Yoga Business Marketing And How-to Start A Yoga Business

Many people begin a business with high hopes, big dreams and not enough money, thinking it will all work out. Eighty percent of new businesses fail primarily because they are under capitalized, so take a good hard, cold, realistic look at your geography and the demographics of your area to determine if you think a yoga business can actually survive. Next start to think about…

Location. Location, Location

Where will you be operating your yoga business?

Yoga studios are popping up in the most unlikely places. One of the more popular locations in cities is upstairs lofts. This provides convenience to downtown workers and residents but the trade off is traffic noise.

An ideal location would be a quiet and pretty neighborhood that exudes peace so as soon as your students get out of their cars; they begin to feel the calm that they know will come with their practice.

You must consider the cost of your space. Unused lofts are pretty cheap compared to space in the suburbs. So, you must weigh the pros and cons of your location choices.

Think about your class space. What will it look like? Traditional studios usually have a wood floor – an expensive item. The other alternative is carpet of course. The problem with this is dust and allergens in the carpet. Since so many yoga poses are performed on the floor, this is a key ingredient to consider in your overall budget.

Yoga props are another expenditure, one of the less expensive items in your new business, but still a key ingredient. You’ll need yoga mats, bolsters, blocks and straps for your students. You may even want to consider marketing yoga clothing, which is a huge industry today. Whatever you choose must be factored into start-up and operating costs.

Will you have walls full of mirrors so your students can see themselves performing postures? Add another line item in your budget.

How about a music system? Will you be using a compact disc player or piped in music? Either way, music is an important ingredient in your yoga studio.

How will you get students?

Yoga is becoming increasingly popular with older people because of its health benefits. What percentage of your demographics is comprised of retirees?

Do you have a hospital in your area? Increasingly, the western medical community is acknowledging that yoga is a very useful tool for all kinds of health issues ranging from heart conditions to arthritis. Most hospitals have a cardiac unit specifically for recovering cardiac patients. Its possible you can work with this population as an income stream.

Should you join your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Domestic Violence Center? Social and volunteer groups are like shooting fish in a barrel if you choose the correct organization. After you’ve established yourself as legitimate, competent, responsible and trustworthy, you’ll have all the business you can handle. These kinds of organizations are structured to support their members, so once you’ve got your foot in the door, you’ve got another income stream.

Are you living in a religiously conservative area? This isn’t a formula for failure, but you’ll have to use non-threatening strategies to advertise and gather new students.

What is your area of expertise? Are you a power yoga teacher looking for that market? You want to make sure you have a robust and healthy population from which to choose. In this case, you wouldn’t want to set up shop in a retirement community.

What is your advertising budget? Starting any new business takes a lot of start-up money, not just to get you in the door, but to let people know you’re there. How are you going to do this?

Word of mouth is the best source of course, but it can take longer than straight out advertising. Will you do print ads, radio and television spots and how will they be received?

Teachers

Will you teach all the classes? And run the business, deal with advertising representatives, order products, maintain an open door policy for your students … in essence, be a one-person show? Or will you hire other teachers? Employees are an entire division of capital and time that the yoga entrepreneur must consider.

Most teachers who don’t own their own studios are independent contractors. You’ll need to alert your bookkeeper or accountant regarding this aspect of your business and keep proper records of your contract labor.

These are some of the important things to remember as you start your new business. Many yoga teachers and students successfully move through life with intuition as their guiding light. This is one of the primary reasons people do yoga – to increase their intuition – and it’s also very important to have your feet on the ground when starting a new business, whatever it is.