If you’re just starting a yoga studio, you’ll be searching for all the ways that you could succeed. In that same vein, though, there are so many ways that your studio could fail. With the growth of online businesses and more and more people staying home, it can become increasingly difficult for you to bring those people into your business, so why are the reasons most yoga studios fail?
Most yoga studios fail because owners try to do everything by themselves, treat their studio as a hobby and not a business, doesn’t keep a tight budget, don’t have the right staff, don’t attract new customers, don’t keep customers, don’t consider their competition, is inconsistent in programming, has boring programming, and don’t work with other small businesses.
While yoga studios can fail for any number of reasons, considering the following and just how you can fix it can help you combat any potential negative interactions you might have in the future. Planning for these reasons and knowing how to circumvent them can help save your yoga studio, so read on to find out more.
You try to do everything by yourself
One of the easiest and most common ways for a yoga studio—or even a small business—fails is because the owner tries to do everything by themselves. While you learn how to navigate creating your small business, it’s important to learn how to delegate certain decisions or workloads. Make sure you hire on a dependable staff that will help you as you create your business, or even consider contracting out your work, like having someone else do your marketing or even hiring someone to clean your business. You’re also more likely to burn out if you’re trying to do everything yourself—which can lead to your yoga studio failing.
- You treat your yoga studio as a hobby and not a business.
If you’re starting a yoga studio, it’s stopped being a hobby anymore and even if you’re not teaching full time, it is your business. The sooner you stop thinking like it’s something you do in your spare time or to stay active, the better—because this is one of the reasons that yoga studios fail. If it remains a side hustle, it’ll only stay a side hustle. Maintain your focus on your business and learn how to create a business plan, a budget, and a marketing plan. Taking this step is already hard enough—don’t make it harder on yourself by not maintaining your focus.
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- You don’t keep a budget or understand your cash flow.
This may seem basic, but it’s easy to get bogged down by the details once you start your business, and when you let your budget or your cash flow slide from your focus, it’s easy to lose control. Because this is your business and not your hobby, you need to make sure you turn a profit. Understanding how business budgets work and what you can do to improve those profits is key. Schedule your expenses, know how much your profits are and what you expect in terms of memberships, and learn to manage that income. The more you understand how much you’re making, the more likely your business will stay afloat.
- You don’t have the right staff.
It’s not just all about you—it’s about your staff, too. If you don’t have the right staff, you could be leading your yoga studio to failure. What’s the easiest way to fail when you don’t have the right staff? Not having the right teachers. While office managers or marketing managers can contribute, your students are going to have direct relationships with your yoga teachers, and many times, if they choose to leave, it’s going to be as a result of that relationship. Make sure you hire the right people for your mission as a yoga studio, along with those with the right attitude and mindset that you’d like to promote to your students.
- You can’t attract new customers.
Without students, there is no yoga studio, so having the right people coming to your business is key. How are you attracting new customers? What are you providing to those people upon their first real class? Make sure you’re determining exactly what your demographic is and target your marketing towards them. If you find a certain marketing tactic that’s bringing in the most students, consider putting more of your efforts into that—you never know just how many people could come into your studio as a result.
- Existing customers aren’t loyal.
It’s no joke—your students are not going to be loyal to your business if they find someone else providing what they need, don’t like the classes, or find something cheaper. The more you work to keep your students in your studio, the better. How do you do that? Make sure you use something like memberships to keep them coming back. It needs to be very easy for your students to book a class, and offer new and exciting opportunities to them in the meantime. Another great way to keep your students around? It’s something as simple as great customer service. Answer questions, provide quick responses, and you can keep many of your students around.
- You don’t consider your competition and what they’re providing.
Especially in large communities, there are going to be other studios competing for the membership of your students. If you don’t consider what they’re providing, you may find yourself at a disadvantage that leads you down the road to failure. There are so many ways to beat your competition, and the majority of those start with determining the exact kind of student you would like to attract and knowing exactly what your brand is. Building that brand and attracting those students will help you maintain a solid base for the years to come.
- You’re inconsistent in your programming.
People don’t just search for a yoga studio and teacher that they like with affordable classes—they also seek out consistency. If you’re not providing the same level of care and skill with each class, you’re going to lose students, which leads to the failure of your yoga studio. Make sure you keep a regular schedule so your students can depend on that, and learn what they want out of each class. The more you know about what your students expect, the better.
- Your programming is boring and not challenging.
Have you ever attended a yoga class that was below your knowledge level? It can be boring and therefore distracting, which ends up defeating the purpose of yoga altogether. If your students are facing down boredom in your classes, it’s likely they’ll up and leave for a different studio. There are ways to combat this, though—make sure that while you’re consistent in your classes and your class schedule, consider teaching several different levels of yoga. You can have beginners yoga for those starting out, all the way up to those advanced students who are looking for that challenge in their day.
- You don’t work with other small businesses.
One of the worst things that you can do with your yoga studio is simply living in a vacuum. Especially in our day and age, it’s important for small businesses to band together, and your yoga studio is not the exception. In many communities, small and large, you need to meet with and work with other small businesses in your area on bringing in customers for both of you. Whether that’s partnering for an event, working together and marketing at your businesses for each other, or some other plan that works specifically for your businesses in your area, you can find a way to benefit from each other and growing based off the work that they do.
There are many ways that you can fail in your business, but like all plans, there are also ways to combat those and thrive. Focus on your customers, make sure you hire the right people, and work to create the best programming you can. Work with other small businesses to create your own community that can only continue to grow and benefit from what you can provide. One of the best things you can do to make sure you don’t fail? Make sure you plan ahead. Have a budget and a business plan where you try to think of any reason that you might fail in your business. Having that plan in place may just be your saving grace.
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Besides regular memberships, drop-in classes, and regular classes, you can earn additional profit in your yoga studio by selling merchandise, renting yoga gear, renting out your space to other organizations, providing workshops or even special trainings, and hosting your own private parties and classes for those who pay a premium.
Depending on how many classes you teach and how many students you bring in, you can make a profit of about $100,000 a year—that’s if you teach classes three times a day, five days a week, with at least 13 people per $10 class.
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.