Our Business of Yoga course is taught by Patrick "Papa" James Riley. Course highlights include: creating a business plan, marketing and promotions, initiating innovative yoga programs, developing negotiation skills, creating business opportunities, accounting strategies, web page development and more.
First, let’s get on the same page in terms of what we mean by “yoga business”. Some examples of yoga businesses are:
- Yoga studio owner
- Co-op yoga space owner/partner
- Online yoga teacher
- Private yoga teacher
- Yoga retreat leader
- Workshop leader
- Yoga and wellness coach
- Contract yoga teacher (corporate yoga, yoga at schools, events, health clubs, pop-ups, festivals, etc.)
- Specialty yoga teacher (kids, disabled populations, elderly, veterans, disenfranchised populations)
- Yoga teacher training leader
- Continuing yoga education provider
- Yoga podcasting
- Yoga writing
- New teacher mentoring
- Yoga school owner
- Selling yoga products
And really, whatever ideas you can dream up!
If more than one of these sparks your interest, that’s great! I often recommend building a yoga business with multiple revenue streams.
Now, onto what you’ll want to consider before building your yoga business. Some questions to ask yourself are:
- What is your risk tolerance? Do you have a day job that can support you as you transition into being a new business owner? If so, read why I suggest holding onto that gem! Are you the sole breadwinner with a newborn baby and a partner out of work? Or maybe you’re single with few financial responsibilities and a large amount in savings so you can handle more risk?
- Are you ready to say goodbye to some free time? If you already have no wiggle room in your schedule for things like self-care, you might want to question the timing or scale of your vision.
- Are you ready to change your relationship with yoga? Turning a passion or side-hustle into your bread-and-butter will change your relationship with it. Are you ready to leave the dewy-eyed honeymoon phase with yoga and enter into a committed marriage with it through sickness (hopefully less of this haha) and health?
- Are you down to level up your yoga practice? Having a yoga business means your personal practice needs to be on point! Having a dedicated personal practice while staying up-to-date on the latest developments and trends in the yoga world will support you in your entrepreneurial journey as well as keep you on your A-game so you can better serve your clients.
- Are you ready to face your fears and work on your money mindset? Being a successful business owner takes a bit more than the law of attraction and magical thinking. It requires getting down into the muck of your limiting beliefs in addition to learning the nitty-gritty of running a company.
- CREATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN! A business plan is defined as a document that describes a company’s core objectives, business activities, and how it plans to achieve its goals. The exact layout will depend on its intended use and audience (whether it’s just for you or to seek funding from potential investors for example), but basically, it’s a road map! In order to get to where we want to go, we have to know where we’re going and have at least a rough idea of how to get there, right?That’s why behind most successful companies is a business plan—it’s KEY in turning dreams into reality.
