139 Ways to Increase Profit
in your Studio
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Go through your expenses and try reduce every possible cost.
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Set yourself sales targets and try beat them every month.
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Describe how you’re different on your website, without trashing your competition.
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Develop exclusive higher priced one-off workshops for students.
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Offer free trial lessons and measure the conversion rate.
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Do a monthly review of your finances.
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Use Facebook adverts to target people on their birthday with a special offer for your studio.
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Run promotions with local businesses and give away a product to each businesses' customers.
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Get your students/parents to review you on Google.
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Set up a referral system for students with bonuses.
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Keep overheads to a minimum. Avoid emotional or vanity spending.
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Install building signage.
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Work with your accountant to reduce taxation expense.
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Sell branded t-shirts.
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Build a great website.
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Be a guest speaker at local schools.
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Compete on value, not price.
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Ask ex students to come back.
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Run in-studio promotions through a video screen, posters, flyers etc,
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Run an open house/day for the community.
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Invite people of influence to visit your studio and post on social media.
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Create an exclusive membership/VIP card.
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Train your tutors in the process to sign up new students.
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Review your insurance every year. Don’t over insure (especially depreciating assets like cars).
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Get your students/parents to review you on Facebook
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Test and measure all ideas to see whether they should be run all year round, once a year or not at all.
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Stop running adverts that aren’t working. Learn what you’re doing wrong.
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Only buy what you need.
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Track tutors retention rates, look for trends and work on improving these rates.
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Use free strategies through Facebook to attract customers
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Inform customers of other products or lesson types that might be beneficial to them.
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Re-vamp and re-launch an old successful promotion.
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Know your actual costs and try lower them wherever possible.
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Don’t cut costs on things that have brought savings in manual labour e.g subscriptions, professional development, technologies, apps.
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Create a monthly newsletter to your leads list.
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Offer a 15min studio tour/ meet and greet.
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Allow prepayment.
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Get interviewed in the local paper.
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Train the entire team in sales and customer service.
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Offer limited time specials to drive sign ups through scarcity.
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Develop better negotiation skills for lowering studio expenses.
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Run competitions to attract leads. e.g colouring competitions or a talent quest.
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Implement a follow up process for all enquiries.
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Charge more for those not prepaying in advance.
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Outsource what you can, before committing to employing staff.
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Review your phone bills for a better plan every year.
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Approach philanthropists for donations towards lesson programmes for underprivileged kids.
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School newsletter ads
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Make it easier for customers to sign up. Ask for feedback.
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Ensure your accountant is active in helping you grow your business, not just filling in your taxes.
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Develop jobs that the business needs, not that the person needs.
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Create a down-sell option for those that can’t afford your weekly fee e.g fortnightly lessons, or one hour per month.
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Hire the right person, not the cheapest.
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Measure retention rates each month/year and try beat your previous period.
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Always have stock on hand for merch/instrument sales.
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Ask students/parents to do a post on social media about you and tag your business page.
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Run lessons 6-7 days p/w.
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Hire tutors to teach the days/times you don’t want to.
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Use re-targeting adverts.
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Stay in touch with your waiting list regularly and let them know about all new spots opening.
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Stop working in your business teaching or doing admin and hire someone so you can work on growing your business.
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Survey people who don’t sign up as to why.
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Sell equipment/instruments you’re not using anymore.
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Sell merch and snacks at your student concerts.
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Show your lesson options for sale on your Facebook page
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Up-sell students from 30min to 45min or 60min lessons. Offer them a free extension on a lesson to show them what longer lessons are like.
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Get sponsorships for your studio.
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Create a discount for families signing up for 3 or more classes and promote this to families.
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Eliminate projects or lesson types that aren’t bringing the return you need.
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Measure your conversion rate of leads to students.
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Launch band classes or other group classes with a higher hourly revenue.
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Pay more for a quality service if it will save you time or money (applies to staff too).
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Set a budget and review every month.
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Offer more lesson types based on the demand/enquiries you receive.
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Offer parents to donate towards another child learning that cannot afford lessons.
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Up-sell resources, merchandise or instruments to customers while they’re excited and in impulse purchase mode.
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Run a special mother-daughter lesson night, or father-son night.
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Run programmes during school holidays.
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Sell tickets to your student concerts.
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Hire a cinema for a fundraiser towards a charitable programme in your studio. Pick a family friendly movie.
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Set a goal for how fast you’ll reply to all customer enquiries.
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Run stalls at trade shows related to families in your area.
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Run online lessons and target small towns that don't have great lesson options.
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Offer/enforce a direct debit service.
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Run a massive end of school party event for kids with live band.
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Measure your customers' lifetime value.
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Provide a shopping list for starting each new instrument - stock those items yourself.
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Develop your own branded merchandise line.
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Take credit cards, cheques & EFTPOS.
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Run a student concert in the local mall and market your studio.
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Improve your website's SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
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Use payment plans and financing for parents. Set/enforce the terms.
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Negotiate employment agreements or contract tutor fees.
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Understand your cost to acquire a new student
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Create certificates and gamifications that relate to the curriculum you sell.
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Send a monthly newsletter to your leads.
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Offer more options of lesson times e.g 30, 45 or 60mins.
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Create campaigns with a sign up gift, e.g free movie ticket or pizza.
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Add value instead of discounting.
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Charge more for one-off lessons.
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Invest in professional development start with joining the #BAMSQUAD).
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Create lessons programmes to offer in local schools.
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Increase your prices.
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Make sure you have brochures on site for people to give to friends.
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Set up a referral system with a local music store.
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Provide incentives for tutors to actively encourage students' siblings to sign up for lessons.
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Create lead magnets and send them follow up emails about lesson options.
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Get your website ranking on the first page of google for all instrument lesson options you offer.
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Invest in technology to speed up productivity.
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Ask people to join another class/lesson each week.
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Have any staff link your studios Facebook page to their personal pages with their job title e.g. music tutor, administrator.
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Launch group classes to improve your hourly revenue.
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Paid advertising on Facebook. Learn how to master Facebook ads.
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Brand your student workbooks and tote bags.
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Suggest the most expensive lessons first and learn how to down-sell if necessary.
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Open another location.
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Get your students/parents to review you on yelp or any other similar sites that you consider important.
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Run one off large events e.g ukulele and wine evening, Adult choir, teen rock band with free pizza etc.
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Trade longer/different hours
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Double down on the marketing strategies that are working.
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Email campaigns to leads
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Fundraising campaigns
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Posters on-site with special offers/up-sells.
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Measure conversion rates.
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Offer to help with the music and sound system for a local school disco or a parent's event in exchange for promotion of lessons.
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Collect testimonials.
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Set up lead pages for each specific instrument you teach, then hyper target them for Google ads.
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Better service, make your customers feel special, give them magic moments.
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Improve your efficiency, and productivity.
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Get rid of customers that cause stress or pay late.
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Build a relationship with a business banking manager and only work with them.
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Get signage on your vehicle.
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Run a stall at local school or community fair.
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Educate customers on the full value of your lessons.
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Google adverts.
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Track your cash flow.
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Don’t be cryptic on your website, list your prices and the benefits of your services.
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Join the #BAMSQUAD
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Seriously, Join the #BAMSQUAD!!! When you get in you’ll kick yourself for not joining years ago!
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Check Out the #BAMSQUAD
“I’ve learned the process of how to properly run a music teaching business. If you’re feeling lost in how to run your music studio, the #BAMSQUAD is right for you.”
Aim Nattha Sangboon, AUSTRALIA
“Since joining the #BAMSQUAD I have felt a greater level of support. It brings a new level of energy to me as a studio owner."
Michael Hemsworth, UNITED STATES
“I used to be stressed out talking about my school. I have really learned to refocus and I am now in a more relaxed and balanced space.”
Katie Gallagher, IRELAND