Yoga teacher in coffee shop

Leverage your Yoga Studio to build revenues on top of teaching.

A yoga studio presents a terrific opportunity for other revenue sources because:

  • it has a large space not always in use
  • it has people coming and going
  • depending on where its located, there may be lots of traffic going by

That said, no matter what you do, ensure your studio focuses on its core service – teaching yoga.

Other revenue stream ideas for your yoga studio are:

Offer teacher training

Retail space

Coffee / juice bar / restaurant:

I suggest ensuring the food products you sell are organic and natural and fair trade. I visited a yoga studio in Portland Oregon that had a very good organic restaurant in the same space. The restaurant was exceptional and did a lot of business.

I’m not sure whether the yoga studio operated the restaurant or they were separate entities – however, the mutual traffic no doubt benefitted both businesses.

Massage / Spa facilities

  • if you have the space for a very nice massage room, you could offer massage (by you if trained or have someone come in and do a fee split)
  • if you have more resources, you could install saunas, hot tubs, pool, steam rooms, etc. Only install excellent equipment designed for commercial use. Whenever a facility installs the cheaper equipment designed for a home, it breaks down, looks cheap, and nobody uses it.

Rent out the classroom space when not in use

  • to individuals
  • other teachers who don’t have space (be sure this teacher meets your standards. You want only top-quality teachers teaching in your studio).
  • anyone who needs a larger space – for teaching, group meetings, etc.
  • Caveat on renting space to others:
  • be sure it’s always left by the renter in the condition you provided it.
  • be sure you always leave enough time between bookings and your classes for everyone to leave leisurely well before your class starts. Your classroom studio should be available for students 10 to 15 minutes before class starts. Unless you have a large waiting area (not the best use of space), your students arriving a bit early will want to get settled in the classroom studio.

Tours / retreats

More likely this option will afford you great travel opportunities rather than revenue. If you love traveling, organize a yoga tour/retreat with your clientele. Typically if you get enough persons to sign up, your trip is free. You could contact any travel agent to learn more.

Speaking fees

If you become a prominent or celebrity yoga instructor or become an expert in a very niche area, you can command fees for appearing at conferences and workshops.

Monetize your website

  • Offer your retail products for sale on your website.
  • Create streaming video classes for your website that require memberships for viewing.
    Caution: I wouldn’t turn your studio’s website into an all-out commercial site with Google Adsense and affiliate links. Your site is for your students and prospective students. That said, offering the products you sell for retail, if presented nicely on the site and are products you trust and use, don’t detract – just don’t put them on your homepage.

Licensing your media products

If you’ve written books or created DVDs/CDs or any other product, consider licensing it to a studio, not in your geographic location.

Other Revenue increasing considerations

  • Don’t pursue other revenue sources if it will detract from the teaching quality. Retail isn’t too time-consuming, but offering massage and food service is.
  • Only offer products and services you believe in.
  • Ensure the noise from any retail or food space isn’t heard in the classroom space.
  • Ensure whatever other products or services you offer it’s related to yoga, meditation, holistic living, and/or health and wellness.
  • Don’t work yourself to death. On a vacation, I met a couple who operated a yoga studio and they said it was their first vacation in 5 years. I know starting and running a business with limited resources is time-consuming. However, apply some yoga philosophies and don’t work all the time. Take some time to breathe.

Be creative. There are many, many opportunities.  Only offer something if you believe in it, and it doesn’t distract your teaching.