Yoga is currently one of the largest niches in the health and fitness industry. Many people have adopted the lifestyle and more teachers have stepped up to fill the demand over the past couple of years.
7 Essential Tips for Starting Your Own Yoga Business
There is no better time than now to start a yoga studio. But on top of doing work you are passionate about you still need to make a profit out of your endeavors. So there are certain business principals you must follow to ensure success in this field.
Keep reading for seven of our most essential tips for starting your own yoga business.
1. Write a Business Plan
Business plans are tools that have stood the test of time. This is what investors ask for one before deciding to put their money into a venture.
The steps an entrepreneur goes through while writing a business plan make them think and plan for most situations that they will face in the first few years of business. For example, you will be forced to come up with a concrete vision and mission statement for your yoga business. This is a strong foundation that will help guide your strategy.
Writing a detailed business plan will also give you clarity on the viability and profitability of your business idea. You’ll also have clarity on how much it will be to lease out and renovate a yoga studio, what equipment you will afford to buy, whether you can hire help etc. Additionally, you’ll know how much you need to invest or borrow to have enough cash flow to operate.
A business plan will also help you project how many clients you will need to break even or make a profit and what your pricing should be. This will motivate you to sell and network aggressively to get the numbers you need to succeed.
2. Get Certified
To succeed in the yoga business, you and your instructors will need certification from a recognized yogi training institution. This will give your clientele the confidence that they are being trained by professionals.
Certification is also good for you as it will give you the confidence to instruct others. Finding a suitable wellness program can be the key to skyrocketing your business.
3. Create a Creative Marketing Plan
A creative marketing plan will help your business attract clients and much-needed revenue from the moment you open your doors. Your plan should include branding, website design, and social media marketing.
A unique and interesting logo will help differentiate you from all the other yoga studio competitors. You should also put a good amount of effort into designing your business website. This is where most clients will look you up online before deciding whether to visit your studio.
Your website should be easy to navigate, quick to load, and full of useful SEO optimized content that will keep your audience engaged. Include free videos of yoga classes as well as articles about the type of practice you teach.
Last but not least you must create social media accounts for your business and keep them active. Any business that doesn’t use social media marketing is missing out on an easy way to get new clients.
Not only is it free to post on social media but the audience is also huge. Creative posts can go viral and end up attracting many clients to your business.
4. Overdeliver on Client Expectations
Once you get a few clients on your books, you must do your best to exceed their expectations so they can become loyal advocates of your brand. Retaining customers is easier and cheaper than attracting new ones. On top of this, happy customers will market your brand and give you high ratings on social media and your business pages.
Your yoga business will impress patrons by providing great customer service, an ambient environment, and teaching proper yoga techniques. You should also know each of your clients and give them personalized instructions during training. This will make them feel special and help them grow in their yoga practice.
Exceeding your clients’ expectations is easy to do and will make your studio stand out because very few business owners provide exceptional services.
5. Specialize in One Type Of Yoga
Several types of yoga focus on different result areas. You should pick one type of yoga for your studio to focus on. Teaching many different types of yoga will confuse and frustrate your students as it will take long for them to grow in their practice. This might cause them to seek out a more focused yoga teacher.
In case you are looking for a specialty, you can do some market research to find out the type of yoga that interests your target market. The most popular types of yoga are Kundalini, Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Ashtanga. You can decide to focus on the yoga that you have the most experience or interest in.
6. Location, Location, Location
One of the most important considerations to have before you start a yoga business is whether you can find a good location for your studio. The most important factor for clients when choosing a regular yoga studio is how convenient it is for them to access.
A great location for a yoga studio would be one that is in a safer neighborhood near office blocks or residential areas. It also beneficial to have lots of available parking spaces.
With so many yoga studios available, clients won’t inconvenience themselves to visit a studio that’s too distant or a in sketchy neighborhood. This is unless you are an extremely sought-after instructor.
7. Increase Business Through Community Work
Yoga is a very community-based activity and many instructors offer free classes to disadvantaged members of society. Make sure to include an aspect of giving back to the community in which you will operate as you set up your business.
Doing so will be great PR for your company and will help market your brand to your target market. On top of this, you will also benefit from being charitable. Giving back to your community will make you feel great for helping others.
How To Start A Yoga Business
Yoga is a popular activity that people are using to achieve mental and physical wellness.
If this is a passion of yours then this is a good time to start your yoga studio. But like any other business, it is important to draft a comprehensive business and marketing plan to establish the feasibility of your business idea. For more tips on running a yoga studio, read the rest of our blog.