If you want to start teaching piano from your own piano studio, you can earn more than before. You get to run the business, make decisions, and keep all the earnings for yourself. Teaching from a college or someone’s private music school decreases your earning potential by about 50%. Of course the owner of the school you teach piano from will expect to have a cut from the profits. Follow these simple tips to start your own piano lesson business.
1. From the beginning of your home-based business, you should make your piano teaching business legitimate by registering it. This can prevent legal complications later on and is helpful once you decide to expand your music school. Teaching piano like a pro can also help you gain credibility from clients.
2. If you are not a certified piano teacher, you may want to consider taking pedagogy courses to become a professional piano teacher. Teaching piano without teaching certification can limit your earnings because a professional teacher can charge higher rates. Students and parents of your students will also be more confident enrolling with a real piano teacher. You can get more students if you have pedagogy certificates.
3. Promote your piano lesson business so that people in your community will know that you offer lessons. You won’t get any students if no one knows about your piano business. Talk to schools in your neighborhood, they can refer students to you if they themselves do not offer piano lessons. Print fliers to be distributed about town. Post advertisements in your local newspapers and community bulletin.
4. You can start teaching piano from your house, but decide if you have plans of expanding the business in the future. Building a piano studio at home is not cheap and it will make better economic sense to prepare for expansion during construction. If you want to get a commercial space later on, you don’t have to make your homes studio too large.
5. Once you start getting more pupils than you can handle, don’t rashly turn down new clients. Why not offer group lessons so you can accommodate more pupils. Teaching piano to more students means more earning for you too. If you really think that you can’t handle the pressure and volume of students, don’t push it and risk burning yourself out. Hire extra teachers to help you.
6. Watch your earnings and cash flow. It is important to separate your business expenditure from your household expenses. Keep a separate bank account for your piano business and pay bills incurred by your business from your earnings. Never mix budget from your household with bills incurred in your studio. Keep separate financial records for your home and business.
Starting piano lessons from your own studio is more enjoyable than being an employee at a music school. You also get to make more money by teaching piano from your own studio. You can charge between $15 to $30 per 30 minute lesson. If your students complain that the rate is too high, you can add another 15 minutes for those who pay over $25. Find out what other teachers in your town are charging piano students. Teaching from an upscale community also allows you to charge more.