Getting Down to Business: Exploring Business Structures that Provide Creative Flow

Many singers begin teaching voice lessons early in their careers, even while completing their own studies. After all, you’ve taken voice lessons with your own teacher(s) for years and you already have a pretty good idea of how to teach functional warmups, vocalizes, and basic repertoire in various styles. It is tempting to simply announce yourself as a voice teacher and begin accepting voice students—anyone who wants to learn to sing better. Unlike other fields of study, no license, apprenticeship, certificates, degrees, or minimum requirements are needed to establish yourself as an independent “professional” voice teacher. That means that anyone can teach singing. And they do. Your goal is to stand out from the crowds (and TikTok influencers) and build your studio or creative business with knowledge, integrity, intention, and business acumen.

Some new voice teachers invest time and resources into exploring independent voice teaching business models before they begin accepting students. Others dive in and begin teaching, figuring it out as they go—learning from their mistakes and successes. Many, however, find themselves overwhelmed with the realities of founding and running an actual business. The truth is that unless your creative business or other income streams are sustainable, it will affect your ability to maintain your art and performance, as well as the quality of your life.

In this brief workshop, we’ll explore some strategies for planning, structuring, building, and growing your creative business, beginning with Who/What/Where/How and most importantly Why you wish to become a voice teacher or other creative business owner. We’ll touch on Basics of Business including banking, taxes, policies, procedures, onboarding (and offboarding) clients. (Yes, you are a service-based business, and your students are clients whether you refer to them that way or not.) We’ll highlight a few different business models and payment structures.

Once you’ve established your business, your potential voice students must have a way to find you. We’ll discuss networking, word of mouth, social media, blogs, client-facing websites, and other ways to create visibility and credibility for your studio. We’ll explore high tech and low-tech resources for studio management, scheduling, client databases, invoicing, accepting payments, do-it-yourself admin and when to hire virtual or onsite assistants.

When your business is sustainable, you can spend more time on your art, family and friends, hobbies, travel, and life interests.

🏷️ Price £30 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available