Studio Policies

Top Five: Time to “Tune Up” Your Studio Business Practices!
Trepidation about inflation, student recruitment, retention, billing policies? Summer is a good time for teachers to complete a five-point inspection on what they need to revamp BEFORE the students return!

Five Steps for Successful Interview Lessons with Music Students
Interview lesson, meet-and-greet, intro lesson, trial lesson, consultation—whatever you choose to call them, introductory sessions are a great way to jumpstart your potentials students’ success in music lessons. This article presents five steps to help you make the most of your interview lessons with new music students.

The Value of Music Teacher Surveys
One of the most valuable ways to increase professionalism in the independent studio is to network with other teachers about successful policies. Discussing business issues during local and state music teacher associations meetings offers the opportunity to share favorite teaching practices and seek solutions to joint concerns. Such sharing acknowledges that we are not only independent, but also interdependent music teachers. An equally effective means of gathering data concerning our profession is to conduct a written survey of professional issues. Surveys provide invaluable insight into business issues, professionalism and successful approaches to pedagogy within our geographic area.

The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook

Resolving Conflict: Essential Customer Service Skills for Independent Studio Owners
Do you ever find yourself intimidated by confrontational conversations? Do discussions regarding policies, procedures and payment plans make you squirm, or do you find yourself externally cringing when aggressive parents raise their voices and attempt to manipulate and bend you to their will? You’re not alone. As a musician, teacher, small business owner and recovering people-pleaser, I understand how difficult it can be to assert yourself with confidence when it comes to resolving conflict with the families of students— your clients and potential customers.

Make-up Policies -- Magic or Misery
Have you ever felt run down? Overworked? Taken for granted? The antidote to all the above is to eat right, get plenty of sleep and develop a firm make-up policy. For a healthy studio we each must decide on an acceptable make-up policy and then abide by that policy at all times.

Kickstart Your Fall Planning: Ideas for Enhancing Your Studio this School Year
Do you need fresh ideas to invigorate your studio this fall? Perhaps you are wanting to fine-tune a few of your studio policies as you go into a new school year. These podcasts and blogs provide some of the most current tips and tools that private teachers are considering in their fall planning.

How Do I actually Enforce My Policies
Establishing an effective policy is integral to running a studio smoothly and efficiently. But how do we actually enforce these policies to make sure we get paid on time, aren’t run over by pushy parents or aren’t allowing our lives to be consumed by resentment toward those who don’t respect our boundaries? How can we enforce our policies while still giving attention and appropriate grace to those in need? How can we be kind and understanding of our families while making sure we maintain healthy boundaries?  

Developing Professional Studio Documents
What is the independent music studio? Educational facility? Arts organization? Private business? Many would recognize their studios to be all three. Others might fear that treating a private studio as a business would take away from the artistic and nurturing nature of their work. As an increasing number of people work from the home—accountants, lawyers, writers—it is much more common for a private music studio to be seen as a small business. One of the best ways to present one's studio as a business, or at least in a businesslike fashion, is to develop written materials for the studio. Such materials save time and energy, contribute to organization, enhance studio and teacher recognition and present the independent studio in a more professional light.

A New Calendar, A New Paradigm
It is 20 degrees and snow is still on the ground here in the Midwest; what better time to think summer, or better yet, re-think summer. The superintendent of my state's largest school district, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), met last November with hundreds of out-of-school-time providers (such as YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, afterschool enrichment programs, church groups) and challenged them to re-think summer as "out-of-school-time" programming. IPS is championing a new "balanced" calendar that reduces the current summer break from 10 weeks to five weeks, adds three-week breaks in the fall and spring, and increases winter break to four weeks. A primary reason for this proposal is to counter the documented "summer learning loss" of children who are away from a structured school routine for two to three months. I can almost hear music teachers cheering! Our profession has long advocated that taking the summer off from music study results in skill and learning loss and the need to catch up in the fall.

A Matter of Time: The Big Rocks
A common resolution at this time of year is vowing to make more time for things that are important. Wouldn't we all love to improve our time management, including the efficiency of our business practices? Executive Director and CEO of MTNA Gary Ingle related the following story at a recent leadership meeting:

A Matter of Policy
Welcome to a new teaching year! Have you updated your studio policy? The studio policy is a reflection of your professional image, serves as the foundation of the integrity and structure of your studio, and is an essential element of your business. It should be revisited every year for two major reasons—it is a legal document, and it is easier to communicate and enforce if it is up-to-date and consistent with your current philosophy and structure.

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