Big Questions from an aspiring Studio Owner

[cameshia123]

As studio owners, Do you have a job/career outside of the studio? Are you married with a family? Did you get a business degree? What age did you begin your business?

This aspiring studio owner plans to begin her studio around 26 years old. I am not a business major. My major is Media Studies but my minor is dance. I'm not sure if it is plausible to have my career by day and my studio by night. I also want a big family and am not sure if I should wait until my baby making days are over to begin living my dream. All advice and experience is welcome. Thank you!!

 

[mop6686]

As studio owners, Do you have a job/career outside of the studio? Are you married with a family? Did you get a business degree? What age did you begin your business?

This aspiring studio owner plans to begin her studio around 26 years old. I am not a business major. My major is Media Studies but my minor is dance. I'm not sure if it is plausible to have my career by day and my studio by night. I also want a big family and am not sure if I should wait until my baby making days are over to begin living my dream. All advice and experience is welcome. Thank you!!

Don't wait! You can have it all, you just need to a) decide if you really want it and b) make sure that your eventual significant other supports your dance career. I know some dancers who own studios and have day jobs and honestly the studios suffer. Make the studio your everything and it will have a better chance of succeeding. Also, forget the business degree - they're expensive and you don't need one to open your business (legally I mean). I think the best education is work experience - work at a bunch of studios and observe what they do that works and what they do that doesn't.

I'm 26 and I run my own dance teaching business and am married (don't have a studio yet, but I will one day ) and it was difficult at first. My husband was not initially supportive, because he didn't understand what I got out of my job. More communication and a few lessons for him later we're rock solid and he wants to help me open my studio.

For the record the youngest studio owner I've met was 22 when she opened (and she was incredible at her job).

 

[toothlesstiger]

Some cautions:
If you open a studio, you will need pay rent, utilities, insurance, licensing fees whether you have any students that month or not. Commercial spaces normally ask for a five-year lease, and you will need some sort of proof that you are good for it. For the typical 20-something, that will require a co-signer with some means.

If you employ other teachers or staff, you will find that a lot of your time is spent running the business, rather than teaching dance.

If you start off as an independent teacher, renting out floor space on an as-needed basis, you can build up a clientele, and establish a cash flow before trying open a fixed location. In that case, you can support yourself with your day job while you establish your dance business. If you get successful enough teaching dance, than it is a straightforward step to open your own studio because of your already existing demand.

On kids: I would changing "baby-making" days to "child-rearing" days, since that lasts a lot longer. Kids take up much more of your time after they are born. ;-)