Love playing the piano? Want to run a successful private piano practice to help others fall in love with the piano too? 

It takes more than printing a business card and shouting it out on your Facebook newsfeed. Running a successful private piano practice takes time and commitment to build a piano studio people love to do business with. Where do you start?

Start with your teaching statement

Successful businesses start with a plan. You can do that by creating a teaching statement – why do you want to start and grow a private piano practice? What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want to share with your audience? What kind of experience do you hope to create for your students? How can you share that in everything you do? With this in hand, it makes it easier to build your website, your marketing materials, and your studio space. 

Find a teaching space

One of the first things you’ll have to create is your teaching space. Luckily, this can be just about anywhere in today’s world. Are you giving lessons virtually, or meeting students in person? Will you be creating videos, or will it all be one-on-one help? With a quick search online, you can get ideas from other piano practices and use them as guides. Be sure to make your space easy to find, and comfortable to use whenever you need access. If it’s in a school or office building, will you have access to it for weekend lessons or performances? Can you operate from there after school and into the evenings? Be sure the space works with your schedule, and has all the materials you’ll need, including a functional piano. 

Set your rates 

This can be one of the most difficult processes for private piano practices. It’s easy to look at what other instructors around you are charing, lowballing it if you’re new. But that doesn’t give you what you need to run a successful practice, nor does it take into account your expenses. 

First, figure out what your expenses will be. How much income do you need to make this a successful business? With these as your guidelines, you can start building your rates and packages around it. 

Piano instructors usually charge one of two ways: by the hour, or by the month/term. Research both and figure out which gives you a stable income to help you stay in business all year long. 

Create your policies

How many things do you sign a contract for? It’s a part of our daily process. Your piano practice should also have policies set to ensure your students understand how you operate. Include things like make up lessons, cancellations, and scheduling changes. Ensure you both sign and get a copy. Then stick with it to ensure your studio stays on track. 

Build your framework

To create a successful process means establishing systems for everything you do. 

How will you attract new clients? 

How will you manage the clients you have? 

How will you create your lesson plans? 

How will you handle billing? 

While you don’t have to understand every nuance of building a private piano practice upfront, as you discover more aspects of building a business, it’s important to put a framework to it. Systems help with efficiency. And to be someone who gets referrals from the community regularly, the stronger you build your systems, the easier it will be to handle new work.