Are you planning to establish your yoga studio? It takes a lot more than just managing your finances and renting a room for starting yoga classes. Yoga is an ancient Indian practice for “adding” positivity in life with respect to our physical and mental well-being. You need to analyze why you want to run a yoga business and how it will make you feel better. The journey towards embracing yoga starts with finding the purpose of your soul through the medium of your body.
Here is a list of 10 steps to be mindful of while beginning your yoga business-:
1. Get certified as a yoga instructor
To begin with, you should receive training and certification as a yoga instructor from a renowned and recognized institution. A certificate from a well-known yoga institute turns your yoga business into a brand. You can then use it as a strategy to promote your brand. Moreover, the certificate speaks of your credibility as a yoga instructor and will help you gain the confidence of prospective customers.
2. Prepare a solid business plan
Prepare a business plan for your yoga business. You have to search for the current rates of yoga classes and the fees of yoga instructors in different localities. You should find out the rent and utility costs for owning a yoga studio and include them in your plan. Concentrate on the financial side before starting your own yoga business. Think about how you can achieve your long-term goals regarding the finances of your business. You may discuss it with an accountancy expert.
3. Set clear goals
Set realistic goals for your yoga business and highlight your vision and mission statements. A vision statement provides a direction to your aim and therefore, it should be creative and progressive. Talk about the core values and purpose of your business. In the mission statement, mention how you will achieve your dreams and what measures you are taking towards reaching your goal.
4. Choose a peaceful location
The location and ambiance of your yoga studio will be a deciding factor in bringing more clients. It is hard to find an ideal setting for yoga classes with a calming and green environment in urban localities. Search for a place that is easy to commute to and has plenty of parking space. It won’t be possible to get a large studio with a tight budget, so start by renting a small room in a quiet area. Eventually, you can get a bigger studio in a peaceful environment.
5. Offer variations in services
While establishing the vision and mission of your yoga business, you have to make important decisions regarding the services you will be offering and whether there are any additional services. Decide what type of yoga studio it will be.
For instance, you can offer different courses like Kundalini yoga for working on the energy points of the body, Bikram yoga for losing weight, Iyengar yoga for focusing on precision and alignment or any other type of yoga. You will need to hire instructors according to that.
6. Build a website with good content
In the digital age, building a website for your yoga business is essential for reaching more potential customers. Also, make sure to design a logo for your yoga business. Get a graphic designer’s help to create a unique and memorable logo that speaks of the values and purpose of your business.
Your website should be user-friendly and responsive. Put all necessary information about the type of yoga classes you offer and its advantages, the fees of each course, the names and achievements of the instructors, the location, and contact details of your yoga studio. Focus on the content; Use attractive images, videos, and blogs and optimize the website to increase its visibility on the search engine results page.
7. Use an online appointment scheduling software
Access a free online appointment scheduling software like Picktime for an easy appointment and class scheduling process. Picktime integrates with external calendars like Google, Outlook and iCloud Calendar; use it to block off dates of unavailability. Add your yoga trainers on Picktime and mention their real-time availability. You can also add all your students through the class booking feature of Picktime and let students self-schedule their classes via your online booking page according to the real-time availability of the yoga instructors. Automatically notify the students about their upcoming classes through email and SMS.
Allocate resources such as different rooms, yoga mats and exercise balls to the yoga instructors for specific time slots. If you have multiple yoga studios in different locations, you can manage all of them through a single dashboard. Generate invoices and send them to the students via email. Let your students pay for the classes through credit cards, PayPal, Stripe or Square. You can also generate, export, download and print business reports through your Picktime dashboard.
8. Make your staff your brand advocates
Building brand loyalty is the ultimate goal for any entrepreneur. Create a pull strategy for making your student come back to your yoga classes. The more students you will be able to retain, the better the impression you will create in the minds of people about your services. Hire trustworthy yoga trainers who will personallyattend and guide every student. Let them challenge the students and set new fitness goals for each student to grab their interest.
9. Own the trust of your students
Your students are the heart and soul of your yoga business. Develop positive relationships with your students, get to know them personally, know their health goals and engage in healthy conversations after class. Guide them towards maintaining good mental health and encourage them to eat healthy. You can also strategize referral programmes for your students, let them recommend your yoga studio to friends and family members and reward them for bringing new customers.
10. Promote your brand
Use social media to promote your brand. You can create a YouTube channel where you can upload a virtual tour of your yoga studio, interview sessions with your yoga instructors and ask some of your students to talk about their experiences. Post these videos on Facebook and Instagram as well by creating a separate Facebook page and an Instagram profile for your yoga studio. You can also reach out to schools, colleges and other institutes and hand them leaflets and pamphlets of your services and prices with amenities available. You can also use PPC (pay-per-click) marketing strategy on Google and Facebook to attract leads to your website.
Follow these 10 steps for beginning your own yoga studio. Remember that it takes a huge amount of research, planning and investment of time and money to build a solid foundation. into reality. Work hard with determination and perseverance to bring about a positive change in the lives of people.
