Yoga Teacher Training: How to Start Your Own Studio?
Once you have completed a yoga teacher training or are near completion you may be thinking about ways to start your own yoga studio. There are many people in need of yoga teachers, and no matter what style of yoga you have gained your certification in, you can definitely find ways to share your knowledge.
There are a few choices if you are looking to start your own studio. You can sublet a space from someone who already has their own studio and this can minimize the overhead expense of having to purchase or lease and entire studio space. This can be especially helpful if you are just starting out and still building a client base. Most exceptional teachers will tell you that it takes years to build up enough clients to sustain a full practice. If you happen to be lucky enough to have the cash to invest in a studio of your own, it can help if you can purchase the studio space outright via a commercial real estate loan. This way your rent will not go up when the economy recovers, essentially making it much harder to cover your overhead. This can be even more challenging if you are still in the building stage of your business.
Another choice you have when starting your own yoga business is to partner with other teachers you meet while doing your yoga teacher training. You will build a bond with many of the students who are going through a teacher training simultaneously, and you can inquire with them about their plans to teach after they are done with their certification. Some people who love yoga and are naturally wonderful teachers may not have the confidence to start a studio on their own at first and may be overjoyed to partner with someone. You can also form a co-op of teachers and split the costs and benefits of having your own studio several ways.
Finally, you can decide to be a traveling yogi in place of having your own physical space to work in. I know many teachers who visit hospitals, gyms, retirement homes, corporations, federal offices, community centers, parks and other places that have a need for yoga instruction. You can do an Internet search for yoga teaching jobs, but word of mouth is great and walking in to a business you’d like to teach at and introducing yourself to someone with a professional business card and brief list of references can do wonders.
If you don’t find that you have five or six classes a day to start, give yourself time. Make sure you are treating each class as if you are teaching only that one on a particular day and never allow your teaching to become rote or boring. If you consistently wow your students word will pass quickly that there is a great new teacher in town, and your yoga teaching business is sure to flourish.
