As a busy music teacher, I teach up to 35 students weekly, practice several hours daily, attend rehearsals, and perform. It is tough squeezing in time for running your studio, and can be even more difficult to find quality time to spend with family and friends. Here are some ideas that have helped me keep my sanity- and my studio running smoothly!
- Create regular studio hours: Most of my students are high school students, college students, or working professionals. With this in mind, I schedule studio hours from 3:00 (after school) until 7:30. This gives me 4 1/2 hours of teaching Monday through Friday, and I am able to relax with my husband and friends when the day is over. I also schedule Sunday afternoon lessons for about 3 hours. Since my husband is in graduate school, he is usually working on reading and papers during this time, so I don’t feel guilty for teaching while he’s home. This is also a good time for some students that can’t get away from the busy week to take a lesson during the weekend.
- Create office hours: I love technology, and I love advertising my studio through my free MTH website. However, prospective students and current students contact me via e-mail and phone at all hours of the day. Create office hours where you will be at your desk/ by your phone Monday through Friday. I typically work from 10:30-12:00 daily. Let your students know this is when you are sure to be contacted, and also announce this on your website for prospective students to see. Remember, this can amount to 5-10 hours of your week devoted to customer service and studio management, so don’t be tempted to infiltrate your weekend with studio work.
- Create a make-up day: My studio is run on a monthly tuiiton system where each student is allowed one make-up/ month if they cancel withint 24 hours of their lesson time. However, instead of schedule this make-up whenever I have time, I have a dsignated make-up hour every Sunday afternoon. Students are notified of this in their studio contract, and prospective students are made aware of this from the beginning. If they are unable to attend make-ups that day due to church conflicts or other schedule problems, this may not be the studio fit for them.
So now that you have clearly defined working hours, how to you get the most our of each day with all that work piling on your desk? Prioritizing all comes down to understanding what the most important aspects are of running your business.
- Focus on projects and tasks that directly produce income. Let’s face it, if you’re not making money, you’re going out of business. So anything that directly produces an income, such as advertising or billing, should come first on your to do list.
- Attend to the customer. If you don’t take care of your current students or prospective students, you won’t have them long. You may have a whole stack of calls to return and e-mails to reply, but if you don’t get back to them, they will go elsewhere with this business.
- Record keeping! Track all income and expenses daily, so that you don’t have a ton of work to do all in one day.
- Attend to the studio environment. With students coming in every day, and two cats lounging in my studio, it is important to keep the space clean. Pick up books, CDs, and any other gadget you may have used the evening more in lessons. Vacuum and dust the studio and waiting area 2-3 times during the week, especially if you have pets. Whether you know it or not, parents and students make judgments about you as a teacher by the bleanliness and warmth of your space, so take care of it!
If you prioritize your day and week in this manner, I think you will find that the work goes quickly, smoothly and you end up getting more done than your ever thought possible!
Your turn!
How do you get it all done? What tricks have worked for you, and what has been a disaster? Comment below to let us know what you think!
Sarah,
This is a great article. I also teach 40+ students in my home, converting the basement into a studio and waiting room. I have to say, though, that MTH does most of the business end for me, such as students canceling and rescheduling makeup lessons, making payments online, etc. Where I fall behind is cleaning up in a timely manner. I do notice that several times a week, a parent would have re-stacked magazines in the waiting room, or straighten up the furniture.
Thanks again for such a great article about an area of our business that most of us are involved.
I love all the helpful articles on running the studio and balancing between work and life BUT there are no articles on transitioning from the “day job” to being full time music teacher with studio.
Right now I am working full time and teaching at night. How did you all transition? When did you know what the right time was? What preparations did you make before going from the “day job” to the music teacher with your own studio…..would love any advice/input/guidance/words of wisdom????