|
|
| Hi all - I know many of you own studios, either in your home or otherwise, and I'm planning to start one up after I move up north this spring (in Michigan, sort of in the south "thumb" area). The space is approx 14' x 17', not including one wall of enclosed cabinets & shelves. The other 3 walls are all windows, with a propane-powered stone fireplace in one corner. The floor is pine (currently covered by a rug and in very nice condition). One of the window walls is probably 300 ft from the road, but it's a dirt road and not especially busy. The back window wall, fortunately, has a beautiful view of about 40 acres of rolling meadows and trees.
This is part of my parents' old house, and another neat feature is that they built this room with their own hands before moving on to build their dream house at the back of the land (tucked amidst the trees - you can't even see it this time of year when the trees don't even have leaves).
So, what sorts of things do I need to know before I get started? What sort of advertising is best? What time of year is the best for starting up? How many people do you think I can comfortably fit in that space? Please bring on the tips! Thanks in advance for your knowledge and assistance! |
|
| |
|
| first of all, the room sounds really, really lovely. Use the shelves and cupboards for all of your storage needs, and that'll give you more floor space.
i don't like practicing on rugs. but, you might, so make up your own mind of how you want to use it. You may only want to use it in winter to help keep the room warmer.
So, what sorts of things do I need to know before I get started?
You want to make sure that you're insured. There are two ways of going about this. First, you can get yoga teacher's liability insurance (best bet!). YOga Alliance and the California Yoga Teachers Association offer great group policies. I get my through Yoga Alliance. It costs me something like $150/yr for $3M in liability insurance coverage. I'm considering taking out the disability insurance as well (it's an extra $50 i think).
The second way you can do this is through your home-owner's insurance. i caution against this though, because it could leverage your house against someone's injury. you loose the house, then there's a problem, no? so, it gets hairy. I recommend focusing on the independent liability insurance.
What sort of advertising is best?
I always like to start grass roots. If you generally know the community, then you have a good 'in.' Start with a local church or mom's group or some other organization of interest. Offer them a free trial and bring them to your space. at the end of class, give them your class schedule, description, and price list. Be sure that you take down their name, phone number, and email. Before your session of classes starts, call each person to let them know of your class schedule and encourage them to come to class. It's really helpful to say "you really had a talent for yoga and you seemed to enjoy it. i hope that you will come and practice with us!" that sort of thing.
next, i like flyers. I do flyers that have tear-off business cards or a card pocket with my information on it. i put these out at community centers and health food stores. It may also be helpful to make brochures that you can put out at doctor's offices. My gyn and general practitioner as well as my chiropractor all display my materials in their waiting rooms. This has gotten me a few clients.
the next few steps involve a little bit more time or money. FIrst, look for local free publications in your area that deal with holistic health issues or something that may work with yoga. I don't know what the yoga community is like where you're moving, but there's likely some kind of free publication that deals with these sorts of things. If there isn't, check for a general community newspaper. Once you find these papers, call them and find out what it would take to get an article published. You can write an article about the benefits of yoga (general, or for the specific population), and in that article you can talk about how you teach. Nothing too direct, but something like "my practice really changed when i started teaching in 2002. i began to notice yoga on a completely different level--and my respect for the practice became deeply profound." this will indicate to the reader that you are a yoga teacher, and at the end you can put a little bio "Jean teaches yoga in her intimate, in-home studio located in Cute Town, Mi. For more information on classes and private lessons, contact Jean at -----."
this is the free publicity method. Sometimes, newspapers are seeking this sort of information--they'll let you write the article, you may even get a column about health, fitness, and yoga or something, which would be great. Other times, these free pubs want only certain people to write articles--their staff. Invite the staff member to one of these events that you're going to have at your studio for a free trial. They may or may not write an article right away, but it is helpful to have someone on the 'inside.'
Free publications, though, make their money on advertisements. You may consider putting an advertisement in the free publication--and if you're writing an article as well this is a good way to make sure that they publish it. Often, they'll publish the article right next to your ad. I know one pilates teacher in this area who writes a monthly pilates column for a free pub, and has three advertisements in the same publication. A small one early, a large one right on her page with her article, and a half-page somewhere in the back of the free publication. This is an expensive route, but it has worked well for her. she's overbooked and has now taken on two other teachers in her home studio.
Free publication advertising can be affordable or expensive depending upon the publication, the size, the graphics, and a myriad of other factors. But, most easily and openly publish their information on how to get an ad in there. So, look for that page and it should explain everything.
What time of year is the best for starting up?
i generally recommend the fall--but after school has started. Usually, after labor day is a good time for real 'start up' but setting up this spring or whenever you move by making connections is a good idea. Over the summer, offer all sorts of free classes. as you get closer to fall and having a schedule of classes set up, be sure to follow up with those who attended your free classes. This helps build your clientele before you've actually started classes. this will help you classes fill via word of mouth.
but, any time of year will work. you know that it's going to take time to build, so early on, be mindful about this process and don't get discouraged. For example, when i first started teaching i offered 'free' classes to people in my neighborhood clubhouse. i started with only a couple of people interested--5 or 6. the class grew to a steady 15. When i moved into my home studio with them, class size was cut into three classes of 5 people, and i charged $20 per student. This dropped to two classes after the first session (i prefer sessions, but i do offer class cards at $18/per class), but i was also able to build the third class back up through non-neighborhood people. I also took on two clients privately through this method. I started my first class in november. and i switched to a new location (my home) the following april. so, it was odd timing.
a friend of mine who owns a karate studio recommended opening the studio and striving to build clientele, and then holding a 'grand opening' some 6 to 8 months later once you have a 'critical mass' of clients to fill the space in the photographs. this seems to work well for yoga studios arund here.  also, my friend invited the press from the local free publication to the event. He started his place in the late spring and then held the grand opening in september.
How many people do you think I can comfortably fit in that space?
this i do not know. when i had my studio, and when i planned my in-home studio, i laid out my mats to see how many would fit in a manner that i considered 'comfortable.' my room is considerably smaller (it's a bedroom), but it does fit five rather well. Six can fit, but it feels crowded (well, that's 6 students plus me). The nice thing about the room is that when i have a private lesson, it doesn't feel like the room is too big. i do well with classes of 4 or 5 in the room.
but, do the mat method to see what works best.
Anything else? hmm. not that i can think of. there are probably lots of things to consider. . .
|
|
| |
|
| Suggestions for new yoga studio on 14 by 17.
Keep minimal essentials in the room, remove everything else including wall pictures, rugs, etc.
|
|
| |
|
| Thank you so much! I love the publicity ideas. I don't know a lot of people in the community but I do have a pretty good feel for what the area is like, since my folks have lived there so long. My husband's brother and his dad are pretty active in the church and the high school, so that might provide some good routes for offering the free classes. I love the column idea too! I could start working on building up a file of articles now to have a bit of a file built up by the time the place is ready.
There are two restaurants in town that are REALLY popular and they both sell advertising on their placemats. Unfortunately neither of them offer very healthy fare that I could recommend to anyone in good conscience! Still, it's a good way to get my name in front of just about everyone. What do you think about that? Is that a conflict?
I'm definitely planning on taking the rug up for classes, but I might keep it around just to keep the floor safe and clean during other activities. The pine floor looks brand new and I'd love to keep it that way as long as possible! The shelves in the closet are perfect for props and for all my personal books and magazines as well.
I found some beautiful Indian pillow covers made out of old tapestries and saris, they are such a good price and I thought they might be neat to put around the room for seated meditation (or just lounging in front of the fire!). Do you think that would be a distraction to have in the room (in the corners or against the wall) during class? There would really be nothing else on the walls, in fact since 3 of the walls are big windows it might make the space seem less cramped. I like the idea of spreading out the mats and seeing how many seem "comfortable." Perhaps I could even rustle up some volunteers to try it out and tell me at which point they feel they've reached critical mass.
I already have personal liability for traveling to classes, but I am probably going to add more insurance for the physical room being in my house. Especially since I'll be renting the home from my parents at first - the last thing I'd want to do is put their land and dream house in any kind of legal danger! Fortunately, my husband is heavily entrenched in the insurance biz and can understand the nuances of the different policies. |
|
| |
|
| jeansyoga - 2006-01-02 6:15 PM
There are two restaurants in town that are REALLY popular and they both sell advertising on their placemats. Unfortunately neither of them offer very healthy fare that I could recommend to anyone in good conscience! Still, it's a good way to get my name in front of just about everyone. What do you think about that? Is that a conflict?
Depends on what you want on the placemat. I'd put something like "Now that you've eaten here, purge your body of the toxics by coming to my yoga studio!" |
|
| |
|
| LOL!! I didn't think of it that way! Actually, maybe I could phrase something in a way to make it sound more "open" to everyone - this is an area where a lot of people still think you have to be a vegan celibate Hindu in order to practice yoga.
"JeansYoga - bacon-burger-lovers welcome!"  |
|
| |
|
| JeansYoga- We Still Eat Meat! |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Jean - the pillows sound great. I don't think they'll distract at all. Do the windows have drapes? If not, some thick drapes with liners will help keep the heat in - but in that area, I'll bet they already have them.
One way to put the mats is to lay them out corner to corner so it looks like a checker board. That is about the minimum amount of space that works. One of our teachers brought the idea back from France. It allows space for props and "overhang" for bodies in poses like ardha chandrasana. I use it only in times of dire need but some teachers who may be a little more on the "organized" side (just a touch of OCD  ) really like it all the time. In our room which holds 20, we have had 27 quite comfortably a couple of times.
I have seen "Yoga for the Rest of Us" on PBS. It sems to be focused on seniors but I think it is a great slogan |
|
| |
|
| No drapes - do you think I need to hang some? When my mom designed the room, she wanted to feel as much like she was outside as possible (but without the bugs!). When the fireplace is working, it keeps the room PLENTY warm. We just need to get the propane line checked because it hasn't been used in a while, then we'll be good to go. In the summertime, all the windows open (with screens) and it makes for wonderful breezes with birds singing - it's great!
When I went to a REALLY popular workshop in Chicago, they had all our mats lined up directly next to one another, edge to edge, without even an inch between them. It was very interesting, particularly wide-angle forward bends! It created the unique yogic union of your head with your neighbor's butt - glad I wore clean drawers that day.  |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Well, the drapes would be very helpful at night for keeping heat in. Even double glazed windows lose heat. But I understand the concept of wanting it to seem like outdoors. Also, once you have a big space of windows, you have to take up some of it when you open big drapes. I have a sort of bay window at home that I am hesitant to put drapes on for that reason. No matter how I figure it, I'll lose part of the nice view when they are open.
Classes "mat to mat" are what we hear about from big events in India. For Geeta Iyengar's 60th birthday our teacher told us they were mat to mat plus one overlapping so one student did down dog with one hand or foot on soneone else's mat! I think they don't have fire marshalls there  |
|
| |
|
| i think the placemat idea is a good one, if it is affordable. There is a company here that makes those place mats for various locations. So, you buy an ad with them and then you get your ad in 30 or 40 restaurants.
i have decided not to go that route, but to be more focused in my advertising--as much as humanly possible. but, i'm no expert.
i think the pillows sound nice, as long as they're out of the way. |
|
| |
|
| How about putting up posters or brochures with a faq about yoga classes, benefits of yoga, what to expect? Add a coupon or coupons with a free class for new students. You could pass those out to current students and also around your town. Just an idea. Walls that are free of stuff so you can do a handstand against them are really nice for a studio. Wall length mirrors are nice for feedback as to how one is really doing a pose. I agree with the lack of clutter idea. Best of luck. |
|
| |
|
| ...and for God's sake, no sharp objects like that on a stone fountain like I crashed into while attempting my first handstand--I still have scars. |
|
| |
|
| Althought there are "Specialty" insurance companies out there (that are pricey) you will find your basic All State (who I use) and such, are better for many reasons. First, they've been in business longer and know what they are doing and will move quickly for you when and if you need. Secondly, there is no reason to have "yoga" insurance - in fact, it's not totally valid; it goes under a cross of fitness/education and health. You can get this with almost ANY insurance company with a lot MORE coverage for a lot LESS cost.
I pay less than $300 a year for over 3,000 square feet and have the coverage which includes everything what a Gymnastics studio would have, a alternative health provider (hipaa concerns) and a small business. It covers it ALL.
Also, you need to make sure you are willing to have strangers in your home, and access that they will not disrupt your home as well. I'd be more concerned about safety while NOT in session.
You also want to make sure that your town allows a home business and all permits you need are cleared first..and parking is an issue in some cases.
Starting a business is not an easy task, but it will be best done if you take all precautions first. |
|
| |
|
| 
 |
|
| |
|
| GreenJello - 2006-01-02 8:18 PM
JeansYoga- We Still Eat Meat!
LOL: We still drink alcohol! |
|
| |
|
| GreenJello - 2006-01-02 8:18 PM
JeansYoga- We Still Eat Meat!
LOL: We still drink alcohol! |
|
| |
Home Studio tips
