With passionate yogis stretching all around the world, yoga has become a popular industry over the last few years. It’s no secret that the yoga industry is booming, more than 30 percent of the world’s population practices yoga regularly. Opening and starting a yoga business is still a dream for many. Running a successful yoga studio is not only about having students perfect their poses. If you want to craft your dream business, you’ll also need to stretch your business strategies.
Developing an entrepreneurial mindset will help you build a sustainable long-term yoga business. Say what now? Yes, you read that right. After all, yoga teachers and entrepreneurs follow the same path at one time. Thorough planning helps you determine goals, figure out funding, and pick a suitable location. Petrified to take that first step to craft your dream business? Fret not and read on to discover the best strategies for starting a yoga business.
Start with Creating a Sound Business Plan
Practicing yoga early morning, teaching yoga in your free time, and attending yoga retreats to center yourself. Deep down you’ve always been a yogi by heart. And it’s now time to take action and turn your passion into a full-time activity. You may start the studio in awe of passion and love for yoga, but now to survive, you need to tap into your entrepreneurial spirit. A comprehensive plan will cover everything from a summary to a business description of market analysis, products, sales strategy, financial planning to future growth.
Pay close attention to your sales and marketing strategies. Without any solid marketing plan, no one would even know that your yoga business exists. There are several marketing ways you can pick from, depending on your time and resources. The main element for any successful business is the customer journey. An effortless customer journey always leads to increased sales and more trust.
Host Events to Promote Your Studio
Events are an ideal spot to gain attention and let more and more people know about your yoga studio. Hosting events will get you both types of audiences – the newbies and the ones who have already registered with you and loved your services. Opening a new studio? Host a welcoming party. Launching new services or a new coach? Host a beanfeast gathering. Distribute flyers and encourage joiners to bring a friend along. Promote your event announcements on social media to get faster reach.
Develop Leadership Skills
A yoga trainer and an owner of an independent yoga studio are two very different things. The responsibilities of a yoga teacher and studio owner are completely different. Your job is not merely teaching anymore, you’ll need to acquire a whole different set of skills. It’s not only about managing people. Instead having great ideas and strategy to implement those ideas. From organizational to emotional to business intelligence to accountability to self-awareness. Here are a few skills you should acquire when starting new:
- Develop a strategic vision
- Encourage transparency
- Spot and retain the best talent
- Learn how and when to delegate
- Lead by your actions
- Celebrate little wins
Monitor Renewals
Students are the key to running a successful yoga business. Did you know, it cost five to twenty times more to acquire new clients than it does to retain the existing ones? Yogis who invest in building strong relationships find it easier to retain students and boost their bottom line. When you’re looking to enhance your sales skills to work on your renewal rate, there are three approaches to winning renewals.
- Provide a frictionless customer experience.
- Understand what makes your customer journey successful.
- Identify the reason why your students stopped coming to the practice.
- Focus on the end results when pursuing renewal.
- Increase social engagement.
- Improve your services with extra added value.
- Simplify the payment process.
Social Media Management
Simply because of its wide reach and domain, this is the most sought-after idea. And why not? Take any business, social media marketing is the king of attracting clients. Yoga studios can garner a large and loyal following from social media management. Utilize any – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or Youtube to share your service details and increase your brand name awareness. You can also collaborate with social media influencers who are targeting a similar audience as you are as a yoga instructor. Having an email contact list is extremely beneficial when you’re starting a service-based business.
Online Reviews
More than 50 percent of consumers check online reviews before investing in any product or service – and most form an opinion after reading the top five reviews. If you want to foster trust in clients looking for yoga services, online reviews management is one of the crucial strategies for starting a yoga business. Your commitment and dedication to listening to their feedback and thanking them for that will show your customer service efforts and encourage’em to return.
Website Optimization
Your website is the one-stop shop for your clients to know all your business details. And an optimized website can help you attract readers who are searching for yoga-related services online. Focus on building streamlined navigation, fast page load speed, lead acquisition, and mobile-friendly website.
Bonus Tip
When crafting your dream business, the revenue heavily relies on the use of digital advancements. And heads up – sometimes, appointment scheduling software is all you need. To help you with streamlined operations and customer engagement will have a gratifying tool for you – Picktime. Picktime is a cloud-based yoga trainers scheduling software that can be accessed from multiple locations 24/7. Use Picktime to align your services and clients’ requirements and maintain a successful yoga business.
Picktime offers an easily customizable booking page with a book now button and a unique URL for your website. Users can access real-time slot availability for the convenience of booking. You can conduct one-on-one or group sessions without any time constraints and extra installations. You’ll also have 24/7 chat support for any doubts and queries. Online calendar (Apple/Google/Outlook), integrate with social media (Facebook/Instagram), waitlist, attendance, flexible rescheduling, automatic SMS & email reminders, team management, automatic timezone conversion, payment & invoices (PayPal/Stripe), video meeting integration (Google Meet/Zoom/MS Teams/Skype), and the list goes on.
Picktime has an unended list of features for the success of your business. Sign up now for free and craft your dream business with Picktime.
Starting a yoga business can be a fulfilling career, but it’s essential to approach it as a business journey rather than a spiritual awakening. Use the above-shared tips and witness your dream business succeed in the market.