As I sat down this week to do my semi-annual studio cleanup and reorganization, I realized I’ve taught over 4000 lessons in the past 5 years or so. This doesn’t include the lessons I taught prior to discovering my favorite studio management software, MyMusicStaff (more on this below 😉), so chances are that I’ve actually taught closer to 10,000 lessons since I began teaching full-time.
One of the questions I’m oftentimes asked when I tell people about my studio is how I’m able to manage everything I do — I operate my own self-owned businesses in music and photography, as well as work part-time for a wonderful photography-adjacent company called Pic-Time. While it may appear that everything is operating smoothly now (trust me, there are still hiccups), it isn’t without considerable trial and error that I found a flow and system that worked for me.
Establish a Private Lesson Contract/Policy
One of the biggest pieces of advice I can lend is to have a clear and concise contract or policy that is shared with every student (and/or their responsible adult), ideally once a year. This allows you opportunity to continue polishing and revising your policies throughout the years, and keep things as clear as possible to avoid confusion and frustration — on your end, and on the student-end!
Below are some of the main topics I suggest mentioning in your private lesson policies:
Preparation & Practice Expectations
This is where you lay out your expectations for the student. Keep it simple and sweet — if you expect a minimum amount of practice per week, require a practice log to be kept, or require students acquire specific materials/equipment at home or brought to each lesson, this is where to summarize all of that — well-maintained instrument, reeds, pencil, tuner, etc. Something like the following is a great place to start:
I will be fully prepared for each lesson, having practiced the assigned material to my best ability.
I will have all the materials I need for my lesson, including method books, printed sheet music, metronome, tuner, pencil, and any other materials that are discussed as required in lessons.
Fees & Billing Information
As a freelancer, something I’m never shy about is laying out my payment expectations clear as day. It provides clarity for your customer, but also peace of mind that you will be paid in a timely manner. Due dates, payment methods, late fees, payment schedules, and information on where/when invoices can be expected are things I suggest outlining in your policy.
My biggest piece of advice on this front is to always bill in advance of the lessons you provide. You as the teacher have high-incentive to show up to a scheduled lesson — it’s your income and your business. By billing in advance, you can provide more incentive for students to not miss their scheduled lessons, thus avoiding lost income and the need to reschedule them last minute. I am usually lenient in cases of illness (keep those germs out of my studio, please!), but forgetting to let me know about your orthodontist appointment till the day of your lesson won’t fly — I require 24 hour notice at a minimum for all non-emergency cancellation requests.
One of the other things I’ve utilized in my policy to ensure prompt payments is a strict late fee policy. I usually don’t administer the late fee the first time a student misses the payment deadline — mistakes happen and sometimes things fall by the wayside. I also always reach out to the person responsible for payments directly to ensure they’re getting my emailed invoices, they didn’t make an error in trying to settle up, and to remind them that this is a primary income source for me, and delinquency in payments affects me being able to pay my own bills. Repeat offenders are re-invoiced with my late fee tacked onto their original billed amount, but usually it never comes to this because the communication and expectation is crystal clear!
Don’t forget to include information on how you wish to be paid. I discourage cash payments altogether, as it’s extremely difficult to keep organized for your book-keeping come tax time. I also do not accept any payments during student lessons — this is because it takes away from our instructional time, as well as because it’s easy to tuck a check from a student in you pocket and forget out it, then you wash those pants and wind up with a soggy (and likely void) check. Trust me — it’s better for everyone’s sanity to require electronic payments and/or mailed checks.
Attendance & Reschedule/Cancellation Policy
One of the biggest points of frustration most new private instructors face is dealing with rescheduled and cancelled lessons. I’ve found that explaining your policy upfront is the best way to keep everyone happy and on the same page. Again, you can make this more elaborate if you choose, but below you can find my generic attendance clause:
I take responsibility to know when my scheduled lessons take place and will give my instructor notice of any conflicts with ample notice. Minimum of 24 hours notice is required for any rescheduled lesson, unless it is due to illness in which case a morning-of notification will suffice.
Lessons can be rescheduled once with notice. Further reschedule requests for the same meeting are subject to instructor discretion. Frequent cancelled or rescheduled lessons may result in your removal from the studio per the instructor’s discretion.
Communication Expectations
How do you expect students to communicate with you? How do you expect the responsible adult party to communicate with you? Do you have set “office hours” when students can reach out with questions? What is your usual response time?
Personally, I require all business correspondence to be written, ideally by email — this is to avoid discrepancies in interpretation, and also so everyone can reference what was said more easily in case of question. There’s no record if it’s only stated via phone call, and I try to keep text messages as a strictly-personal line of communication (because work/life boundaries are important!!!).
It’s also important to let the students/adults know what will be the primary communication method. Some students are not accustomed to checking their emails yet for important messages and updates — I usually try to stress how important it is for both student and adult to regularly monitor their emails for important studio-related messages and lesson reminder notices.
TRACK YOUR MILES & EXPeNSES
If you travel to a music school or studio space, be sure to keep clear records detailing your mileage so you can write those off for your taxes!
Most private instructors have business expenses that can be deducted, too. Keep records and receipts for all of these items, as they usually add up quickly. When I first began teaching full-time, I realized I needed to have more repertoire on hand, as well as a small sampling of mouthpieces students could try before buying their own. These are some examples are easy expense deductions you can consider come tax season.
Please note: I am not a tax professional! Be sure to discuss these items with your accountant.
Simplify your life with MyMusicStaff
Alright, so you made it this far and you’re probably thinking… “oh my goodness, this is more than I expected. How am I going to manage all of this?!” Well, good news is that there are some amazing resources for simplifying life as a private instructor. My favorite tool is a web-based scheduling/billing management platform called MyMusicStaff
MyMusicStaff is an all-in-one solution meant for handling private studios’ billing, scheduling, record-keeping, and more!
Personally, this platform was a LIFE-CHANGER! It’s the best no-brainer expense I am happy to pay for on a monthly basis because of how much time it saves! Once you onboard new students, you can automate things like weekly scheduling, monthly invoices, reminder emails, and so much more. Invoicing used to take me HOURS — now it’s a matter of a few clicks to have it all automatically sent out at the top of each month! My students are setup to receive reminder emails 24 hours before every scheduled meeting time, which is a great reminder for them to double check their schedules and notify you about any conflict before their lesson date. Payments can be made directly through a button on their invoices, further streamlining the process and making your life easier! It’s really the best platform for anyone with a private lesson studio.
You can use my referral link below to sign up — it’ll gift us both 1 free month if you sign up!