A dance academy is a hundred batches, forty costumes and one annual day. The chaos is in the changeovers.

1. 01Students

   Students stop coming after the first term

   What it looks like

   A child joins a Bollywood batch in April, enjoys the first month, then misses two weeks for exams. Nobody calls. When the new term starts, her seat is empty and the fee never comes.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: 150 students at ₹2,500 a month is ₹3.75 lakh a month. Losing one in eight without noticing is about ₹47,000 a month, over ₹5.6 lakh a year.

   How Verity fixes it

   Attendance is recorded per class. Verity lists students who miss more than your limit, with their batch and fee status, and assigns a follow-up task to the instructor or front desk. What the parent said is recorded.

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2. 02Students

   Trial classes and enquiries are lost in chats

   What it looks like

   Instagram brings in thirty enquiries a month about hip hop and Kathak. Replies depend on who has the phone. Trial classes are promised for Saturday and nobody tells the instructor.

   What it costs you

   A trial is the best sale an academy has. An unfollowed trial is a lost year of fees.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each enquiry and trial is a record with style, age, preferred timing and next step. Verity lists trials with no follow-up and assigns each to a named person. Staff make the call; the outcome is recorded.

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3. 03Batches

   Batches are too thin or too full

   What it looks like

   The Kathak batch has four students, and the hip hop batch has twenty-six in a room built for eighteen. The owner finds out when the instructor complains.

   What it costs you

   A thin batch loses money every class, and an overfull one loses students who feel unseen or unsafe on a crowded floor.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each batch has a minimum, a cap and a floor capacity you set. Verity shows batches by students enrolled and flags those under the minimum or over capacity, with the room and instructor.

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4. 04Instructors

   Instructors are paid per class and the count is disputed

   What it looks like

   A Bharatanatyam guru is paid per session. At month end she counts 31 classes and the academy counts 28. Some were rescheduled, some were covered by a senior student, and some were group workshops.

   What it costs you

   A dispute over three classes sours a relationship with someone who may take her students elsewhere.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each class is recorded with the instructor, duration, type and whether it was taken, covered or cancelled. Verity totals classes by instructor for the month so the accountant works from a record. The academy still runs its own payroll.

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5. 05Instructors

   A star instructor leaves and the batch follows

   What it looks like

   The best contemporary instructor opens her own studio. Her students follow, because the academy has no record of each student's level or progress and no second instructor who knows them.

   What it costs you

   The loss is not one instructor but her whole batch list.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each student has a record with style, level, items learned and notes. A second instructor is named for each batch. Verity shows batches without a backup.

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6. 06Students

   Missed classes and make-ups are on WhatsApp

   What it looks like

   A batch is cancelled for a public holiday. A student is told she can join another batch, another is told to wait. By the next term parents say they have lost classes they paid for.

   What it costs you

   Parents who feel they lost paid classes do not renew, and unrecorded make-ups distort attendance.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each cancelled class is recorded with the reason and creates a make-up owed to each student. Verity lists make-ups owed and expiring, and records each when taken.

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7. 07Fees

   Fee renewals lapse and the extras are argued

   What it looks like

   Fees are paid monthly or per quarter. Some families pay for costumes, some for exams and some for the annual day. A family disputes a charge because the academy never wrote down what was included.

   What it costs you

   Overdue fees are a direct cash gap. Disputes about costume and event charges are the commonest cause of a family leaving on bad terms.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each student has a plan with due dates, discounts such as sibling, and what is included: costume, exam fee, annual day. Verity lists renewals due and dues by age, with a task for a named person. Payments come through your existing channels.

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8. 08Costumes

   Costumes: who has what, and what is owed back

   What it looks like

   The academy owns forty Bharatanatyam sets, thirty folk costumes and a rack of hip hop jackets. For the annual day, costumes are assigned from memory. After the show, six sets are not returned and two are damaged.

   What it costs you

   Costume sets are a real purchase, with Bharatanatyam sets quoted at roughly ₹1,500 to ₹5,000 in one parents' guide. Lost sets are bought again.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each costume is an asset record with size, condition, who holds it and when it is due back. Verity lists costumes not returned, those needing repair and sizes short for the next event.

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9. 09Costumes

   Costume sizes and orders are worked out the week before

   What it looks like

   Sixty children need costumes for the annual day. Sizes are collected on a paper, a tailor is found late and a rush charge is paid.

   What it costs you

   Rush orders cost more, and a child with the wrong size on stage is remembered by parents.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each student's measurements and costume needs are recorded per item in an event. Verity shows items and sizes to buy or stitch, by vendor and due date, and the cost against what was collected.

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10. 10Events

    Annual day and recitals run on chat groups

    What it looks like

    The annual day has 14 items, 3 rehearsals, a hall, a sound team, a photographer and a programme to print. Parents ask what time their child performs. The answers are in three chats and two sheets.

    What it costs you

    A badly run annual day is what parents remember, and last-minute changes leave students unprepared. One setup guide advises deciding early whether showcases are a cost or an income line.

    How Verity fixes it

    An event is a record with items, performers, rehearsals, venue, vendors and tasks with owners. Verity shows who is not yet in the line-up, which items lack a rehearsal and what the event costs against what has been collected.

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11. 11Compliance

    Music licences for events and recorded tracks

    What it looks like

    Dances at a show are performed to recorded film songs and some live music. Nobody has checked whether a licence is needed, or who to ask.

    What it costs you

    In India, IPRS generally licenses live performance of music and PPL generally licenses recorded music used outside a private setting. Whether a given event is exempt is not always clear, so the academy should confirm it.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each event record holds a checklist: the music used, whether recordings are used, the licence status and who decided. Verity raises a task for the owner before the date. The academy confirms with the rights bodies or an adviser.

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12. 12Compliance

    Child safety, floors and photos

    What it looks like

    A parent raises a concern about an instructor. There is no written policy, no record of the instructor's references and no named person. Elsewhere, a student sprains an ankle on a slippery floor and photos of children go on the academy's page without a record of consent.

    What it costs you

    Section 19 of the POCSO Act generally obliges any person who knows or has reason to believe an offence has been committed to report it. Children's photos and data also need care under the DPDP Act.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each instructor has a record with identity checks, references and training. The child safety policy and named contact are kept as documents. Concerns and incidents are logged with who acted, with access limited by role. Photo consents are recorded on the student with their purpose.

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13. 13Exams

    Exams, gradings and scholarships

    What it looks like

    Classical students may sit gradings or apply for cultural scholarships. The Ministry of Culture's Cultural Talent Search Scholarship pays ₹3,600 a year plus up to ₹9,000 a year to the guru for tuition. Documents and dates are in the guru's cupboard.

    What it costs you

    A missed entry date or an incomplete form costs a student a year, and parents blame the academy.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each student's exam or scholarship is a record with the body, date, fee and documents needed. Verity lists students who should apply and those whose papers are incomplete. Staff and gurus apply on the official channel.

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14. 14Owner

    More than one branch or rented studio hour

    What it looks like

    The academy rents a hall on weekdays and has a second branch in a school. Rent, rooms and instructors move between them. The owner cannot say which branch earns more.

    What it costs you

    Rent paid for empty hours, and no basis for deciding where to add a batch.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each branch and room is a location. Verity shows batches, students, collections and room use side by side, with empty rented hours listed.

    See the screen

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your dance academy works.

1. Week 1

   Discovery and mapping

   What we do

   Spend a Saturday and a weekday evening at the academy. Watch how a trial becomes a student, how a cancelled class is made up, how a costume is issued and how the annual day is planned. List the leaks.

   What we need from you

   Two to three hours of yours and the senior instructor's. The batch list, fee plans, instructor list and costume list.

   What you have at the end

   A written map of your academy: styles, batches, rooms, instructors, fees, costumes, events and the first problems we will close.

2. Weeks 2 to 3

   Configuration

   What we do

   Set up your styles and batches, rooms, fee plans with what each includes, make-up rules, costume register and event templates. Build the six screens in your academy's terms.

   What we need from you

   Check the setup with a senior instructor and the front desk. Tell us where a rule is wrong.

   What you have at the end

   A working Verity with your real batches, instructors and rules, ready for your data.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Migration and training

   What we do

   Bring in students, fee records, the costume register and last year's event notes from the notebooks and sheets you use. Train instructors and the front desk between classes.

   What we need from you

   The student and fee data in whatever form it exists. Half an hour with each instructor.

   What you have at the end

   Your students, batches and costumes inside Verity, and a team that has used it through a teaching week.

4. After go-live

   Operations partnership

   What we do

   Stay on after launch. Review the first weeks with you, tune the limits, and handle a new term, new batches and the build-up to your annual show.

   What we need from you

   A short monthly review with the owner.

   What you have at the end

   A system that keeps matching how the academy runs, with someone responsible for it.

• Owner

  Are batches full and are students staying?

  Students at risk, batches against minimum, renewals, costumes out and event costs.

• Coordinator

  What needs sorting this week?

  Cover, make-ups owed, trial follow-ups, costume returns and rehearsal slots.

• Instructor

  Who is coming and where are they in their learning?

  Their batches, attendance, level notes, make-ups and event items.

• Front desk

  Who is this and what do they owe?

  Enquiries, trial bookings, fee status, costumes issued and parent notes.

• Accountant

  What is paid, due and owed to instructors?

  Renewals, overdue fees, plan extras and classes taken by instructor.