are the only organization of our size that isn’t franchised and that’s why we are able to guarantee that every teacher is excellent – because we select and train them ourselves.

Most Perform teachers are professional actors and many go off to do acting jobs when it happens for them. Yes, there are staff changes, but I made a decision early on that I’d rather have excellent teachers who change sometimes rather than mediocre teachers who are always there.

I have a fabulous team that help with the recruitment and training, headed up by Simon Fielding who has just celebrated his 10th year with Perform. He’s now our ‘Regional Partner’ and his job spec is “to make the workshops even more fantastic”.  So,  even though we are in a period of growth, we still want our classes to get better and better.

Finding people with the P Factor is very difficult and we are constantly on the look out for new teachers. If you have any friends who might be suitable and ready for the challenge, please tell them to send their CV and photo to recruitment@perform.org.uk

As the amount of work isn’t likely to decrease any time soon – not least because we’ve still got huge plans to grow Perform – I’ve become increasingly preoccupied with efficiency. How can I work smarter?

I’m sure many other parents are in a very similar position to me, as such I thought I’d share some the things that I do – (hopefully you’ll find them useful) – plus of course I’m really keen to hear what you do too!

So,  here’s how I’m rolling ‘productivity-wise’ these days:

The Death of the ‘To Do’ List

Yes, yes I know – how do I get anything done? Well, I still keep a ‘to do’ list – but now I do it online. I found I was wasting a huge amount of time virtually every day because I was feeding an endless, hastily scribbled list. At least a couple of times a week I’d sit down and try to re-write the list – popping some sort of priority against it.

But, it never really worked for me.

I didn’t really trust the list in any case. Because I never reached the end of it, and the important stuff kept on getting missed. To try to combat this I created a dual system. I had a ‘to do’ list, plus an array of brightly coloured ‘post it’ notes for the really important stuff.

As a result the ‘to do’ list never got a look in, and I was in post it note hell.

Plus – as post it notes aren’t particularly portable I was wasting a whole heap of head space trying to ‘remember’ what I needed to do / add to the list.

Bah.

Now there are loads of online apps that let you do this much better. Personally I favour Remember the Milk – there are tons of features, you can manage your tasks from anywhere, share tasks, set reminders, etc. Now at least the list is all in one place – can be easily re-ordered / re-prioritised. Seriously, I wouldn’t be without it.

Break Tasks Down into Sensible Chunks

Sounds obvious, huh? How often do any of us have a whole day to concentrate on just one thing? Now, rather than adding scarily big tasks to my online to do list, everything is broken down into tasks that will take about an hour or less.

This means that the ‘big’ tasks actually get done (albeit little by little) – but trust me, this is a massive improvement – previous the big tasks almost never got done – something else would always come up; plus it’s human nature to want to get the little tasks off your list, right? It makes you feel like you’ve done more if you can strike ten things off of your list rather than just one.

Delegate

I used to be seriously bad at this. I’ll admit that I’m still not great, but in breaking massive tasks into bite-sized chunks, I’m often able to identify elements which other people can do. It’s meant that whole tasks get done much more quickly and efficiently.

NB – this only works if you delegate tasks rather than ‘dumping’ them on people. When delegating anything make sure you take the time to properly explain exactly what it is you need, perhaps a suggestion of how the individual might go about it, and of course when you need it by. People can only do a great job for you if you define what it is you need them to do :)

Collaborate

Another obvious one, but nonetheless I often used to spend hours trying to figure out how best to approach a particular task. Two heads are better than one. Oh and ten heads are better than two. A very quick brainstorm with a bunch of people will almost certainly yield a solution quicker than you can by yourself.

Define ‘Urgent’, Review & Re-Prioritise

All of this really relies on making sure that you’re concentrating on getting the right stuff done. Each morning I pick out the tasks which I’m going to get done. Then I focus on them.

Now, clearly I’m not Wonder Woman (more’s the pity) – I don’t always get everything done; but since I’ve been working like this, I find I’m spending far less time fighting fires, and far more time getting things done. The net result of which is that I’m not working as late as I used to which means I get to spend more time with my family. And, ultimately, that’s what really counts :)

So – what about you? How do you organise yourself to work smarter rather than harder? Do let me know via the comments…

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This week I’ve been working hard with our Regional Partner Simon Fielding on developing a new series of training courses for our Perform teachers.

Simon originally joined us 9 years ago as a Producer - and then soon became an Area Partner, visiting schools, evaluating teachers etc,  but last term we decided to set him a brand new challenge. We’re focusing on growth here at Perform, but I’m absolutely passionate about ensuring that standards don’t slip as we grow. You see, unlike all other children’s drama classes, we don’t operate as franchises – instead, all Perform schools are centrally managed and they all run the same curriculum so we can maintain the high quality of our workshops across the board.

Over the years Simon’s been instrumental in helping to evolve the Perform style of teaching that we a call ‘learning through laughter’. He is staggeringly good at his job and such an inspiring trainer.

We’ve always held regular termly training but Simon’s brief was to ‘make the workshops even more fantastic’ and as part of this we’ve been writing and developing new programmes for our teachers to attend. From September he’ll be running two training sessions a week over a 14 week period and individual teachers will be invited to attend in order to develop areas of their teaching and improve their skills.

He’s now in the process of creating these workshops for teachers which will encompass a broad range of topics including:

• How to inspire & lead the children
• New ways to deliver the Perform drama games and really bring them to life
• How to recognise key areas for development in individual children and help the child to realise them
• How to deal with disruptive children
• Going the extra mile to create an amazing session
• How to develop your teaching style

These workshops are a key part of our commitment to continually train and develop our talented teachers to give them the tools they need to deliver a brilliant experience for the children. We always want to keep improving what we do.

I’m really excited about the workshops – I plan to attend/observe them myself and of course we’ll be gathering feedback after the sessions so we can gain an understanding of what the teachers found useful, what worked and what didn’t, and of course ideas for future courses too.

I’m pretty sure that some of the content will be useful for parents, so undoubtedly I’ll be sharing some of it here too!

Speaking of which, I’d be really keen to gain an understanding of what you’d like to see on the blog – so, if there are any questions you’d like to ask; or perhaps topics which you’d like me to cover please do let me know via the comments, or alternatively drop me an email: lucyquick@perform.org.uk

Hope you have a lovely week! xxx

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The truth is, whilst the Summer holidays have arrived, sadly I’m far too busy to relax and enjoy them.

Contrary to what you might expect, the Summer is far and away the busiest time for us at all at Perform. In addition to running the holiday courses, we’re all rushed off our feet putting the plans in place for next term’s curriculum. There are producers and writers to commission not to mention the teachers – who of course have to be taught the new songs and routines.

As an example of the sort of work that goes on, check out this video of some of our teachers learning the Fairytale Dance for last term.

Plus, as we’re continually expanding – 20 new schools in September and a further 20 in January – we’re busily auditioning teachers at the moment. It’s a pretty tough process (although not as hideously cruel as the Britain’s Got Talent panel). Typically we’ll audition around 60, and end up recruiting around 5.

I’m also really excited as we are opening schools on the south coast for the first time – there’s two in Hove and one in Brighton – oh I do like to be beside the seaside! Even if I’m not on holiday.

So there’s lots of exciting things happening, and certainly lots to look forward to come September. And once the new schools have bedded in I plan on rewarding myself with a little break. Probably back home to Wales to catch up with my Mum, aunties, uncles and cousins, it will almost certainly rain but I won’t care – because I will be that relaxed and happy :)

In the meantime (just to keep me going) I’d appreciate it greatly if you could all regale me with tales of your Summer holidays, trips, escapades etc. as I plan on living vicariously through you lovely lot.

Enjoy yourselves, and spare a thought for little old me whilst you’re out playing with your buckets and spades! x

Prior to starting Perform I was working as a musical theatre actress and, like most jobbing actors, while I loved my time on stage, my life in between was inevitably peppered with rounds of hideous temping jobs which I hated.

However, there was a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. I knew I was happiest when working in the arts and so took a job teaching a children’s drama class. I’d love to be able to tell you that my eureka moment happened there and then in my very first class but, sadly, the reality was somewhat different.

I was taken on without so much as an audition and, having been breezily introduced to the children, I was just left to my own devices. I was terrified.

There was no formal training given – it was very much a case of sink or swim… and for a while, I really felt I was sinking. But after a few weeks, things began to change. I can’t pinpoint the precise point, but somewhere along the line I really began to enjoy it.

Fast forward a few months and I began to wonder if this was something I could really do… It was making me happier than my acting jobs. But, after a while, I wasn’t really satisfied working for someone else. I’d started developing techniques that I wanted to share with a wider audience and I was frustrated. I began to think about striking out on my own.

Today Perform has 130 schools, and I’m not done yet :)

While I can confidently say I’ve no regrets, building and running my own business has taught me a lot. Others who are thinking of starting their own businesses often ask me for tips, so ten years on, I thought I’d share ten tips with you:

1. Find something you’re really passionate about

If you’re going to be running your own business, you’d really better make it something that you’re genuinely passionate about. The chances are there will be tough times and in the early days, you’re probably not going to be earning a lot – if anything. As such, you’d really better love it or you’ll never put in the time and effort required.

2. Have a vision

I don’t necessarily mean you need a 140 page business plan – but you certainly do need to have a vision of what you want to achieve – short, medium and long-term – and a structured idea of how you’re going to get there.

3. Just do it

You know what? There will always be 101 really good reasons why you shouldn’t start your business right now. My advice? Do it anyway. If you’re committed and willing to work hard, you’ll be amazed at what you can overcome… If you sit around waiting for that ‘perfect’ time, you’ll probably never bite the bullet.

4. Sometimes pressure is good

In some respects, I was lucky – I didn’t have that much to give up – no high powered job with a fantastic salary and wonderful benefits – but it was still important to ensure that I couldn’t just throw in the towel if the going got tough. I borrowed a fairly modest amount to get me started and it was those loan repayments which forced me to make it work.

Sometimes pressure is good, if you really *have* to make it work… the chances are you will.

5. Think baby steps…

Break those enormous, seemingly insurmountable tasks into smaller more manageable ones – everything will seem less daunting; and you’ll have a fighting chance of getting something done. Likewise, aim for continuous improvement – building a business is often a gradual process. You’ll never have the resources to do everything you’d like to do right away – even when you’re established. Break it down and bit by bit make incremental improvements.

6. Recognise that in order to grow your business, you’ll have to relinquish control

This was absolutely, positively the hardest thing for me. In the early days I ran two schools myself. This quickly grew to nine schools… and suddenly I was working seven days a week. In order to grow, I had to recruit and train more teachers . No matter what your business model, you are going to have to let other people contribute or you’ll be limiting your potential. So, if you have to hire people…

7. Hire people who are better than you

Recognise your own strengths and weaknesses. You are not a superhero! There will always be some stuff which you’re just not great at. Hire fabulous people who are good at that stuff. Hire people who will challenge you and take your business forward. There’s no room in a vibrant business for ‘yes’ men and women… They may make you feel more comfortable, but they aren’t going to help you long-term.

8. Learn from your mistakes

When we first started out we spent a lot of money on local press advertising which didn’t work at all and we’ve had plenty of other disasters in our time. Be flexible enough to recognise what is and isn’t working and adjust your plans accordingly. Be open to exploring different routes to market.

9. Remember that all important work/life balance

Much as I love my work, I probably lost the work/life balance for a while. Remember that whilst your business is important, it’s not the *only* thing. Make time for your family, friends and of course yourself.

10. Take time to celebrate your successes

Don’t lose sight of what you’ve already achieved. Successes deserve to be celebrated and the people who helped you get there should also be rewarded. At the end the day, building a business is all about creating a motivated team with the same objectives. And there’s no greater motivator than success. Good luck!

Image credit House of Sims