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Hi everyone,
I have recently become blessed with a beautiful home studio situation. My husband and I have kept the front room of our house open and free of furniture so there would be lots of space to dance. We have nice wood floors, and recently manifested some huge mirrors. I have been having troupe rehearsals over here, and I'm enjoying my home space more than the studio I currently teach at. For one thing, the spaces are about the same size, but my home studio has bigger and better mirrors. (At the studio I rent, they have one 3' by 2' mirror that they have propped against a wall for us. (The yoga students prefer not to have mirrors). I am starting to wonder whether it is really financially sound for me to pay rent on two spaces, and I'm thinking of moving all my classes in home. My house is not very far out of the way from where I currently teach and I know my regular students would be ok with it. It would also provide a lot more flexibility with scheduling classes, especially private lessons.
The studio that I currently teach at is a little neglected by the owners. Their book keeping process is often hard to understand, the studio is often cluttered and dirty, and it seems like one of the owners has almost completely lost interest in maintaing the studio or promoting. I have to call her weeks in advanced just to see that I'm paid regularly. I'm sure it's a challenge running a studio, but I feel like I could provide my students with a more elegant, comfortable space myself, and benefit a lot more from my hard work in the process.
Has anybody taught out of their home with success? If so, how do you promote yourself, I'm not sure if I'd want to print my home address on a flier, for example. Are there other things I should be aware of? Pros? Cons?
I'd be very very grateful for any feedback that you all have to provide regarding this matter.
I have recently become blessed with a beautiful home studio situation. My husband and I have kept the front room of our house open and free of furniture so there would be lots of space to dance. We have nice wood floors, and recently manifested some huge mirrors. I have been having troupe rehearsals over here, and I'm enjoying my home space more than the studio I currently teach at. For one thing, the spaces are about the same size, but my home studio has bigger and better mirrors. (At the studio I rent, they have one 3' by 2' mirror that they have propped against a wall for us. (The yoga students prefer not to have mirrors). I am starting to wonder whether it is really financially sound for me to pay rent on two spaces, and I'm thinking of moving all my classes in home. My house is not very far out of the way from where I currently teach and I know my regular students would be ok with it. It would also provide a lot more flexibility with scheduling classes, especially private lessons.
The studio that I currently teach at is a little neglected by the owners. Their book keeping process is often hard to understand, the studio is often cluttered and dirty, and it seems like one of the owners has almost completely lost interest in maintaing the studio or promoting. I have to call her weeks in advanced just to see that I'm paid regularly. I'm sure it's a challenge running a studio, but I feel like I could provide my students with a more elegant, comfortable space myself, and benefit a lot more from my hard work in the process.
Has anybody taught out of their home with success? If so, how do you promote yourself, I'm not sure if I'd want to print my home address on a flier, for example. Are there other things I should be aware of? Pros? Cons?
I'd be very very grateful for any feedback that you all have to provide regarding this matter.
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Re: teaching from home
Mon, August 3, 2009 - 2:56 PMBeing able to teach out of your home is ideal. Wish I could. Things you may want to check out first:
Local ordinances concerning conducting a business from your home, i.e. traffic flow/parking, signage allowed, etc. This includes any home owners' association you may belong to.
Insurance requirements for protecting both yourself and your home, to include claims from injuries that may arise, but also coverage for fire and other disasters.
The ability to "close off" the area of your studio from your living quarters. Just because they are in your house for a class, you may not want to give them access to the rest of your home. Is there some sort of a door to the rest of the house that you can close AND LOCK?
Outside entrance to the studio area. You may not want everyone coming through the home's main entrance to access your studio.
In the future, a separate phone line to your studio. You may want to keep calls about classes separate from calls from Aunt Edith.
Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
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Re: teaching from home
Tue, August 4, 2009 - 8:22 AMHi Ali,
I've been teaching from home for awhile now. All the things in the above post is a good idea. I would recommend to *get* liability insurance regardless of what you do. Also, if you move to a home studio, have a standard liability waiver ready for every person to sign. The studio you teach at would normally take care of that. In this case, it's all up to you.
Make sure to keep your studio and everything else separate. Students can feel uncomfortable being part of your "home life" and you might not want them running around your house.
Do you have pets? If you do, is there a way to keep them out of your studio?
Funny story about "home studios". My first Tribal instructor taught out of a dirty living room where she would bring a few mirrors out and push back the couches. It wasn't ideal but she was a great instructor so we dealt with it. *laughs*
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Re: teaching from home
Tue, August 4, 2009 - 9:57 AMThe studio where I teach lost our lease back in October of last year. After that, we went to teaching from our homes (the studio owner had classes at her house on Mondays, and I had classes at my house on Wednesdays).
Here are some of the things that we found:
1. Many folks will not come to try out dance at a person's house...or will be very apprehensive about it.
2. Those that do come are more likely to stay.
3. Definitely lock any pets out of the room (if at all possible). Pets are distracting, and there are also potential allergy issues to deal with.
4. It's very easy to get lazy when teaching from home. There is a relaxed atmosphere that makes it easier to get distracted.
5. We did not put our addresses on our website. We posted that we would be teaching at our houses and to contact us for info. Granted, that doesn't make it much safer, but it does make people have to work a little harder to get your info for nefarious purposes if they have to email or call you first.
We have since started renting space from a local yoga studio. For us, it's definitely better to have space that is not at our homes. However, if you have the fortitude not to get distracted in your own home, then it is definitely a doable solution. :-)
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Re: teaching from home
Wed, August 5, 2009 - 5:18 AMI work from home with my costume business and occaisionally I have extra practices here. For me the challenge is keeping things seperate.
In the past Ive danced and taught at 2 home studios.
The first home studio was fantastic! The owner had remodeled her home and her living area was totally seperate from the studio which opened out onto a lovely garden and pool, she was never there or if she was she would wave hello and go on with her work.. The studio bathroom was seperate too.
The second could have worked but didnt - the owner kept his collection of model cars behind a curtain at the back of the room, pets had free access to the room so it often had a bit of a doggie wiff, it was used as a place to dump clutter so there were always boxes of stuff, papers and things cluttering the entrance and there was no secure parking, he would often hang around at the start and end of class wanting to chat which cut into our time and made some of the students uncomfortable. And the loo was inside his home.
Sudents loves the first one and though some people were OK with the second many didnt return after their first trial class.
So - Your room must look and feel like a studio, have a seperate loo and maybe a changing area, safe parking and a seperate entrance.
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Re: teaching from home
Wed, August 5, 2009 - 2:30 PMXanthea got us started on the right foot- knowing what your zoning allows is very important, & you should check into insurance whether you are teaching out of your home or not.
I think having a separate entrance & a studio bathroom are essential- we've tried it elsewise, both at my parents house and my own, but it just didn't work for us in the end. You just never know when someone will have the flu & take up the bathroom, or some project or another will blow up in the hallway leading to the bathroom in the house, or you forget & leave the laundry out in the hallway. Using the studio for other things would be fine, I'd think, but I really believe the whole studio space needs to be completely separate from living quarters. Our current set up just didn't work out that way, but I am still pulling for putting in an actual studio when we have the cash to put in a full basement. Friend of mine just put a composting toilet in her home studio- couldn't put in a 'real' bathroom because of how the sewer lines were laid out- I think she will do well in her new space. Her house is also on the corner with the studio facing the other street than the house, so she is advertising the cross street as the studio address. When I was teaching from home, I had folks contact me for directions.
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Re: teaching from home
Sat, August 15, 2009 - 3:24 PMHi Ali,
I have been teaching from my home studio with great success. My students don't mind at all, and the space I'm in now is actually bigger (and easier to find) than where we were before.
In fact, I think it is much better than teaching from someone else's studio. I have full control over the space, so I can make sure it is clean and neat, and decorate it to my liking. I also don't have to worry about forgetting anything (iPod, cds, yoga mats, hip scarves, notes, stereo, etc)
Another plus is that I can keep my prices the same (despite the economy). I save $160.00 a month since I don't have to pay rent and insurance (my regular insurance covers teaching from my home). My students love that I can pass my savings on to them, so to speak.
But the best part is that I can have classes any time I want! I"m working myself up to a full schedule, so that I will be able to teach for a living! Plus, emergency rehearsals are no problem. We can also host haflas, parties, etc. etc.
Now that I'm working from home, I'd never go back to another studio. The experience is so much better, for everyone involved. I say, if you have the space, go for it! -
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Re: teaching from home
Wed, August 19, 2009 - 5:11 PMThanks so much everyone for all the feedback and support! Nefabit, you totally described what I am seeking to create in my own home. The studio is in the very front room of our house, so the students don't have to pass through any personal space. The room is completely open except for the mirrors, and I have a small table in the next room that joins it that has a water pitcher, glasses, extra hip scarves and fresh flowers. We only have one bathroom, but I clean it spotless before any students come, and hide away any personal items. I also have a room that functions as a changing space, if need be. So far I've taught a few classes at home, and it's gone really well. I think I'm going to stay at the other studio for a little while longer and gradually transition over. That way I'll have a bit more time to get all my ducks in a row.
So grateful for the wisdom of this tribe as always.
Blessings.
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Re: teaching from home
Sun, August 23, 2009 - 12:21 PMMums been teaching at her lil studio at home for over a year now and its been wonderful. the only cons is that she has a hard time inviting new students to her HOME. we have had some problems with seriously negative crazies before which scared the hell out of all of our students,tribe, and ourselves. We even lost some of the ragulars that day because of how dramatic it was. My Mum is one of the greatest Beginning tech teachers for the last 10years.
The studio is open and feels unbelievably comfortable. I should know it use to be my room. lol! Big room. We have mirrors on both front and back of the room. its makes it seem bigger and the students can see at all angles how they are moving. Eastern oregon, Hermiston, is blessed to have someone like my Mum who takes the time with each one of her students. You know she even throws a girls night once a month for eveyone who is haven a shitty month. lol! We help teach that you need to be beautiful from the inside to let it shine on the outside, in every step and every shimmy!
