Category Archives: Business Issues

What’s the Purpose of Your Studio?

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In the latest newsletter from Character First!, column writer Gene Linzey asks the question, “What’s the Purpose of Your Business?” He shares the responses he received from several business owners and then reveals what he considers the correct answer: To serve others without a selfish motive.

I was immediately compelled to ask myself the same question in relation to my teaching. What is the purpose of my studio? I ponder this on a regular basis and feel like I am always refining the answer and readjusting my priorities. One thing that occurred to me after I read Mr. Linzey’s “correct” answer was to contemplate whether my business is something that I would continue doing at no cost if it wasn’t necessary for me to make a living doing it. Perhaps that’s a good litmus test of sorts for evaluating business motives – or even whether your job is a good fit for you if you’re employed by someone else.

So…I’m curious to know. What’s the purpose of your studio? Would you keep teaching at no cost to your students even if you didn’t have to make a living at it?

[please note: this is meant to be purely philosophical in nature, not practical, since there are many reasons why it's important to charge for lessons even if it's not financially necessary.]

Monday Mailbag – Not Giving Credit for Missed Lessons

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Do you credit students for missed lessons if they let you know in advance that they’ll be gone? Also, do you charge for holding a space open for a student such as the one you mentioned that was moving or say if they had a long term injury such as a broken wrist?

I had several people ask about whether or not I charged the family in the case where they missed two months of lessons due to a move, so I thought it might be helpful to address it as a separate post. Basically, I’ve tried to structure my policies in a way so that I never credit a student for a missed lesson. The family that moved did pay the full amount for the two months even though they didn’t end up getting any lessons. They never even questioned it or hinted at not having
to pay. On one side I feel SO bad charging them when they aren’t even attending their lessons, but I know that on the business side of things I have to stick to my policies on this. Plus, if I make an exception for one family, then it’s not fair to charge other families for lessons that they miss, whether it’s one here and there, or a month or two of lessons for
some reason.

My policy also allows for me to cancel one additional lesson per student each semester as necessary and I’ve never had to cancel more than this. As long as I am holding the reserved time slot for the student, it must be paid for. Sometimes that seems hard, but business-wise, this is the only way I can make a living and be fair across the board. For broken wrists/arms, etc. we just spend the time on one-handed pieces and focus on other areas that the student can handle – theory games, technique, improv, a super fun listening activity, etc.

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Monday Mailbag – Lesson Scheduling Nightmares

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After 5 years of private teaching, my students are growing older and have many more conflicts in scheduling. Do you expect your students to be present every week (I do) and if they can’t, do you give them vacations or how do you make it work? What are your lesson attendance policies and do you have any thoughts? I’ve just always said that it’s this much per month no matter how many lessons we have…I don’t charge any studio fees, recital fees, anything, but I don’t think parents realize how much goes on outside of their 30 or 45 minute lesson! Help! I’m a little frustrated but I know many others have been down this road!

In general, yes, I expect students to attend their lesson weekly. But I know that piano lessons are just one part of their lives. They have other responsibilities and events and I understand that piano won’t always be the priority. I adhere to a pretty strict no make-up lesson policy because I don’t have the flexibility in my schedule to give lessons outside my regular teaching hours. For this reason, my studio families know that if they can’t make it to a lesson, they will just miss that lesson.

As scheduling conflicts arise, students and families have to make difficult choices about which activities to attend. If basketball tryouts are the same afternoon as the piano lesson, they have to decide whether to make the lesson or try out for the team. If a friend schedules a sleepover for the night of the piano lesson, they have to decide whether to skip the lesson or come anyway and maybe just arrive late at the party. And so on. Most of my studio families see their lessons as a long-term pursuit, not just a short-term stint, so I don’t give them a hard time for missing lessons. That’s life. And we’ll just pick back up the following week and press on.

As an aside, if we recognize and want parents to understand that the students’ music education encompasses so much more than just their weekly lesson, we have to not act like the world will fall apart if they miss one lesson. :-) In fact, I have a family who moved this fall and ended up missing two months of lessons while making the adjustment and getting settled into their new place. We are just now getting back into the swing of lessons. They may have forgotten a few things, or be a little rusty technically, but we are picking up where they’re at and moving forward. And in the long run, they’ll be just fine!

[NOTE: If you want to see the exact verbiage of my lesson attendance policies, just visit the Lesson Info page on my studio website.]

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Monday Mailbag – Music Magazines

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I have never ordered music/piano magazines and would like to get started. What’s your advice?

Here are the three that I receive and really enjoy:

American Music Teacher – automatically included in MTNA membership; lots of great articles and current info.

Clavier Companion – good interviews, teaching tips, etc.

Listen – a more generic music magazine with some interesting articles on a wide variety of topics.

If you’re looking for something for your students, Piano Explorer is a great monthly magazine!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Studio Website Advice Worth Hundreds of Dollars!

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I don’t know how I missed this Powerhouse Website Suggestions post by David Cutler (author of The Savvy Musician) back in May because I love keeping up with everything he writes, but I’m glad to have recently come across it (via his latest newsletter – you can sign up for it on The Savvy Musician home page).

Anyway, if you are thinking about designing and launching a studio website, already have one and want to improve it, or are considering a complete revamp of your studio website, you can get hundreds of dollars worth of fabulous advice just by reading his post with links to existing websites and his critique of each one. My studio website is badly in need of a revamp, and I know I’ll be studying this collection of websites and suggestions as I develop my new site. In fact, just reading the post inspires me to get a move on with several redesign projects! Hopefully the Music Matters Blog revamp (that has taken forever!) will be done soon and I’ll be able to spend some time working on a new studio website.

Also, if you have a studio website and want to include it on the Studio Website Listing, just send me an e-mail with your studio location and website address and I’ll add it to the listing. This page of websites will be much more prominent in the new blog design!

Commitment to Innovation

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In the latest issue of the American Music Teacher magazine, a publication of the Music Teachers National Association for its members, I found a couple statements by Executive Director Gary Ingle to be quite thought-provoking:

“I believe the next 15 years will be the most challenging in our history and will require more commitment to innovation. Over the past 135 years in general and the last 15 in particular, we have done a great job with the second part of our mission statement: to support the professionalism of music teachers. However, we haven’t done as good a job on the first part of our mission: to advance the value of music study and music making to society…

if we don’t aggressively and innovatively pursue the first part of our mission, there will certainly be no need for the second.”

More commitment to innovation. I love the prospect of innovation in the world of music study. The word innovation means, “the act of introducing new things or methods.” Just like every other business and organized activity, we are competing for the time and attention of the market. And just like anyone in the business world will tell you, in order to remain viable in the marketplace, you have to be innovative. The one who stubbornly refuses to understand the changing times and resorts to whining about declining interest in his field might as well close up shop and apply for a job somewhere else. But the one who sees, embraces, and learns to utilize the changes for greater effectiveness has unlimited opportunity for creative development and growth!

I know this is all more philosophical than practical, but (to borrow a quote from author Voddie Baucham in an entirely different context) “it is much easier to go from good theory to good practice than it is to go from no theory to good practice.”

And so I find myself thinking about this whole concept of commitment to innovation and wondering how I can apply this to promote music study and achieve greater effectiveness as a music teacher in the coming years. Any thoughts?

Monday Mailbag – How to Cover the Cost of Studio Incentives

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For the Traveling to Triumph auction, did you collect the souvenirs yourself, enlist parents, or what?

When I first started developing yearly practice incentive themes (visit this post for a list of some of the earlier themes that aren’t available in the resource store), I just charged families $10 for the student assignment book and then covered all the other costs from the amount I charged for lessons. This was not a good plan for my financial situation. :-)

Several years ago I started charging a yearly registration fee of $50 (due by August 1) that helps offset the cost of running practice incentive themes, printing materials, purchasing awards, renting facilities, etc. This has been SO helpful! Since I develop our theme for the year in the late summer/early fall, this usually gives me plenty of time to keep my eyes open for good deals throughout the year. Sometimes I know exactly what I want and do tons of research to find good deals; other times (like with the Traveling to Triumph auction) I had a general idea that I wanted items from each of the countries to which we traveled. I found the desired items throughout the year, either on-line, at stores around town, or occasionally when a friend or parent suggested something. (The only exception was the chocolate kinder eggs from Germany that I had my heart set on, so my neighbor had her Germany-dwelling son send her a box of them for me!)

Most of the time, I try to avoid trinkets and instead develop the theme in a way so that the end goal is more about personal achievement. When I use tangible awards, I like it to be something meaningful, lasting, and related to the students’ musical growth (e.g. a trip to a symphony rehearsal or a recording studio, the opportunity to produce and sell music-related projects, a custom-designed and printed name plaque, etc.). I usually allocate $200-$300 to the year-end trip/award/project, etc. – whatever it may be.

For others who use incentive themes and plan special awards/events for your students, do you collect a registration fee? Or do you cover these expenses out of the regular lesson fee? Or do you have parents contribute separately for these things? Or something else?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Monday Mailbag – Three Simple Questions to Help You Figure Out What to Charge for Lessons

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My question is about prices/tuition. I moved to the east coast three years ago and have had a hard time figuring out what the going rates are for piano lessons.  I am an MTNA member, have played the piano for 30+ years, and taught for about 20 years, but I’m just not sure what to charge. Do you have any suggestions?

Eve though I’m not located on the east coast, I think there are several guiding principles you can use to help determine what to charge. Perhaps the best approach is to ask yourself these three questions:

  • How much do I want/need to make? – I do most of my budgeting on a monthly basis, so I know how much I need to make per month in order to meet my expenses and other budget line items. Everyone’s needs are different and that’s the beauty of setting prices in a free market society. You can set up your business structure and cash flow according to what works best for you.
  • What type of clientele do I want to attract? – And, consequently, how much will they pay for lessons? One could have a very successful business offering private lessons in-home to wealthy retired, but active, people who would love to play that gorgeous grand piano sitting in their living room (my financial adviser is always trying to talk me into doing this!). That teacher could charge a premium for their services. Conversely, you could have a successful business offering in-studio lessons to predominantly one income families with multiple children who value a well-rounded music education (which happens to be my current model). Therefore, I charge a lower rate than the above scenario would allow, thus keeping lessons affordable for these families.
  • How do I provide excellent value for my clients in a way that promotes the professional nature of my business? – You do not want to sacrifice your business image in the name of cheaper prices. You have to charge enough and in a way that helps the families value what is being offered and make it a priority. For this reason, I charge a flat monthly rate (never a per lesson rate – I don’t even have a clue what one lesson would cost) and do not offer make-up lessons. When I switched to this payment structure quite a few years ago, I saw a huge improvement in lesson attendance, practice consistency, and the level of importance that lessons took in my studio families. I think charging per month or semester is one of the best decisions a studio teacher can make finance-wise.

I know there are lots of other factors involved in determining what to charge, but these three fundamental considerations have probably been the most helpful to me in establishing and running my studio. If you have other suggestions, though, please feel free to share! How do you determine what to charge for lessons?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Monday Mailbag – Business Types

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As I contemplate venturing out into the World Wide Web, I’m thinking I should change my business structure from a Sole Proprietorship to an LLC for liability purposes.  I’d be interested in hearing what other teachers have done, especially those of you who have web sites.

Since we’re at the start of a new teaching year, I’m pulling questions that have a bit more to do with the business side of running a studio. And I’m really glad that this one wasn’t phrased as a direct question toward me because I don’t think I can offer much input! I started out as a sole proprietorship and have remained that way ever since. At one point, I visited with an accountant to discuss the pros and cons of incorporating. After reviewing my particular situation, neither of us thought it was the best route at the time.

There are certainly risks associated with running a website and I’ve had to deal with legal things I never expected as a result of it! My best advice, though, is to educate yourself. Whether it means setting up a consultation with an attorney or accountant, reading through legal and business books, scouring the internet for helpful resources, or discussing situations with friends who own businesses (or all of the above!), the best thing you can do for yourself and your business is become knowledgeable about laws and policies governing the market. If and when someone does come after you, there’s nothing that beats being able to quickly send a well-written, well-researched, and well-documented response that addresses the concerns or accusations that have been raised.

I know of a few teachers who have incorporated their studios, but most of the ones I know operate as a sole proprietorship. It would be great to hear from others, though, about how they have structured their studios and the reasoning behind it! So, please share: what kind of business entity is your studio?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

One More Thing About Music Teacher’s Helper

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As long as we’re talking about Music Teacher’s Helper (MTH), I wanted to let you know that you can now receive 20% off your first month’s subscription if you use the link in this post! Not only that, but when you use my link, it also helps support Music Matters Blog and all the resources available here. :-)

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing to MTH, but are still on the fence I encourage you to give it a try. You can always unsubscribe at any time if it doesn’t work for you. But I can’t adequately express how much it has streamlined the business side of my studio. In the last several weeks I’ve interviewed several prospective students and every one of the families was immediately impressed with how organized and professional everything was. By the time they made it home from the interview, they had an e-mail waiting in their inbox with their account login information and the ability to pay on-line via credit card and/or set up a recurring subscription payment for lessons.

Even though I use it constantly throughout the year, it’s especially now when I’m enrolling new students that I’m reminded of how much I appreciate MTH and all the time and energy it saves me!