Over the past two decades our industry has thrived through multiple challenges, including 9/11 and the financial crisis of the late 2000s – but we have never seen anything like this. Who could have imagined when we were ringing in the New Year that a Pandemic would be threatening the health of our businesses and our loved ones? Yet, this is precisely what we are facing today.
Around the world, the owners and staff of fitness studios, spas, salons and integrative health centers are dealing with severe impacts of COVID-19, and since you serve these customers too we know the stakes are incredibly high. As technology companies devoted to serving these small businesses, that means our future is threatened as well. So, we not only feel enormous empathy and care for you – know that we are all in this together.
Here is what we are doing to help you:
- Usage based API fees. We are committed to supporting you during this time. We are investing to help our mutual customers during this difficult time. Fortunately, our API fee model is usage based (meaning we only charge if a call is made during your billing period). We recommend adjusting your API calls based on the needs of your customers and your business. Your bill will adjust accordingly.
- Increasing the quantity and availability of Mindbody education resources. Our powerful Mindbody University content is available to all of our customers through our learning center. In addition, our team is posting timely and relevant COVID-19-related topics to our education hub to help your business weather this storm. Lastly, we commenced a webinar series with Mindbody Business Consultants offering best practices, creative ideas, leadership, etc. Last Friday’s panel was focused on fitness studios. This week, we are planning a panel for owners of salons, spas and integrative health centers.
- Lobbying governments for small business relief. We are all watching the news from or respective governments with anticipation. Hopefully, there is meaningful relief coming for millions of people and large impacted industries, such as travel and hospitality. At the same time, Mindbody is working diligently to ensure our legislators are remembering the impact to the wellness industry and we are using what influence we have to advocate for you all.
In closing, let us not forget that we are in an industry in the middle of a massive growth wave. But we do know that wellness is neither a fad nor a luxury. It is an expectation for hundreds of millions of people, and more are joining their numbers every day. For this reason, we are confident the wellness industry will not only recover from this COVID-19 Pandemic, it will come back even stronger than before.
Questions? Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Partner Manager.
Stay strong. Stay healthy. Stay positive. We will get through this together.
