lifestyle Archives - Music Studio Startup

Increasing Income Through Other Business Ventures

June 11, 2018

entrepreneurship, focus, goals, increasing income, introspection, lifestyle, passive income

We’ve been focused on the music studio startup phase, but now I want to fast forward to when your studio is at full capacity. What’s next for the motivated music teacher? At this point, most teachers I coach are looking for ways to increase their income through other business opportunities. The Natural Next Step? Many…

Crafting a More Flexible Studio Calendar

July 31, 2017

lifestyle, studio management

I think my calendar is trying to kill me. This is not the first time we’ve had our disagreements. A few years ago I noticed that my studio calendar was becoming rather demanding, so we sat down and renegotiated. For the first time ever, I scheduled time off. Real time off. The kind where I close…

Checklist for a Carefree Summer Vacation

June 5, 2017

customer service, lifestyle, studio management, time management

With summer vacation season upon us, I thought I’d share the checklist I follow to prepare for time away from my studio. Usually, students are understanding of occasional weeks of for vacations (everyone needs a break!), but forgetting to communicate the travel in advance can lead to frustration. To keep a happy studio, it is important that…

A Simple Studio Policy: 5 Points to Include

May 8, 2017

lifestyle, studio management, studio policy, systems

“What should I include in my studio policy?” This is one of the first topics new teachers ask about. Basically, a studio policy should include anything relevant to the business relationship you have with your students. This document will probably change over time and it will be influenced by your life situation and priorities. Topics to…

How to Say “No” (And Still Be a Decent Human Being)

May 1, 2017

customer service, introspection, lifestyle, time management

I’ve been a little over-extended the last few weeks. I’ve had some neat opportunities come up and, of course, I want to seize ALL of them. Sometimes I try. Yeah, it usually ends up as you’d imagine…a disaster, haha. Focusing on the Important Things This week has been one of stepping back, reviewing goals and priorities, and…

Questions to Inspire Bold Goal-Setting

December 26, 2016

goals, introspection, lifestyle

As the year draws to a close and I think about goals for the new year, I’m using these questions to evaluate my studio as it currently is and determine where I can improve. I’ve broken the questions down into categories so I can choose where to spend my energy in the coming months: Branding How…

6 Ways a Niche Can Help Your Teaching Career

December 19, 2016

branding, lifestyle, marketing

A lot of music teachers are apprehensive about choosing a niche because they worry it will make them less marketable. Not true, my friends! In fact, when you’re teaching in a competitive area, I believe focusing on a niche makes you more marketable. Here’s why: 1. You’ll be a better teacher When you narrow your…

Graduate Debt-Free by Teaching Music

November 14, 2016

budgeting, debt-free, lifestyle, personal finance

Last week I had the honor of being featured on the Principles of Increase blog in a story about how to get a through college debt-free (at a private university, no less!). You know I heart smart personal finance and a debt-free college education! Why Not Take Student Loans? I don’t think I had a…

A New Student Interview is Like a First Date: How I Know When a Student is Not “The Right Fit”

September 26, 2016

lifestyle, new students

A new student interview is a lot like a first date. You correspond a bit by email. You arrange to meet in person. You talk over coffee (or maybe an instrument) for a while. You go home and evaluate everything that happened. You decide whether or not you want to see the person again. In the dating world,…

Make More Money as a Musician

July 18, 2016

lifestyle, personal finance

Has the life of a starving artist lost its charm? If you want to make more money as a music teacher, there are basically three ways to do it (and some are better than others): 1. Teach or work more hours Get more students or take on a second job. You can see the inherent limitation of…

How a Personal Budget Kept Me from Going Broke

June 15, 2016

budgeting, lifestyle, personal finance

One of the steps I took during college to prepare to start my music school was to create a personal budget. There are plenty of reasons to make a budget but, to put it bluntly, I needed to know how much I had to earn in that first year (at a minimum) to survive. Figure Out Your Survival Number…