finance Archives - Music Studio Startup

Interview on Finance for Musicians

May 16, 2018

This week I had the honor of being interviewed by Scott Stratton for his blog, Finance for Musicians. Scott is a Certified Financial Planner and the founder of Good Life Wealth Management. He gets what it means to be a musician, though, because he’s also a freelance trombonist in Dallas! I’ve learned a lot from…

Creating a Music Studio Financial Plan

May 7, 2018

business plan, finance, startup, studio management

My favorite part of business planning is developing the financial plan. This is when we lay all our assumptions out on paper and try to realistically predict how much $$$ it will take to start our business, what it will earn over time, and how long it will take to become a profitable venture. It’s…

Creating a Personal Budget + Worksheet!

April 23, 2018

budgeting, debt-free, finance, personal finance, retirement, saving money, taxes

The first step to building a sustainable studio is to know how much you need to earn to keep yourself (and your family, if you have one) alive! The way to do that is to create a budget! Armed with this information, you can feel confident you’re taking this next step in your music career…

7 Smart Ways to Use a Tax Refund

April 9, 2018

budgeting, finance, goals, personal finance, taxes

If you have a tax refund coming your way, take a minute to read this before you spend it all on a spontaneous weekend getaway to Mexico. (Even if that does sound delightful right now…) Spending the money on something fun might be good, but also consider putting part (or all!) of that refund toward…

Four Music Teacher Tax Myths

March 5, 2018

finance, personal finance, taxes

Taxes for the self-employed can be confusing and frustrating. It’s also one of the biggest areas of fear for my coaching clients. I’m not an accountant or tax preparer, but I’ve been a nerd about understanding my own taxes for long enough to address some common music teacher tax myths! Myth #1 “If I was…

How to Increase Hourly Earnings without Raising Rates

April 3, 2017

finance, increasing income, personal finance

Sometimes we get so caught up in doing more to grow our studios (More students! More classes! More new stuff!) that we miss the potential in what we are already doing. In my coaching programs, we talk a lot about “effective hourly rates.” That’s the hourly rate you earn when you take into account the time…

How Much SHOULD I Charge for Music Lessons

February 20, 2017

branding, budgeting, finance, personal finance

Deciding how much to charge for music lessons is much more art than science.There are no hard and fast calculations you can do (like you can for figuring out how much you NEED to charge), but these are some factors to consider when setting your rates: 1. How much do you NEED to charge? Setting a…