I recently had a conversation with a friend who is planning to buy a yoga studio. I love talking to people as they are in the beginning stages of owning their own businesses, because the conversations bring me right back to my own experience.
During that exciting yet stressful time in the spring of 2010, before signing the lease to what’s now my yoga studio, I remember having this one, big, looming question:
How do I know I’ll be able to make this work?
I guess the short, pessimistic answer is:
I didn’t.
Nothing is for sure and anything can happen, but we can set ourselves up for success.
Sometimes as yogis, we tend to shy away from the business side of things. After all, we’re opening up shop to teach incredible yoga and help as many people as we can.
But if we don’t have our mindset in the right place to make decisions and see the big picture, we won’t have anyone to help, and we’ll soon be out of business.
That’s why I put this post together. Your mindset can control so much, and when you personally don’t know the answer to something, use your mind to ask for help.
Here are 6 ways to improve your yoga studio using your mind!
- Hire a business coach. It’s the smartest thing you’ll ever do.
You absolutely need someone in your corner who can check your blind spots. Someone who, hopefully, has already arrived at where you want to go.For me, and for any potential or current yoga studio owner, I’d only recommend working with Josh Biro and being part of the Yogapreneur Collective.
Josh and his wife Jenna are former yoga studio owners. They built their business literally with their own hands and grew it to a level where it was completely supporting their comfortable lifestyle. A lifestyle that included kids, a home, cars, and a month-long vacation every year.
I know, as a yoga studio owner, you find that freakin’ incredible!
I sure did. It’s why I decided to work with them and join their invaluable resource group, the Yogapreneur Collective.
Hiring a business coach can seem scary and extravagant, but Josh makes it really easy. He even gets you started with a free call to see what it’ll be like working with him. And the best part is that when you join, you’ll be instantly connected to a group of the most successful yoga studio owners in the world, a group of people who are thriving using the techniques they’ve learned from Josh and his coaching.
Now, once you’ve secured your place in the Yogapreneur Collective and are feeling confident with your coach in your corner, you’ll be able to tune in to the next five mental yoga ways to grow your business. And when you practice them, you’ll see results in your business and in your students’ lives that you never knew were possible!
I personally tap into these mental qualities on a daily basis. They keep me grounded and focused. They allow me to view decisions with a “big picture” perspective and not get caught up in the tiny minutia of day to day operations.
Like yoga, business is a practice, something that gets better with mental effort as well as physical.
- Faith
First and foremost, you’ve gotta have faith.If you take on the risk of opening up shop and you don’t have faith that you can make it work, success will be an uphill battle.
Trust me, I’ve had moments where I’ve second guessed everything, and those are the times when business was the worst.
Call it law of attraction, but I fully accept that I will not be able to attract customers if I don’t have faith in what I’m doing.
So have faith.
Have faith that what you’re offering your community is the best, most helpful product or service ever created. Have faith that you can deliver it day in and day out, never sacrificing the quality. Have faith in your work ethic, your education, and your decisions. Have faith that you can make it work.
- Self Control
Use your self-control when it comes to promotions and daily deal sites. Used sparingly and strategically, these tactics can deliver lifetime members and customers, but use them too much and risk watering down your service.Being part of every new thing can be so tempting, but tap into your self-control to only participate in the programs that you see having long-lasting benefits. I’ve found that customers appreciate a high quality of service which costs money to operate. It’s better to pick and choose carefully how and when you offer your discounts.
These decisions require tremendous, conscience self-control.
- Determination
This where the grit and sweat come into play! Determination is a major part of answering that whole how do I know I will be able to make this work? Keep at it.Don’t give up.
Work hard and smart.
In the beginning months, embrace staying up late and waking up early. While burning the candle at both ends surely is not sustainable long-term, we all have a bit of adrenaline on which we can run, especially at the beginning.
Use it.
Spend time handing out flyers, visiting other local shops, hosting an open house, and pounding the pavement. While I personally think all of the above should be continued well into the life of the business, it’s especially important at the beginning to be able to make it work.
- Concentration
This has become more challenging for me over the years. I’m vulnerable to distractions, whether it’s a social media check or taking care of something for my family and kids. I complete my most productive work when I turn my smartphone off (not just silenced, but OFF) and put it in the other room, and when I tackle my important tasks first thing in the morning.We all have a certain time of day where we can concentrate the best. Recognizing when that is and capitalizing on it helps channel concentration into productive work.
- Patience
Like stretching tight hamstrings, growing a small business takes time.I read this awesome quote from Elephant Journal (that actually relates to yoga!) that said, “Don’t compare your chapter 1 with someone else’s chapter 20.”
Boom.
That totally resonates, right?!
Established, busy, and successful businesses in your industry are exactly that: established. They’re on their chapter 20.
While drawing inspiration from others can provide ideas and excitement, realize that it took those businesses months if not years to get where they are, so try not to compare.
As long as you have momentum building behind what you’re doing, then your decisions are working.
Something that can be inspiring and comforting is seeking out a mentor or a coach who will share his or her business experience. I was helped along by other yoga studio owners who had been operating for years before me.
I decided to invest in a coach.
Learning how they grew their small classes and listening to stories of how much time it took educated me that I couldn’t just hang an “Open” sign on my door and expect full classes.
When I truly practiced patience, I realized that getting my business off the ground wouldn’t happen overnight. This acceptance made it easier to exercise my faith, self-control, determination, and concentration toward my studio.
When all is said and done, guarantees don’t really exist. I came to realize, though, that it was riskier for me to not at least try. I would always wonder, could I have done it?
And I’d much rather answer the question: What can I do to make this work?
If you’re a risk averse person opening or buying a yoga studio, practice the above 6 things, do the work, and watch your dream turn into a reality that helps people every single day!
