Choosing to follow a yoga lifestyle can be a challenging one, but starting your own yoga studio doesn’t have to be. If you’re looking to share your knowledge and peace of mind with the world, you too can start your own yoga studio.
To start a yoga studio, you should first learn how to do yoga and become an expert in the practice and the state of mind. Create your business plan and your budget, plan out your location, create your fee schedule and your class schedule, and start marketing your classes.
While following these steps may be challenging at first, once you start creating your business plan, the rest will follow. Read on to find out more about how you can go from here to working in your own yoga studio.
Learn yoga and become an expert at the practice, not just the activity.
While many students will simply want to learn yoga, make sure you not only understand the activity, but are authentically living the yoga lifestyle. Learn how to practice meditation, create a spiritual environment, focus on positive relationships between you and your students, and focus on one particular type of yoga. Understand that this may be challenging to do, but doing so will give your students a more authentic focus on yoga and make it not just an entertaining activity, but a state of mind.
- Create your business plan.
Every small business, whether a service or a shop, needs to have a business plan. Before you even consider renting out a space or thinking about your budget, you need to plan out your business steps. There are so many ways to fail when creating a business, and making sure your business plan has ways around failure means that you’re more likely to succeed.
What do you need to include in a business plan? There are many templates and how to’s online, but for the most part, you will need to consider the following:
- Business name. Arguably one of your most important decisions, you can sort this out after some brainstorming.
- Operating procedures. What are your hours? What kind of rules and regulations will you uphold in your studio?
- Management and staffing. Who is in charge? What is the contact hierarchy between you and your employees?
- Mission statement and goals. Why are you creating this yoga studio? What do you want to achieve? What do you want people to learn? This is very important for a spiritual activity that you’re conducting. People will want to know what your vision and your mission is, so make sure once you create this, it’s included on your website and your social media pages.
- Licenses and permits. This will include researching exactly what you might need in the area you’re planning to open your business. You may need a business license, certificate of occupancy, and any potential yoga teacher licenses that your local or state governments may require.
- Insurance. Do your research about your potential insurance need. You may need insurance on your business or on your building.
- Business structure. To make any other business decisions, you need to determine what type of business you are. A limited liability company helps best in times of legal struggles.
- Finances. While this is a part of your business plan, more of how to create your budget will be discussed in the next point.
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- Create your budget.
Every business needs a budget to begin, and this yoga studio plan is no different. Make sure you consider what kind of funding you may need to start your business. The following are some considerations that need to be made before you even open your doors:
- Location. If you’re planning on holding classes in your own storefront, within your home or even online, you still need to budget for the location. Some locations can cost up to $50,000 for a storefront, or you can spend minimal amounts of money preparing your space at home for people or for recording. Make sure you include this in your budget regardless of where you plan to conduct your lessons.
- A scheduling and point-of-sale system. You may not be selling products, but you will be collecting payment for your services. Make sure you have a way to collect that money, but also a way to schedule your clients. A decent computer system can make sure you have that availability.
- Marketing. Your clients won’t know about you and your classes unless you tell them. Add in your budget enough to cover any sort of marketing you wish to do. A website usually costs about $250 to make yourself, so consider putting in the work on making your own website. Social media websites are free, and you can start building a following there with original content.
- Staffing. Make sure you budget not only for yourself but for any other employees you may plan to have. Many business owners forget that they also need to be paid for their work.
- Insurance and other business expenses. Make sure you include in your budget enough money for any business permits, insurance, and licensure that you may require before you open your doors.
When creating your budget, you should also consider how much you plan to bring in. Determining how much profit you need to make will help you to put together your scheduling.
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- Plan your location.
This can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. If you plan on conducting classes online, prepare the space that you’re going to be working in. If you’re going to do it at home, make sure you have all the supplies and permits you may need for that space to work.
If you’re planning on finding a storefront for your yoga studio, be prepared to hunt for the right space. Consider talking to your city or county development agencies to find out where the best real estate is for such an endeavor. You may also need to consider renovating, so make sure if this is the path you want to take that it is within your budget to do so.
Some things to remember when looking for your location—you will need enough space for each individual student that you plan to have in your class, have decent access to your building through foot, public transportation, or parking, and you need basic facilities like a reception area, classrooms, a changing room, and a bathroom.
- Create your fee schedule and create your class schedule.
The next step is creating your class schedule. How many classes will you teach? What kind of classes will you teach? Start by considering what your strengths and weaknesses are, and go from there. Once you determine what exactly you want to teach, research when people attend yoga classes and schedule your classes around those times. Make it as convenient as possible for your potential clients, as the more you can bring in, the higher your profit will be.
When you are finished creating your schedule, consider how much money you need to make from each class to bring in a profit for your business. Then, you can divide that cost by how many people you will have in each class to give yourself the right number for how much each individual would have to pay for your class. Make sure this is comparable to other yoga studios in your area so you can stay competitive, but also make sure it isn’t too low that you will not profit.
- Start marketing your classes.
People can’t attend to what they don’t know about, so start telling them about your business. Use your website and your social media pages to start creating hype, and you can even link your schedule and your fees, along with your point-of-sale system, to those pages to facilitate signing up. The more you share consistently, the more likely you will find the right demographic of clients to sign up for your classes.
There are many benefits to starting your own yoga studio that aren’t’ related to a profit. Because of the inherently spiritual nature of yoga, you can help fill a space in that market that people may not have had before. Through your yoga studio, you can also build your own community of like-minded people. Share your vision, teach through kindness and understanding, and show your clients that you’re not just focused on the bottom line, but you’re focused on teaching them to find inner peace and serenity through the act of yoga.
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Frequently Asked Questions
In many cases, it will take between $15,000 and $30,000 to start your own studio. Most of the costs will be your location and your licensure.
While there is no set number for how much space you need, many yoga studios will have enough space for a two by six foot mat and some clearance around it for range of movement, leaving about 21 square feet per person.
To learn more about starting your own Yoga Business check out my startup documents here.
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Yoga Fan
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online yoga business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a yoga business owner in public at a studio or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Yoga Business Boss: I want to help future yoga business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.