Angelica, a yoga teacher who ran a Las Vegas studio for ten years, explains why studio ownership often disappoints teachers. Managing staff means dealing with theft and no-shows. Most of your time goes to marketing, not teaching. Competition gets hostile. Money changes how you relate to students. And yoga stops being yoga.
Top 5 reasons why owning a yoga studio might not be for you. Hi, I'm Angelica, also known as Yogalebrity on Instagram and TikTok and Pinterest and everywhere else that I am at. If you haven't yet, please download a free copy of my book, How I Made $1 Million Teaching Yoga. I owned a yoga studio for almost 10 years in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. I've been teaching yoga for 15 years, and now I do high-level coaching for yoga teachers who want to 10x their income through the practice of yoga without sounding salesy using world-class marketing. So let's get to it. Why might you not want to own a yoga studio? Well, number 1, suddenly employees. Yeah, even if they're independent contractors, they're really kind of like employees, and they're not your friend. And no one will care about your business as much as you do. So don't be surprised when people steal from you. That's going to happen. Don't be surprised when people do things that are inappropriate, like they let people come to their class for free. That's going to be happening. Don't be surprised when somebody accidentally forgets to lock the door. Don't be surprised when someone doesn't set the alarm. Don't be surprised when people don't clean up after themselves, or they don't want to clean the bathrooms, or they don't want to put the props away. Like, this is all part of having employees. Don't be surprised when someone no-call, no-shows that you thought was a really loyal person to you. Don't be surprised when someone tries to steal your email list. Yeah, that happened to me. Um, just Dealing with employees can be very difficult. It can be very rewarding to coach people, but it's a lot of work even when it's rewarding. Employees, independent contractors, it's now a part of life. Number 2, most of your time will be spent on marketing. Yes, no longer will you spend most of your time doing yoga or teaching yoga or being around yoga in any way. You're going to be spending most of your time marketing. That's all you'll be doing. You'll be working on websites, you'll be working with Yelp, you'll be working on Google reviews, you'll be working on YouTube or Instagram or any other social media, or answering emails. Like, you just won't be doing yoga as much as you thought. It's not, it's not a, it's not a yoga festival. It's a business. Like, it's just not, it's not at all just yoga. So keep that in mind that you're going to be running a business now. Number 3, it's competitive. Listen, I don't know where you're at, it's different everywhere, but if you're on the internet in the real world, competitors are mean. I had people write bad reviews about me that competed against me in another studio. I've had people say terrible things about me and my studio. And you know, that's fine. Like, maybe some of the things were true in their eyes. I don't know. It really doesn't matter. The reality is, is it's going to happen. Somebody is going to say something really terrible about you along the way. And they're going to do it so that they can undercut your business. That's part of being in a business. And competition is real. It's, it's so much more aggressive when you're the owner of the studio than what it was when you're just a yoga teacher. Enjoying yourself, going to 24 Hour Fitness, teaching classes. You have to be able to grow a really thick skin. And if that's not something that's inside of you and who you are, you might not want to own a yoga studio because you're going to have to make decisions that are going to make people angry and they won't understand why you're making those decisions. And honestly, maybe you make the wrong decision, but most of the time you're making the right decision. But those people weren't put in that spot, so they don't know that you have to cut payroll. They don't know that the landlord gave you a deadline. They don't know that something has to be changed because that's the way the trash company needs it to be. Like, people don't know why changes are happening, and you don't always have the opportunity to explain it, but you still have to do it. That's part of owning a business. So know that sometimes people are not going to like you And maybe that's not for you. And if it's not, probably owning a yoga studio isn't for you. Number 4, you won't have the same relationship with clients. Listen, now you're selling a commodity to a client. You're giving them a product, a service, for dollars. And so while they might be friendly with you, at the end of the day, you've taken their money. And people put a lot of value on money, and they think that money is a very important thing. Most people don't see money as an energy exchange, which I think they should. But the thing is, most people see money as something that you've taken from them, and they don't even really think about how you've given them something in return. And if they don't feel like they like it or whatever, I don't know, there's a lot of— things can get messy when it comes to money, and clients won't treat you the same. So you've got to know that again, thick skin. It's going to be a little bit different interacting with clients. When I owned a studio, I made sure that I did very little talking to people about money because they'd always try to work a deal with me or try to get less or try to get it for free. And, you know, honestly, we had bills to pay. Like, there's a reason why that studio was so beautiful, or is so beautiful, even though I'm not there. It's still a really beautiful studio. Anyhow, Um, it's because it costs money to make it. Like, it wasn't free, and I need money to make it like that. So know that your relationship with students, it's going to change. Number 5, the single most important reason why you might not want to own a yoga studio is because now yoga is work. I have to tell you, after 15 years of teaching yoga and really hustling and working very hard, and like the last 10 of them not really having a day off, I didn't want to have anything to do with yoga. I took 2 years off where I taught like maybe 6 classes in that 2-year time period, and I maybe practiced yoga like 3 times in that time period because honestly I was so overwhelmed and burned out. Yoga becomes work when you own a yoga studio. Now when you do yoga, it's like work. Like, I would do yoga in my own studio and I would lay on the ground and be like, oh my gosh, I have to paint that spot because it's not— the spot is not totally right, or, oh, I forgot how I have to do this, or this needs to be cleaned, or so-and-so forgot that, or this needs to be put together, or I have this great idea for marketing. Like, whatever it is, suddenly yoga is work, and maybe you don't want that. And if you don't want that, then owning a yoga studio is not for you. Thank you so much for watching. I make all these videos to be super helpful to you so that you can grow as a yogi just like I did and be very prosperous If you haven't yet and you want more tips and tricks, please download my free book, How I Made a Million Dollars Teaching Yoga. The link is in the bio below. Connect with me on TikTok or on Instagram @yogalebrity. I look forward to seeing you everywhere, and please subscribe. Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments or if there's something else you'd like me to cover, because I would love to do that for you. Have a wonderful day.
