NOTE: Although so much can be done on-line, personal contacts in local music stores, music organizations, schools-Public, private and home school organizations, churches and community organizations are very important to the success of your studio. These are resources for new students, recital venues, audiences and possibly financial support for special projects you may plan.
Business License – State, City
You will find this information on-line. You may not need both. You usually only need a license for the city in which you have your studio, even if you “work” in other cities nearby. You can fill out the form and pay for your license on-line.
Business Name
This can be your name or some other business name. You will be the sole proprietor. Your business may include teaching, performing, and adjudicating so think about how you want to present this when naming your business.
Bank Account
Be sure that you keep an accurate accounting, including receipts and check copies if your accountant requires, of your income and expenses. Running everything through a bank account helps with this. Most on-line banking even allows you to set-up budgeting to track income and expenses. You will have a business debit card, business checks and probably no fees
Brochure
This is an expensive item but might be worthwhile for new studios. This is an advertising expense. It let’s people know who you are, where you are teaching, what you teach, your fee structure and any special classes or programs you offer. Throw in your picture for good measure and of course contact info. Leave a supply of these at music stores. Have them with you when you visit local schools.
Business Card
This is the number one way to have people remember your name and be able to contact you. Remember to pass them out to other musicians, community members and parents of students. You should include your cell phone number and e-mail address as well as a mailing address if you will be accepting mailed payments. Your website and Facebook page should also be listed. Don’t make the print too small. These can be done on-line or at your major office supply store as well as at a printer.
Music Store Contacts
Depending on the size of your community this may be the owner or the manager of the store. They will be helpful in passing your name and business card on to people who inquire about private lessons and music for weddings or other events. They will usually give teachers a discount on music purchased at their store and will stock music for your students if you choose to have them purchase locally rather than over the internet. Maybe an instrument company rep will visit your city and you can be a part of demonstrating flutes. Check to see if you can help with demonstrating instruments to schools in the spring when music stores are planning for fall instruments rentals. Be creative in thinking of anything to be helpful and visible in your area.
Technology
You will need a smartphone to keep in touch with students. Nothing like sitting around waiting for a student that went home sick from school. A phone call or text will sort that out. A metronome app is helpful. A Facebook page may help with advertising for new students, to pass on news about your studio or to inform your students about performances. It also allows people to contact you if they need a flutist. Keep everything up-to-date. You already listen to YouTube performances on you PC or tablet. Keep that app on your phone as well. It can be so useful during lessons. Students will love your ability to look things up like pictures and bios of composers or flutists. And of course they will be delighted to hear the music they are working on by multiple performers. Think about also recording with your phone them from lesson to lesson so they can hear their own improvement.
Instrumental Rental Sources
Music stores usually have arrangements with public schools to visit in the spring and show instruments to future band students. They can then lock in the rental business for the following year. Know which stores rent which brands of flutes and their rates for the current year. They may have a published flyer or it may be on their website. It is important to know which brands you prefer so you can make a recommendation. You may even have a chance to suggest which flutes you prefer your local music store stock. Be sure to offer your help during demo days.
Keeping up-to-date with brands and models of flutes has come in so handy in my studio. Consider expensing a visit to any commercial flute shows close to you and even ask the vendor if they will do a demo in your studio. Be sure to take the invaluable trip to the annual National Flute Association Convention – also an expense of your studio. You will not only learn about flutes, teaching, and new music, you will also get to meet some of the finest flutists and hear them perform. And speaking of performing, as a convention attendee, you have the opportunity to perform in the final piece along with 1,000 or so of your closest flute friends!!
Instrument Repair Locations
Know where students can get their instruments repaired. They will expect you to know this and to recommend a trusted repairman. This includes quick, local, overnight or over the weekend repairs as well as overhauls. Repairman may be located in the music store, may have their own store front or may work from home. Ask the music stores and also the public school band directors who they use for repairs. Major flute companies will also gladly give you this information.
If a student’s flute will be out of commission for a week, you may want to have a student flute loaner available in your studio.
Music Purchase Resources
There is some music available for free on the internet. Flutetunes is one site. You can print music and have copies available in your studio or have your student print it at home. The pieces available on this site may not serve all your needs. You will find that 8notes has music listed for many instruments and by many genres. They sort by most popular, classical and jazz as well as by difficulty level. This is very helpful.
There are at least two CD’s which contain etudes and solos which you can print as needed:
CD Sheet Music: Flute Methods Studies and Ensembles, The Ultimate Collection and CD Sheet Music: Flute Solos – The Ultimate Collection
Check out sheetmusicplus for music to purchase. Teachers who buy more than one copy of a piece get special discounts. Some music you can listen to before purchase and some can be download. This site stores your downloaded library on-line for you so you can go back and make more copies anytime you need them!! Sign up for their e-mail list to take advantage of any publisher or website specials.
You can suggest music to your local music store that you would like them to stock if you want every student to buy a copy, but this is not a big revenue source for music stores any more. Sometimes you get a discount as a teacher.
Memberships
Have a membership in the flute club closest to you. Their on-line posts will update you on performances, new music, flute shows, visiting artists and opportunities for your students to perform or compete in their events. I am a member of the Seattle Flute Society for example.
Also be sure to join the National Flute Association. Their online resources include a lending library, access to committee work on injuries, repertoire and teaching, instrument insurance through Clarion and access to streaming resources including Naxos, Smart Music and Grove Music. Go check out the membership benefits and be sure to join. Their monthly online magazine includes valuable articles on many topics by current professionals.
Location
Home – Music store – Separate Studio Space- Music School
Ask yourself if your studio should be in your home, at a music store or should your rent a space. Maybe there is a local music school or music teachers’ co-op you can join. Here are the pros and cons of this choice.
Home
A home studio seems like it would be so convenient. You are always right there. Your music library is there as well as your piano or keyboard, wi-fi, and printer. Your smart TV will allow you to show videos about teaching and let students hear multiple performances of a piece they are studying.
You do always have to keep the space from the entrance door to the studio clean and neat and might need to have somewhere for parents to wait during lessons. You could always offer parents some internet time as well while they wait. You need a space for students to park and you will need to keep entrance ways snow and ice free.
You must have insurance to cover falls or other mishaps that might occur on the premises and you will need to supply a bathroom. If you only have one, that means you are sharing. If you live in an apartment, “noise” may also be a factor to consider. Some rental agreements do not allow you to run a business out of your apartment. One advantage is that is if a student does not show, you are at home and can put in a load of laundry or do the dishes. Electricity and water expenses are not increased too much, and you have internet already. You may also use this room as your office so you have your computer ready for any questions, definitions or to download music for listening or printing. You can write off this studio/office space in your home on your taxes.
If you are a pet lover, take allergies in student into consideration.
Music Store
This seems like a good idea. The location already exists. You are not responsible for electricity or insurance bills. The community knows where the store is and how to get there and there is parking and hopefully a bathroom. You can be included in their advertising and on their website. They may charge a rental fee or take a portion of your lesson fees. They may even bill and collect for you. However, you may be relegated to a small back room with lousy acoustics and no piano or other conveniences. You will have to bring your music library, metronome and supplies with you each day you teach. You may have to schedule around other teachers and deal with customers trying out electric guitars. They may require you to have students rent or purchase instruments through them as well as buy music at the store. There are stores who have actually set aside space for private teaching studios with a central restroom!
If you have never had a private studio before, this is really not a bad option for starters. You will deal with whatever the situation is at the store for one school year and then you can decide if you are happy or need to make a change. It will give you some good insights into parameters for your studio.
Separate studio space
Now you will be able to choose location, size, windows or not and many other aspects of your teaching space. This may be the most expensive yet most delightful option. The aspect that is the most important to parents is how far they have to drive. Is the location easily accessible for drop off and is there parking. You now have this expense called rent and may need to also pay things like water, electricity, insurance and put up a sign. If it is a sort of space that has a restroom, remember that you will be cleaning your studio space and restroom. Be sure that you read your rental agreement and know if you need to pay a deposit, whether you can put holes in the walls or paint it a different color. Also be sure you know what other types of businesses are in the building, not only for good tenant relations, but also for influence on younger students.
Music School
A great options is if you and a number of other music teachers can get together and rent some sort of communal space together. You can then share expenses and maybe have room for an office space with a copier and storage. You can call your selves a music school or you can just be a group of music teachers working together. This really opens up a lot of future options to all the musicians and students.
There is one huge consideration under this heading and that is where are you going to hold recitals. Churches are a great option due to acoustics and piano offerings, bathrooms and parking. Sometimes you can even use the church for free on a week night if you are willing to provide music for services or holidays on occasion. I know of at least one music school which uses the rooms and sanctuary during the week and the church uses them on the weekend.
Budget
What will my expenses be? Here are some that you may need to consider: rent, electricity, water, cell phone, studio supplies, chairs, music stands, piano, computer, music, piano tuning, file cabinet, book shelves, income tax preparation, bank fees, business license, business taxes, shipping fees on music, office supplies i.e. ink cartridges and paper for your printer, brochures, business cards, advertising, webpage, program printing and receptions for recitals, accompanist fees, travel expenses to attend flute shows, conventions or events, travel expenses for performances yours or student’s, gas or bus fare to get to your studio, and possible expenses for studio space maintenance. Fortunately, at first, you can determine how many of these expenses you want to incur and keep them within your studio budget.
Advertising
This is a really tricky choice depending on your community. The best source of students will be personal contacts and word of mouth. This will be a lot of leg work at first. Contact anyone who has to do with music!!! Offer to coach or perform for free sometimes to get your name out there. Newspaper ads can be very expensive and people do not really turn to their local paper to find a music teacher. Business cards and/or brochures at the local music store may help. I would say that personal contacts with the owner or manager of the local music store will be more helpful – the cards are then for them to pass out. Your own public performances will find some parents asking if you give private lessons so remember that you may not get paid for a certain performance but you may get a new student which more than make up for your efforts. You may also get additional jobs which do pay. Most people look for everything online, even flute teachers. Figure out the best way to use this for your teaching niche, whether social media or a website for example.
Fees & Payment Plans
Once finalized, create a form for parents/students to sign confirming they understand your fees and payment policies. Make sure you both have a copy. Have them sign the copy you keep. Include acceptable methods of payment, due dates, late fee charges, and billing method.
How much should you charge?
To set your fees initially, ask other private music teachers in the area what they are charging. Ask local music stores for their contact info, not all teachers have an online presence. Check with musicians in community music groups who are giving private lessons or at the local community college. They are usually open to discuss fees and you will find there will be a range of fees charged. These will depend on the teacher’s knowledge, education, years of experience and the level of students or specific classes they teach.
Other considerations when setting your fees:
Is there a reduction in fee for paying for a number of lessons in advance? This might be a good plan to attract new students, but it is hard to “raise” your prices unless you make it very clear that this is a special offer for a specified time period.
Multiple Family Member Discount: What if two family members are taking lesson from you? Do you give them a break on the price? This depends on your own financial situation.
Registration Fee: Do you require a registration fee to cover music or recital expenses? This is not a bad idea if you are the type of person that likes to do extra stuff for your students. For example, printed programs, copying, cookies at recitals, accompanist fees, lesson books or theory pages add up to a lot over a year. One registration fee per family IS a good idea.
Accompanist: Do you accompany? Do you pay for an accompanist? Does the student/parent pay for the accompanist?
Music: Do you buy their music out of their lesson fees or do you require the student to buy their own music? Just let parents know if there will be additional expenses other than lesson fees.
Missed or Extra Lessons: How do you handle missed lessons and extra lessons?
Although this sounds easy there are a couple options. If a student misses a lesson and does not notify you, do you charge them or not? Remember this is your income but too strict a policy may not encourage the student to continue. Here is an important point. With school age students, you are dealing with the scheduling of the whole family. Young students do not always have ultimate control over making it to a lesson due to transportation issues, parent work issues or illness. Most students have access to a cell phone so you need to make a point that they should call you. If a student’s life, obligations, sports schedule or homework causes them to frequently miss lessons, then they do not have the time to dedicate to private music lessons. Let them go.
What if a student needs an extra lesson or some extra time say to work on their Solo & Ensemble Contest piece? Do you charge them or not?
So many of these questions need to be thought out ahead of time, but will always depend on the particular student and circumstance.
When should they pay?
Do you want students to pay by lesson, by month, by quarter or semester?
Set this up so that your income can be as stable as possible yet meet the budgets of the students. You should at least collect your fee by the month. This can be a standard 4 week month allowing that 5th week for make-ups or extra help, or you can charge for a 4 week and a 5 week month. You may be able to set-up lesson plans that match the public school quarter or semester system and collect for that period of time all at once.
Do you have a special plan for adults who may want to take every other week?
There are going to be any number of “special” situations which may require some creativity in your fee structure. Some adults do not have enough time to practice during one week and prefer to come every other week. Is that something you want to do?
Collections
Do not let students be in arrears more than one month. It is too hard for families to catch-up.
You may want to bill via Pay Pal or Square or other electronic options.
School Contacts
Who are the public and possibly private band and orchestra directors? Know their names, go to their concerts, and donate time to help in their classrooms. See if any local community colleges have instrumental performance groups or better yet need an adjunct flute instructor. Be sure you are certain of your niche – beginners, public school, private school, home school, CC college, returning adults, seniors or all of these.
Keep in touch with students for lesson changes or studio events. You may laugh, but I do not think you can send too many e-mails.
Studio Newsletter
Although a sort of old fashion offering, a newsletter allows you to notify students and parents or other interested community members or performing groups about recitals or special events. Accomplishments of student can be highlighted. Educational columns or music puzzles can be included. Maybe even a composer of the month feature. This can be electronic or printed and handed out at the first lesson of the month for example.
Annual Recitals CD/DVD
It is easy to produce a CD or DVD to give to parents and for your studio files. Be sure you decide if you will pay the expense and provide the DVD’s or whether the parents will have the option of purchasing them from you. They may already have recorded their student on their smartphone. Be sure to get a consent form signed for audio and visual releases.
Websites
A website is best used for your own personal resume and information. Keep your picture and information current. You will have room to include as much information about yourself, your teaching philosophy, your past performances and upcoming concerts as you want.
- What is special about your studio
- Performance opportunities: Churches, community events, holiday celebrations
- Ensemble performance opportunity
Studio Policies
These will evolve over time but put them in writing, and on your website, and have parents or older students sign. Each of you needs a copy.
Here are some things to think about:
- Parents in the lesson or not; sibling behavior requirements
- Practice and performance requirements – are there studio recitals?
- Missed lesson policy – how far ahead do they need to notify you –sometimes things happen that require last minute cancellations; Do they pay anyway and make it up later?
- Photo release form – pictures of lessons or performance are common, you need to have permission to use them on your website, Facebook page or in brochures or advertising
- How does music get paid for? Do you buy it and get reimbursed or do you give the student/parent the information and they buy it?
- Are there any “studio fees” outside of the cost of lessons? This might be a flat fee for music printed, fees for accompanists or it might be that the student needs to purchase a music stand or flute/music bag of some sort.
- Have this information include the contact for the shop where they can get their instrument repaired and make it understood that this should be done as soon as the repair is needed.
- Are you willing to adjust lesson times because of sports competitions or even for sports seasons? Are you willing to teach mornings, afternoons, evenings or weekends and what are your studio hours?
- Be sure they have your contact information.
- If there are studio recitals or community performances will there be any clothing requirements like white shirt, black slacks or will people need to take turns bringing refreshments?
Anytime you run into a question or an incident, add that to your policies so everyone is clear on how things work through your studio. Ask some other teachers if they have things they can add to this list. A printed policy really does come in handy.
Notes
If you can find an inexpensive “extra” flute to have around it is a good idea. Many times student’s flutes don’t work, are forgotten or are in the shop.
