Business Description:
Dan Greenhalgh Guitar Tuition will be my own instrumental tuition business based in Bradford, United Kingdom. My services are primarily aimed at children and young adults wanting to learn how to play guitar or bass, and will help students to progress through the RSL Awards contemporary graded music exams from grade 1 to 8. This will be supplemented with the learning of music and techniques relevant to each student’s individual preference, leading to the building of a repertoire to push my students to participate in live performance.
To assist me in establishing my business, developing teaching methods, and progressing my professionalism as a music tutor, I will be using various professional bodies and support organisations.
My income will be from my students, and I will be charging per lesson. I intend to maintain a fixed hourly rate, however I will also offer shorter lesson slots for any student who feels they may need it. Some of my profits from teaching will go to covering any overheads for my business in order to keep it running.
I will aim to have a website and an online music tutor profile set up in order to assist in the promotion of my business, and also will have some business cards produced so that I can advertise myself further after my own live performances, or during other similar events. This will help me solidify a brand and ultimately provide my services with a professional look.
Establishing my business and analysing support bodies:
This is a new business and my first steps into music tuition, therefore I have settled on using the name Dan Greenhalgh Guitar Tuition. The name is simple as it tells the client who I am and what I do straight away which I feel is appropriate for this line of work.
It is imperative that I understand the correct procedures and protocols in regards to the UK’s laws surrounding freelance working and the tutoring of young people. The Musicians Union provides members with everything from insurance, legal support, and financial assistance so I will inquire about a membership in order to ensure that I am doing everything legally and have all the necessary cover. In addition to this the Musicians Union have a partnership with the organisation Total CRB to provide help to members in acquiring an Enhanced DBS Check. An Enhanced Check is a requirement of teachers in the UK, and proves to clients that I am fit to work around vulnerable people and with people under the age of 18.
Another relevant support organisation is the ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) who also offer the same benefits to members as the Musicians Union. After researching into the two organisations, I have concluded that the Musicians Union is more appropriate for myself to use as it has not only a larger volume of members, but also appears to cover a broader scope of musicians, whereas the ISM seems to cater more towards classical musicians. The Musicians Union has much more in depth services and I feel will be more beneficial to my business in the long run.
I will be setting up an online profile for my tuition services alongside a website, and to do this I will use MusicTeachers.co.uk. This organisation is affiliated with the Musicians Union, and allows viewers to search through tutors by postcode and instrument. This site also offers a rating system so building up some good reviews could greatly benefit the promotion of my business.
To create a website, I will be using a service such as WordPress or Wix which make the production of a website much easier to arrange. These are good services for giving your website a highly professional aesthetic. On my website I will include information on my tuition services, a section about myself and my experience as a musician over the last 10 years, and I also will upload videos of short lessons and performances. I intend to keep this site updated regularly with at least one reasonably sized update per month. This website will eventually become a kind of hub for my students where they can find resources to assist their learning, and ultimately provide them with more for their money.
In order for my business to succeed and grow, I need to remember the importance of my own learning. As I am still in education and studying my BA (Hons) Degree in Music, I am constantly learning and improving my playing while discovering new techniques and perfecting established ones. There are countless techniques I have learned over the years which are all relevant for me to pass on to students, and the more I improve – the more knowledge I can pass on.
Definition of the market, my target audience, major selling points:
I am aiming to primarily promote my services to a young audience of students between 13 and 18. The reason for selecting this age group is because it’s at around this age where a real interest in music generally starts to develop, and also younger students retain information and knowledge exceptionally well. Younger students tend to be a little bit easier to teach as well which is ideal for me as I am just beginning my career in music tuition. This does not mean I will turn away people who do not fit in this age bracket however, but my focus will be on bringing in younger clients.
I will be advertising around Bradford mainly as this is where I will be based, so getting a list of local clientele will be ideal. I also will be considering online lessons via video call platforms such as Skype or Zoom once I have established a few in person clients, as this can broaden the scope of people I can teach due to there being no geographical restrictions.
Instrumental tuition, and especially guitar tuition, is a highly saturated market and there certainly is no shortage of private tutors. To compete with the others in the market, and make my services stand out over the rest I will be emphasising a heavy involvement in getting students to perform live for the first time by hosting a monthly event called Live at The Lounge.
Live at The Lounge is an established event that I am already involved with and have been for a few years now. It is a monthly family friendly event in a social club based in Baildon where myself and some fellow tutors and associates get students performing live to an audience, and then provide an evening’s entertainment in the form of some headlining local artists. I can use this event to help push my own students to play live and feel much more involved in the local community of musicians. Live performance not only helps to vastly improve your skill on an instrument, but also provides a sense of fulfilment and enjoyment to students.
While the guitar tuition market is heavily saturated, I have found that there are always people wanting to learn an instrument, there are still plenty of potential clients available.
Summary of services I will provide:
- One to one lessons on the guitar and bass – An option of 30, 45, or 60 minute lessons. These will cost £12.50, £19, and £25 respectively.
- The teaching of graded exams.
- Regular live performance opportunities – This is in the form of the Live at The Lounge monthly event.
- An introduction to music theory if a client would like it – this is more for any older clients I may receive as younger students will be more focused on playing.
- Additional online resources for students – This can vary from videos to chord sheets and will be available to my students via my website.
- Help outside of set lesson times if a student requires it.
Business goals and milestones:
I aim to build up a minimum of 10 students to begin with in my first year as this is a manageable number to keep on top of as my experience grows.
As I gain experience I will further build up my clientele and hopefully have three full 8 hour working days worth of work. I won’t be taking on more than this while I am still in education as the workload would become much too large for me.
Towards the end of my first two years of tutoring, I aim to have had students pass a grade exam or be ready to go and pass one, and have provided them with some live performance opportunities.
In the long term (5 years+) I hope to be in a position where I can make this my full time job and fill up 5 working days with work. I also hope to have expanded upon the live performance aspect of my services and be able to provide more opportunities to students in more venues.
Marketing and promotion strategy:
To promote my business I will be using a combination of platforms. I will start by constructing my profile on MusicTeachers.co.uk as stated earlier, and I will be publishing my website around the same time. I will also use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to promote myself further.
I intended to order a batch of business cards as these are an effective way to promote myself at music events and performances. This is also relatively cheap and will help me to reach out locally fairly quickly.
Additionally, I am fortunate enough to have the support of a few tutors in my local area who have not only helped me develop into a confident musician, but also have offered help to promote my new business as they already are booked up and have lists of potential clientele.
Business management and skills audit:
My business will be solely managed and ran by myself, this means I will be managing everything from finances to research and lesson planning.
To keep on top of everything I have prepared a skills audit that clearly identifies the skills that I have and highlights what I need to work on improving
Here is a link to download my skills audit, it is also pictured for ease of access:
Budgeting and financial management:
My tuition business will be starting off small, and as my clientele and income grows I can start to expand. I will be setting up my business at home, converting one room into a dedicated music tutoring room that provides a professional feel to my business and has all the resources necessary for me to provide the most professional service possible.
My start up budget is £1000 of my own money. I will be applying for funding through support organisations, however I am basing my set up cost on my own savings as there is no guarantee that I can receive any extra funding.
Due to my business being set up from home, the only overheads I will have is rent to contribute towards the bills overall, meaning I am in a good position to start advertising my services in order to expand as soon as I have a workspace ready to go.
Here is a quick spreadsheet I made that breakdown my start up costs:
This start up cost is well within my allocated budget and will work well from home, If I do receive some funding extra purchases will be made and I would also consider renting a larger room elsewhere to give my business a more professional setting.
References:
RSL Awards. 2021. Music grades for all levels | Tailor-made music qualifications | Rockschool. [online] Available at: <https://www.rslawards.com/rockschool/>
Musiciansunion.org.uk. 2021. Home. [online] Available at: <https://musiciansunion.org.uk/>
Musiciansunion.org.uk. 2021. Disclosure and Barring Service (England and Wales). [online] Available at: <https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/music-teaching/safeguarding-and-child-protection-in-education/disclosure-and-barring-service-england-and-wales>
Total CRB. 2021. Disclosure Types. [online] Available at: <https://www.totalcrb.co.uk/disclosure-types/?doing_wp_cron=1612916597.4329690933227539062500>
ISM. 2021. DBS checks – frequently asked questions. [online] Available at: <https://www.ism.org/advice/dbs-checks-frequently-asked-questions>
Musicteachers.co.uk. 2021. Home. [online] Available at: <https://www.musicteachers.co.uk/>