Start a Music Teaching Business. From Solo Teacher to Multi-Teacher Studio
When I decided to start my music teaching business, I had one objective: fill my schedule. I needed 30-40 students to accomplish this. Forty students seem like a lot when they don’t even have 1.
Music lessons are a hot commodity. I hung a flyer in a coffee shop and the phone started to ring. Within a few months, I had achieved my goal of 30 students. Now what? I decided to start a music school and redefine my business model.
Making the Jump for Solo-Teacher to a Multi-Teacher Music School
In this episode, I speak with Jason Thompson, owner of Edge Music Academy in Chicago about his plans to take his teaching business out of his home and turn it into a multi-teacher music studio. Our conversation was recorded in December 2020. I’m pleased to report Jason made the leap from house to storefront and is off to a good start.
– – Show Intro – –
Backwards Engineer Your Path to Success
Every music teacher eventually hits a ceiling. When you’re working solo, growth is limited by your own availability. That’s exactly where Jason found himself—a talented, newly married teacher with big dreams, but no clear sense of where the road might lead.
We talked about the importance of connecting with mentors—people who are further down the path. People with families, financial responsibilities, and businesses that have weathered a few storms. Why? Because a 25-year-old without kids and a 40-year-old with three kids have very different financial realities.
I encouraged Jason to look 10, 15, even 20 years into the future. What kind of life does he want then? What kind of income will support that life? Once you know that number, you can begin to backwards engineer your business to support it. Suddenly, your music school becomes more than just a teaching business—it becomes a vehicle to fund the life you want.
Forecast Your Future
Let’s say Jason’s vision is modest: build a school with three or four teachers. He can map that out in a simple spreadsheet. What would his revenue look like? What are the potential expenses?
I suggested he speak to someone who’s already running a school like the one he envisions—someone who can give him a realistic sense of overhead, payroll, and challenges. Because when you’ve never run a multi-teacher school before, it’s hard to forecast with confidence. Most new owners underestimate their expenses. Reality almost always costs more than the version you budget in your head.
If you want to launch a successful music school, knowing your numbers is non-negotiable.
Test Business Models on Paper
Jason wants to eventually take home $150,000 a year. That’s ambitious—but it’s doable. The question is: can he hit that number with only private lessons?
Maybe he needs to introduce group programs. Maybe he’ll need a second location. Maybe the entire school needs to be structured around scalable models.
I encouraged Jason to try out different versions of his school on paper. Run the numbers. Test out models. See what breaks—and what holds up. You can do the same. Open up a spreadsheet and reverse engineer your ideal salary. Work backward from your goals, not just forward from your current reality.
What Do You Want to Earn?
Most of us, when we start our schools, focus on growth: more students, more lessons, more hours. And that’s important.
But what about you?
How much do you want to earn? What kind of life do you want your business to support? Of course, we’re all in this to help kids and share the joy of music. But if your business doesn’t take care of you, it won’t last.
Define your own version of a “good living.” Then build your business to deliver that outcome.
Casting Your Music School Off To Sea
Something you’ll hear me refer to during my conversation with Jason are boat analogies. Let me just clarify here, because I do think it’s important to discuss this. When you’re a solo teacher, when it’s just you, success is determined by your ability to fill up your schedule. You allot maybe 40 hours a week to teach, and once those hours are full, you have succeeded. You have maxed out your ability to earn. Now you can raise your rates, you can maybe incorporate group lessons into your teaching. Jason runs his business out of his home, or he was during the time of this conversation in December of last year. He could certainly incorporate group lessons into his home.
Be The Captain of Your Ship
That stage of any music school, I compare to floating in a kayak around the San Francisco Bay, the water’s relatively calm. Well, there’s the occasional shark in the San Francisco Bay, but it’s just you and you’re paddling around in your little kayak. In order to go out beyond the Golden Gate bridge, in order to go out on an adventure into the ocean, the kayak’s not going to cut it, you’re going to need a bigger boat, a boat with sails. Perhaps you need a rowing crew and you’re going to have to function as the captain of that ship. In order to be a successful captain of your ship, you need to be focused on navigating your ship. In order to be successful as a music school owner, you need to be focused on navigating your business, looking out into the future, looking out at the conditions around you, looking at changes in the market, exploring new ways to navigate your business.
Your Music School Needs a Decisive Leader
Many music school owners struggle to be the leader that their business needs. They struggle to stand on the bow of the ship and look out onto the horizon. Instead, they’re back with the rowing crew rowing or they’re manning the sails or they’re working the rudder. Initially, as your boat floats out to sea, you don’t have the kind of crew that you’d like. You have to get there, get in the trenches with your crew and row the ship. You need to man the sails and work the rudder. That’s going to limit your success. Ultimately, you have to stand on the bow of the ship, be a leader, lead your team and focus on navigating your business.
Commit to Learning About Marketing and Leadership
In order to do that, you’re going to incur some expenses because you’re going to delegate your teaching to other people. Your payroll goes up, but if you have the faith in your ability to lead, your business will grow. Your sales will increase. Your business will be more successful. In order to do that, it requires knowledge. Knowledge of…
- Business
- Marketing
- Leadership
All of this requires a commitment to learning.
