Thread: Starting your own "school"

Hi Everyone,

I'm a long-time reader, with only a few posts under my belt (mostly because I'm often away from my computer, and I hate to post if I'm not sure when I'll be back). But I digress.....g.:

I love the sense of community here on Bhuz, and am hoping for some advice (I hope I'm not repeating an earlier post, but I couldn't find this topic). Just a few quick things about me...this is my fourth year of teaching tribal improv classes. Over the past four years, I've grown my number of classes from 1 class per week to 4 classes. I teach 3 classes in a local dance studio, and 1 class at a local YMCA. I've been thinking a lot about where I would like to be in five (or maybe ten) years, and my long term goal is to have my own studio/community space. But in the meantime, until that day comes, I would like to do what I can to be in a good position.

What I'm wondering is this: have any of you become your own "school," without having your own space? Did you become incorporated? Have you hired others to teach for your school? Is there a better way to go?

Thanks!!
Shannon

I was part of an incorporated society school, which was before that a private business.

I would say in hindsight that Inc may not work as a cohesive school. You need to be run by committee - unpaid people - and in our case the teaching team became irrevocably split down style and ethical lines. It was not a cohesive team, it was not a group of teachers working together, it became *highly* competitive and not in a good way.

If you want to have a school, I would say that yes, by all means, hire teachers. But YOU need to run it. You need to be the boss and they need to know it.

If there is a head, these things work really well. If there isn't, it gets really messy. Well, unless everybody involved has the same ethical base and is prepared to stick wtih a certain set of guidelines for the greater good of the organisation and for students, rather than their own egos.

i moved my studio and office into my home in the 1970s and have never looked back.

Thanks for the advice! I do have a small studio in my home, but at this point, and without some major renovations, it is only big enough for me to use for private lessons or groups of six or less.

I do think that heading the school myself is the way to go as well. I guess that without having my own "home base school," I'm thinking that my school would just operate out of several satellite locations for the time being. Someone recommended this to me, and I was just wondering if anyone had done this, and what the advantages/disadvantages might be.

Thanks!!

I think working out of several 'satelite schools' can work, but it is a pain in the rear!

I was SO happy this fall to find a studio with enough hours open that I could move all my classes to one space. might not have been so bad if I hadn't also been lugging sound equipment everywhere, but now I don't even have to haul my loaner props- I can leave extra scarves, zills & veils at the studio & just bring my music & class notes- divine, I tell you!

Rock and hard place - 'satellite locations' have their own agendas and priorities, which do not necessarily include your financial welfare or peace of mind. We have had our schedules switched, pulled and disappear at the last minute with not so much as an apology! So now we have a studio and that's an expensive stressful pain-in-the-neck too; commercial leases are a whole different kettle of fish from apartment leases. So pick your poison.

I run a school with permanent locations but not my own studio. I work out of two locations, hired by the hour, run 12 classes a week and employ 4 teachers. So 'satellite' locations has worked for me. I decided to do this rather than taking on a full lease for my own studio because I didn't see how I could make that work financially (to be exact, I wanted to run a one-woman show and not have a whole massive school sucking up my every waking moment). I started out similar to you - working for others until I had enough of a client base (and confidence) to take that next step.

The key to making it work is having a decent space to hire, a solid contract with them and a good relationship. Because when it's someone else's studio space, umpteen things can go wrong (space not kept clean, double-bookings, etc). It takes time and sometimes trial and error to build up a decent hiring relationship and get things working just so, and there is always the risk that one day you'll be kicked out. Maintaining good business and personal relations with the owner is essential for avoiding this!

You might not find a perfect space, but you can consider how it can be improved. In one space, after being there a while, we agreed to each invest 50% to install new mirrors. My other space had surround glass walls - and countless young men coming in and out for indoor soccer looking in. So I would bring 9m of curtains to tape to the walls every single class! Until I convinced them that I was bringing lots of women to their centre and they should put curtains in their next budget. Once they installed them and more women came, I could then ask for the smelly carpet to be replaced with a dance floor.

I had one further location, but couldn't find a decent space, so eventually closed it down. The students were disappointed, but I couldn't stand the awful room and having to lug in heaters or fans any longer.

The good thing about satellite locations is you don't need a massive market to support it - just enough demand for one or two nights of classes per week. The financial downside is it splits your advertising dollar (unless it's all internet based). And if you have too many locations, it can get unmaneagble (you can't be everywhere at once). It's good to start with one or two and build up and you get your systems into place.

I hire other teachers on contract. I give them the best working conditions & pay that I can (what I would expect to receive) and they're loyal to me. I don't prevent them from teaching elsewhere - some run their own classes, and that's fine. They all behave in a professional manner and don't cross-promote.

Good luck! (Oops, I wrote an essay...)

I was a school long before I had a studio space of my own.

I've never incorporated and probably won't (I've been a corporation before, but sole proprietorship makes a lot more sense for me in this biz). I don't know many dance studios who are incorporated, actually.

There's not much fancy about it, you really already are one.

same here, school yes, permanent studio no. we currently teach out of 4 different hired locations, plus some other bigger venues i rent occassionally for workshops. pain in the butt, logistic nightmare, yes! but buying or renting a studio full time is not an option, so this is how it's run. we currently have (including myself) 4 teachers and 10 weekly classes, oh, and three boomboxes. and if i get it my way, "the only way is up..."

I teach out of different locations. The studios do all the admin, deal with all the cash, do all the advertising. I just turn up and teach. I love it ! The only downside is that people tend to end up in the wrong levels. I'll be teaching 'advanced' and discover that people don't know how to do a hip circle.

ah, but hence the school idea. i'm completely in charge of levels/names of levels/how many levels/who goes in what group/content etc...

Yes, I have just found that I've had to adapt to the situations as they have presented themselves. Its all about *that class* or *those students* that I'm with at the time, rather what I want to do with levels etc.

On the upside, I think I can deal with just about anything now :-)

yeah, that's the same case with workshop teaching, and even with my "level system", well, it doenst always work out, and you'll end up with some very mixed groups anyways, cause people choose the day, hour, teacher, the friends they want to take class with, etc...

what is challenging for me with the school, and the multiple locations, and multiple levels (we have six now), is getting people to change day/location/teacher.

we are also experimenting with "themed" classes, (so mixed level but certain topics, a saidi class, a veil class) etc, and having systems in place for people that want to take multiple classes per week

Thanks for all of the advice! I'm glad to hear that so many of you are having success with working your school out of several different locations. I think that, at least for the time being, the benefits of teaching in satellite locations outweigh the investment in my own studio space. I have definitely had to work with the YMCA in particular about payment, space, mirrors, etc., but have gotten to a point now where I have a solid contract and a good space. And the other studio space couldn't be better - it's well maintained, they've done great advertising for me, etc.

I guess now the next step for me is to make myself an "official school." It sounds like most of you have gone the sole proprietorship route. Admittedly, I don't know much about the legalities of it, but I'm meeting with our local small business development center in two weeks, to get myself on the right path. I'm hoping to get things in place by next summer, so that I can start to expand my classes in the fall. I hope that's a realistic goal!

Thanks again for all of your help ,r:;

keep the name of the business the same for each faction of it.my school, agency, me...everything has the same name.when searched on line, everything comes up.
there is 1 fusion girl in town.everything she does has a diff name...hard to find.

Originally Posted by PepperLotus

It sounds like most of you have gone the sole proprietorship route. Admittedly, I don't know much about the legalities of it, but I'm meeting with our local small business development center in two weeks, to get myself on the right path. I'm hoping to get things in place by next summer, so that I can start to expand my classes in the fall. I hope that's a realistic goal!

Thanks again for all of your help ,r:;

The thing that will surprise you, as you look into it, is how much *less* is involved in the whole thing than you think.

People think they have to make themselves a business in some way. As far as the government is concerned, if you're being paid in any way besides a paycheck with taxes withheld, you ARE already a small business.

They furthermore consider it your responsibility to know the laws that govern your business (primarily reporting your income and paying taxes on it, but there are others that vary by activity).

If you want to use your legal name as your business name, that's all there is to it. Sell something to someone = you're a sole proprietorship. (I used to be Lauren Haas Design, for the legal simplicity).

Some cities require a business license. Important to recognize that you're a business whether you get one or not -- you're just running an illegal business, in their eyes, if you don't have one.

There are other specific legal requirements for specific activities -- if you want to be able to accept checks made out to a name other than your legal name, or if you want to hire employees or sell merchandise that requires sales tax.

That all makes a lot of sense. I do plan to keep the same name for everything (I just haven't decided for sure what that name will be...if it should be my own personal name, or something more creative. It seems like there are pros and cons to both).

Lauren, everything that you mentioned makes a lot of sense. I do plan to hire another person to teach my classes (and potentially more, at some point in the future), so I'm not sure how that affects the legal structure that I choose?

Originally Posted by PepperLotus

That all makes a lot of sense. I do plan to keep the same name for everything (I just haven't decided for sure what that name will be...if it should be my own personal name, or something more creative. It seems like there are pros and cons to both).

Lauren, everything that you mentioned makes a lot of sense. I do plan to hire another person to teach my classes (and potentially more, at some point in the future), so I'm not sure how that affects the legal structure that I choose?

It doesn't affect your legal structure either way. You can be a sole proprietor OR a corporation and have or not have employees. But if you were going to have employees, you'd have to comply with a lot of employment laws, reporting, and expenses.

Most studios, health clubs, park depts, etc work with hired instructors as independent contractors rather than employees. (I've only encountered one exception in 9 years of teaching)

It's just not worth all the tracking and reporting required (social security, medicare, unemployment insurance, employment laws) to have one or two 2-3 hour a week 'employees' on your payroll.

So you're a business, they're a business and you contract them to work for you. This is how most bellydancers operate, both as teachers and as performers.

http://www.sba.gov/ is a great place to learn the basics about this stuff.

i do have a different name for the dance school than for myself as a dancer, also legally we are two different enteties, the school is a non profit organisation, and i'm self employed/one person business (employed by the non profit school, but also other schools at occasions). it makes it easier to higher others to teach as well, and to get more people involved/grow. i'm not the only teacher anymore either (though i'm the main one and the "boss")

Great! This helps me to know what to focus on. It's good to hear that most everyone goes the independent contractor route, rather than hiring employees.

I guess that I will be working out all of the details after I meet with the small business development people...but it's been really helpful to hear what most of you are doing, and what works best. Thanks!