Stop underpricing yourself: How to confidently set prices that reflect your true worth
You’ve decided you want to start teaching, how do you choose your tuition rates to ensure that you book new students and keep them coming back year after year? Keep reading to learn how to confidently set prices that reflect your true worth.
Know YOUR WORTH!
You are setting up your business to be a money-making, profitable and SERVICE BASED BUSINESS. Just like a plumber or hair stylists, this is your job. Doesn’t matter if you’re teaching 1 or 20 students. It’s still a business that commands respect. For me, it took me years to accept and finally charge what I originally “wanted” to charge for my tuition rate. I undervalued myself and what I had to offer, which meant I had to teach more than double the number of students just to make what I needed to earn to help our family with bills. Plus it wasn’t helpful to the other teachers in the area. But having a teacher that is priced way lower than the other teachers around it creates a sort of “bidding war” and can put you or the other teachers in an awkward situation. You should create competitive yet reasonable rates.
Know WHY you believe in your worth!
You have to learn why it is okay to price yourself at your worth and not what others think you are worth. 3 items can help you justify your tuition rate:
years of experience in your own development of talent
education, college-level if any
prior teaching experience.
When I opened my doors for teaching I had already been playing piano for 18 years, and horn for 15 years. I went to college and got a music degree AND had already been teaching for 10 years. Yet, I still under priced myself by $10 a lesson. And it took me YEARS of increasing my rates and finally moving to a new location where I could set my rate starting what I wanted and go up from there. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. So here are a few tips I recommend.
🎶 Tip 1: Try to scout out your local area on what other teachers are charging for tuition. Base your rate around that and the 3 qualifiers above.
🎶 Tip 2: List in your studio policy what your monthly tuition includes! Include that your tuition is for private lessons, and also your time outside of lessons, overall music experience, and how many recitals you’re hosting a year.
🎶 Tip 3: Be confident when talking about your tuition. If you aren’t confident, whomever you are talking to will pick up on that and you could run into issues down the road with that family.
🎶 Tip 4: You can always increase your rates at a later date either for existing students or just for new incoming students or both.
Remember, you’re not going to be able to teach everyone. But also, it’s your business you can run it how you want, from creating “scholarship” opportunities to help offset the cost for a student, to reduced lesson costs for those in financial difficulties. I’ve even offered gift cards/pre-paid lesson opportunities which come in handy for holiday gifts or birthdays.
LAST THING: the minute someone starts to take advantage of you, from missing lessons, and expecting you to reduce their tuition due to missed lessons to paying past the due date. They aren’t respecting you or your business. Talk to them and let them know that this business is just as important to you as their job is to them. Give them one more chance and if they are late again, or continue the same pattern of behavior, then it’s time to terminate. In the end, you might lose a student, but there are always more waiting to join your studio, and to be respected is more than any money earned.
Happy Teaching!