So, you’ve completed a yoga teacher training program and are now ready to start teaching yoga to yoga disciples at your own dedicated yoga studio. It’s a very exciting time for two reasons. Not only are you starting your journey as a qualified and practicing yoga professional, you are also launching a new small business, joining the 530,000 New Zealanders who run their own small businesses.
As you start this exciting journey, there will be challenges to overcome along the way. Because just like yoga itself, to successfully run your own small business long-term, you will need patience, perseverance, determination, commitment, and dedication. You will also need to maintain a positive outlook at all times. Let’s look at what’s involved in successfully opening your own yoga studio and yoga small business in New Zealand.
Get some real-world yoga teaching experience
We’ve all heard the saying ‘learn by doing’, but one of the keys to succeeding as a new yoga teacher and yoga studio owner is gaining hands-on yoga teaching experience under the watchful eye of a veteran yoga instructor.
Spending some time as junior yoga instructor in an established yoga teaching business can help you prepare for the successful launch of your own yoga teaching studio. Use this time to refine your practical yoga teaching skills, and to discover what yoga students in your area are looking for from a yoga studio and yoga teacher.
Gaining hands-on yoga teaching experience before starting out with your own yoga studio will also help build your credibility as a yoga instructor. So when you launch your own yoga studio you can demonstrate the experience and success you’ve already gained as a yoga teaching professional.
While certainly a good idea, this first step can be skipped if you feel you are already ready to take the reins of your own yoga classes and teach students.
Define your yoga service offering
Successful yoga studio operators in New Zealand focus on the yoga services they know they can deliver very well time and time again. For your new yoga studio that may mean anything from yoga workshops to running quarterly yoga retreats. It may mean that you focus on the latest cutting-edge trends in yoga or stick to more traditional yoga practices.
Whatever yoga services you focus on, remember to avoid trying to be everything to everyone. If you try to be everything to everybody you risk spreading yourself too thin, which may in time lead to stress and fatigue.
Set business goals
Setting clear-cut business goals from day one and sticking to them will be key to succeeding as a new yoga studio operator. Factor in your capacity – and be realistic with your expectations. If you try to offer more classes or services than you are currently capable of delivering with confidence, you may end up overpromising and underdelivering. This common trap is certainly worth avoiding for new small business owners.
If you are committed to growing your yoga business quickly, consider employing registered yoga teachers and a receptionist/administration assistant to help with the running of your yoga business.
Location, location, location
For small businesses, location matters a lot. The location you choose for you new yoga studio can help or hinder the promotion and growth of your new business.
Purchasing a yoga studio space or building one isn’t necessary yet (that may come later once your business is thriving). All you need is a fit for purpose space that is welcoming, offers the right vibe and amenities, and is easily accessible for your clients. Keep it practical at the start and instead use your available budget to promote your new yoga business.
Target audiences and marketing personas
As a qualified yoga instructor about to launch your own yoga brand, you no doubt have an idea about the type of customers you want to target and roughly how many may be in your local catchment area.
But you can go a little further to understand your target audience with the help of marketing personas. These are part factual, part fictional representations of your ideal types of yoga customers. Each persona has defined goals, frustrations, motivations, customer journeys, and personal profiles.
The power of marketing personas is how they help you to clearly understand what you need to do to build meaningful connections with your key yoga customers by speaking to their specific motivations, frustrations, and goals. Being able to clearly visualise your ideal yoga customers in this way is an essential part of marketing your yoga business and engaging your audience.
Develop supporting revenue streams
For new small business owners, cashflow is king. So investing in developing supporting revenue streams is especially important in the early days of operating your yoga studio.
One great way to create supporting revenue streams for your new yoga business is retail. You don’t need to make retail your main endeavour, but it is certainly worth carrying a range of retail yoga products and accessories to tempt your customers with.
For your new yoga studio consider stocking and selling products such as yoga mats, sports towels, and assorted yoga clothing and accessories. You may even try selling yoga books and magazines. And if you rent yoga equipment to your customers, give them the option to purchase the equipment outright.
Yoga teachers who operate their own yoga studio in New Zealand can enjoy peace of mind by reducing the risks to their business via business insurance such as yoga insurance. And a great way to do that is with insurance for yoga teachers*.
This is specialised insurance created by BizCover specifically to cover the risks that can face yoga business operators. To find out more, visit our dedicated destination for insurance for yoga teachers in New Zealand for Get a quote today.
*This information is general only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It should not be relied upon as advice. As with any insurance, cover will be subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions contained in the policy wording. © 2022 BizCover Pty Limited, all rights reserved. BizCover Limited is owned by BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975)
