What does it take to build a successful yoga studio to the point where it’s earning $1 million per year or more?
In other words, why do some yoga studios struggle to make ends meet or fail while others end up with highly successful businesses?
We have some of the answers.
We’ve been surveying yoga studios since 2013. To date, we’ve collected a lot of insider industry information from over 475 yoga studios.
While most yoga studios surveyed don’t make anywhere near $1 million or more per year, several do (based on self-reporting).
In fact, we have more than enough collected data to set out their profiles (anonymously) and some key strategy aspects so that you can discover what it is about these studios that make them successful.
Please note the following:
- all data is self-reported. We did not and cannot verify the accuracy, but aside from ego, there isn’t any incentive to lie taking a survey.
- the profiles yoga studios self-reported $500K to $1 million+ gross revenue.
If you find the table difficult to use (especially on a mobile device), scroll below and we set out all the data for each studio separately.
Overview of the data
Here’s a quick overview of putting all the data from the 13 successful yoga studios together for a bird’s eye view.
- Country: USA, Canada, and Australia
- Population in area: 10 in areas with 250,000+ population. 6 in areas with 500,000+ population.
- # years In business: huge range. Surprisingly, more than one in business around 1 year only.
- Types of yoga taught: Flow, Power, and Hot are the main styles taught.
- Drop-in class rate: Average $21. Range $12 to $30.
- Unlimited yoga package rate: Average: $181 per month. Range $40 to $500
- Busiest time of day: Mostly late afternoon and early evening.
- Busiest day of the week: I found it odd that it’s a real mix.
- # of yoga classes offered per week: I fear some respondents mistook the question asking for a number of classes per month given the huge number for some profiles. Generally, these successful yoga studios offer a lot of classes.
- Number of yoga classrooms: most have more than one yoga classroom space. The range is 1 to 7.
- How many students fit in the biggest yoga space: 7 have spaces that fit 30 or more yoga students.
- Rent or own the yoga studio: 4 own the premises and 9 rent.
- Have a changing area? 9 studios offer changing rooms.
- Are showers available? 8 studios offer showers.
- Sell retail products? 10 sell retail products. 2 don’t. 1 didn’t specify.
- Gross revenue of retail products sold: Huge range, but some sell a lot of retail (over $100,000 per year).
- Main marketing activities: No dominant marketing method reported. Unfortunately, the data doesn’t specify one marketing method that dominates them all.
$1 Million+ Yoga Studio Business Strategies & Offerings
| Studio 1 | Studio 2 | Studio 3 | Studio 4 | Studio 5 | Studio 6 | Studio 7 | Studio 8 | Studio 9 | Studio 10 | Studio 11 | Studio 12 | Studio 13 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | USA | USA | Australia | Canada | USA | USA | USA | Australia | USA | USA | USA | USA | USA |
| Population in area | 250,000 to 500,000 | 1 million + | 10,000 to 50,000 | 1 million + | 10,000 to 50,000 | 250,000 to 500,000 | 250,000 to 500,000 | 1 million + | 100,000 to 250,000 | 1 million + | 1 million + | 250,000 to 500,000 | 500,000 to 1 million |
| # years In business | 5 to 10 years | 15+ years | 5 to 10 years | 1 to 2 years | 15+ Years | 5 to 10 years | 2 to 3 years | 10 to 15 years | 1 to 2 years | 5 to 10 years | 1 year | 1 year | 3 to 5 years |
| Types of yoga taught | Power/Ashtanga | Bikram | Bikram/Hot | Power/Ashtanga | Hatha | Bikram/Hot | Bikram/Hot | Flow | Flow | Flow | Hatha | Bikram/Hot | Flow |
| Drop-in class rate | $22 | $30 | $22 | $15 | $17 | $20 | $12 | $27 | $20 | $25 | $17 | $26 | No drop-in classes |
| Unlimited yoga package rate | $139 | $175 | $129 | $99 | $149 | $40 | $250 | $200 | $160 | $169 | $500 | $189 | $160 |
| Busiest time of day | Late afternoon / dinner time | Late afternoon / dinner time | Late afternoon / dinner time | Late afternoon / dinner time | After dinner | After dinner | Mid-morning | Late afternoon / dinner time | Late afternoon / dinner time | After dinner | Early Afternoon | Later afternoon / dinner time | Early morning |
| Busiest day of the week | Monday | Tuesday | Sunday | Tuesday | Monday | Saturday | Wednesday | Not specified | Monday | Monday | Saturday | Monday | Tuesday |
| # of yoga classes offered per week | 120 | 250 | 33 | 40 | 24 | 200 | 60 | 20 | 24 | 80 | 126 | 40 | 20 |
| Number of yoga classrooms | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| How many students fit in biggest yoga space | 30 to 50 | 50+ | 30 to 50 | 20 to 30 | 15 to 20 | 30 to 50 | 20 to 30 | 20 to 30 | 15 to 20 | 30 to 50 | 20 to 30 | 30 to 50 | 50+ |
| Rent or own the yoga studio | Rent | Rent | Own | Rent | Rent | Rent | Own | Rent | Rent | Rent | Own | Rent | Own |
| Have a changing area? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Showers available? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sell retail products? | Clothing & accessories | Apparel, Mats & Accessories | Mats, towels, bolsters & blocks | No | Apparel and yoga gear | Studio branded apparel, accessories, gear, essential oils and jewelry | Apparel and gear | Soaps and candles | No | Shirts, books, essential oils, mats, mat bags, totes, Mysore rugs, water bottles | Not specified | Apparel, mats, yoga equipment and books | Mat spray |
| Gross revenue of retail products sold | $75,000 | $100,000 | $200,000 | $0 | "Lots" | $100,000 | $80,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $10,000 | Not specified | $75,000 | Not specfied |
| Main marketing activities | Referrals / Word of Mouth | Paid Google Ads | Referrals / Word of Mouth | Groupon and email marketing | Paid Facebook Ads | Referral / Word of Mouth | Paid Google Ads | Paid Facebook Ads | Referrals / Word of Mouth | Referrals / Word of Mouth | Newspaper / Print Ads | Referrals / Word of Mouth | Referrals / Word of Mouth |
Breakdown by Yoga Studio
Studio #1
- Country: USA
- Population in area: 250,000 to 500,000
- Years in business: 5 to 10 years
- Yoga taught: Power/Ashtanga
- Drop-in class fee: $22
- Unlimited yoga per month cost: $139
- Busiest time of day: Late afternoon/dinner time
- Busiest day: Monday
- Number of classes taught each week: 120
- Number of yoga classrooms: 2
- Number of people accommodated in the biggest classroom: 30 to 50
- Rent or own: Rent
- Changing room: Yes
- Shower(s): Yes
- Retail sales: Clothing & accessories
- Retail sales per year: $75,000
- Best marketing method: Referrals / Word of Mouth
Studio #2
- Country: USA
- Population in the area: 1 million +
- Years in business: 15+ years
- Yoga taught: Bikram
- Drop-in class fee: $30
- Unlimited yoga per month cost: $175
- Busiest time of day: Late afternoon/dinner time
- Busiest day: Tuesday
- Number of classes taught each week: 250
- Number of yoga classrooms: 7
- Number of people accommodated in the biggest classroom: 50+
- Rent or own: Rent
- Changing room: Yes
- Shower(s): Yes
- Retail sales: Apparel, Mats & Accessories
- Retail sales per year: $100,000
- Best marketing method: Paid Google Ads
Studio #3
- Located in Australia
- 10,000 to 50,000 population
- 5 to 10 years in business
- Bikram/Hot yoga styles
- $22 drop-in class rate
- $129 unlimited yoga per month
- Late afternoon/dinner time: busiest time per day
- Sunday – busiest day
- 33 classes per week
- 2 yoga classrooms
- 30 to 50 people fit in the largest space
- Own the studio premises (i.e. not rented)
- No changing rooms
- Yes, has a shower(s)
- Mats, towels, bolsters & blocks sold for retail
- $200,000 gross retail sales per year
- Referrals / Word of Mouth – best marketing channel
Studio #4
- Located in Canada
- 1 million + population in the area
- 1 to 2 years in business
- Power/Ashtanga yoga styles taught
- $15 drop-in class fee
- $99 unlimited monthly yoga
- Late afternoon/dinner time – the busiest time of day
- Tuesday – busiest day
- 40 classes per week
- 1 classroom
- 20 to 30 students fit in the yoga space
- Rents the premises
- No changing room
- No shower
- No retail
- Groupon and email marketing are the best marketing channels
Studio #5
- Located in the USA
- 10,000 to 50,000 population in the area
- 15+ Years in business
- Hatha yoga style taught
- $17 for a drop-in class
- $149 for unlimited monthly yoga
- After dinner is the busiest time of day
- Monday is the busiest day of the week
- 24 classes per week
- 2 yoga classroom spaces
- 15 to 20 students fit in the largest yoga space
- Rents the premises
- No changing room
- No shower
- Apparel and yoga gear sold in the retail area
- “Lots” of retail revenue
- Paid Facebook Ads is the main marketing method
Studio #6
- Located in the USA
- 250,000 to 500,000 population in area
- 5 to 10 years in business
- Bikram/Hot yoga style taught
- $20 fee for drop-in yoga
- $40 for unlimited monthly yoga
- After dinner is the busiest time of day
- Saturday is the busiest day of the week
- 200 classes taught per week
- 6 yoga classrooms
- 30 to 50 students fit in the biggest space
- Rents the premises
- Yes has changing rooms
- Yes, has a shower(s)
- Studio branded apparel, accessories, gear, essential oils, and jewelry sold in the retail area
- $100,000 in gross annual retail sales
- Referral / Word of Mouth are the main marketing methods
Studio #7
- USA
- 250,000 to 500,000 population in the area
- 2 to 3 years in business
- Bikram/Hot yoga style taught
- $12 fee for a drop-in class
- $250 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Mid-morning is the busiest time of day
- Wednesday is the busiest day
- 60 classes taught per week
- 3 yoga classrooms/studios
- 20 to 30 students fit in the largest space
- Owns the yoga studio premises
- Yes, has changing room(s)
- Yes, has a shower(s)
- Apparel and gear sold in the retail area
- $80,000 gross revenue for retail sales
- Paid Google Ads is the main marketing method
Studio #8
- Australia
- 1 million + population in the area
- 10 to 15 years in business
- Flow style taught
- $27 for a drop-in yoga class
- $200 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Late afternoon/dinner time is the busiest time per day
- 20 classes offered per week
- 3 yoga classroom/studio spaces
- 20 to 30 students fit in the largest yoga space
- Rents the premises
- Yes, has a changing room
- Yes, has showers
- Soaps and candles sold in the retail area
- $3,000 gross retail sales per year
- Paid Facebook Ads is the main marketing method
Studio #9
- USA
- 100,000 to 250,000 population in the area
- 1 to 2 years in business
- Flow style yoga taught
- $20 for a drop-in yoga class
- $160 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Late afternoon/dinner time is the busiest time of day
- Monday is the busiest day
- 24 classes taught per week
- 1 yoga space
- 15 to 20 students fit in the yoga space
- Rents the premises
- No changing room
- No showers
- No retail sales
- Referrals / Word of Mouth is the main marketing method.
Studio #10
- USA
- 1 million + population in the area
- 5 to 10 years in business
- Flow style yoga taught
- $25 for drop-in yoga fee
- $169 for unlimited monthly yoga
- After dinner is the busiest time of day
- Monday is the busiest day of the week
- 80 classes taught per week
- 2 yoga spaces
- 30 to 50 students fit in the yoga space
- Rents the premises
- Yes, has changing rooms
- No showers
- Shirts, books, essential oils, mats, mat bags, totes, Mysore rugs, water bottles sold in retail space
- $10,000 in annual gross retail sales
- Referrals / Word of Mouth are the main marketing methods.
Studio #11
- USA
- 1 million + population in the area
- 1 year in business
- Hatha yoga taught
- $17 for a drop-in yoga class
- $500 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Early Afternoon is the busiest time of day
- Saturday is the busiest day of the week
- 126 classes taught per month
- 1 one yoga class area
- 20 to 30 people fit in the largest space
- Owns the premises
- Yes, has changing rooms
- No showers
- Retail sales and products not specified
- Newspaper / Print Ads are the main marketing methods
Studio #12
- USA
- 250,000 to 500,000 population in the area
- 1 year in business
- Bikram/Hot yoga style taught
- $26 for a drop-in yoga class
- $189 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Later afternoon/dinner time is the busiest time of day
- Monday is the busiest day
- 40 yoga classes taught per week
- 3 classroom spaces
- 30 to 50 students fit in the largest space
- Rents the premises
- Yes, has changing rooms
- Yes, has showers
- Apparel, mats, yoga equipment, and books sold in the retail area
- $75,000 gross annual retail sales
- Referrals / Word of Mouth are the main marketing methods
Studio #13
- USA
- 500,000 to 1 million population in the area
- 3 to 5 years in business
- Flow style yoga taught
- No drop-in classes
- $160 for unlimited monthly yoga
- Early morning is the busiest time of day
- Tuesday is the busiest day
- 20 yoga classes per week
- 2 yoga spaces
- 50+ people fit in the largest yoga space
- Owns the premises
- Yes, has changing rooms
- Yes, has showers
- Mat spray sold in the retail area
- Retail revenue not specified
- Referrals / Word of Mouth are the main marketing methods