Today's episode is part one of a super interesting two-part conversation with Sam Reti, a music teacher and the visionary behind the popular online music lesson platform Muzie.Live. In this episode, Sam shares how a college class at Berkeley, countless Uber and Lyft rides, and a whole lot of Chipotle burritos helped launch his first business. And why learning when to quit was just as important as knowing when to keep going.

We talk about how his first app idea morphed into a second and then a third, which is the Muzie we know today. We talk about the decision to bootstrap instead of raising investor money. How Sam adapted when his original business idea didn't pan out, and what he's learned about growing a customer base organically in the music education world.

Sam gives an honest behind the scenes look at startup life complete with all the messy unglamorous realities you don't usually hear about. 

Here's my conversation with Sam. 

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode165.

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This time of year I get a lot of financial questions from teachers. We’ve just gotten through the holiday spending spree, new year’s might have inspired some financial goal-setting, and then there’s the looming tax deadline in April, so there’s a lot to think about.

Sometimes the questions I get are really specific to an individual, but lately a bunch of clients and listeners have said “hey, you talk about reviewing financials on a regular basis as a way of getting more familiar with my financial picture, but what exactly should I be reviewing?”

And they’re totally right, I haven’t been very specific here. So today I’m going to do that.

I’m going to show you how to find some key numbers on your tax return that can give you powerful insights into your business and personal finances.

A full transcript along, with printable + digital resources to supplement this episode, can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode164.

💻📈Tax Insights Workshop: Making Sense of Your Tax Return

Thur. April 24 at 10am Central

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If you’ve ever thought about expanding from being a solo, independent teacher to hiring teachers and assumed your first step would be to rent a commercial space, think again.

Today’s guest shares how the studio she started with a few students in her living room eventually grew to serve 200 students and took over her family’s entire home.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode163.

Tax Insights Workshop 

Thur. April 24 @ 10am Central

Sign up for that workshop at https://www.musicstudiostartup.com/taxinsights/.

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With the MTNA conference right around the corner, we got Charles Harris, CPA back on the podcast to discuss tax deductions for business travel and attending conferences. We talk about common expenses associated with business travel, which ones are deductible and which ones aren’t.

We answer questions like:

• Are meals 100% deductible when I’m traveling?

• Can I deduct my plane ticket it I pay for it with points?

• If my family is traveling with me, can I deduct their travel expenses?

• If I book a local hotel for a staycation and teach a virtual lesson while I’m there, can I count it as a business trip?

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode162.

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Today I’m talking to the Christina Whitlock - an independent piano teacher whose studio has flexed and changed many times throughout her career to adapt to what she wants and needs out of life and business in different seasons.

If you are familiar with Christina and her podcast, Beyond Measure, you know she is a huge encourager for music teachers and you’ll get a huge dose of that in this episode. We also hear about some big changes she’s made in her own studio over the the last several years, how she rolled out the changes, what worked and what didn’t, what she’s learned about evaluating change, and more. 

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode161.

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Music Studio Startup Snapshot 009 – Christina Whitlock

We’ve had a lot of tax talk on the podcast lately and I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I get it. I promise we’ll keep it to a minimum today, but I do want to let you know about an upcoming webinar that I will be co-presenting with our CPA, Charles! Join us on Thur, February 6 for our Self-Employment Tax Crash Course. You can register for that at musicstudiostartup.com/tax. That’s it! That’s all I’m going to say about taxes.

Let’s hear a good ol’, inspiring studio success story. I think a lot of listeners are going to relate to today’s guest. Alison had been teaching for a number of years, had a nice-sized studio, and was beginning to feel the drag of teaching into the evening hours. So she decided to do something about it. She set out to shift her schedule to more daytime hours. She successfully made that shift (with some genius networking strategies!) and the result was… not what she expected!

Listen in to hear how Alison made (and continues to make) effective shifts in her studio and what she has learned along the way.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode160.

💰Register for the Crash Course in Self-Employment Taxes Feb. 6 at 11am Central

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Charles and Andrea sit down to answer some of the questions we’ve been getting about our new tax prep services for music teachers!

• Can I self-file taxes?

• What are the tax deadlines I need to be aware of?

• What is the mileage deduction? How does the mileage deduction work?

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode159.

FREE Webinar: Self-Employment Tax Crash Course - Thur, Feb 6, 2025

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Q1 Mastermind Groups start Jan 27

Happy new year! For a lot of studio owners, January represents the beginning of tax season so I’ve got Charles Harris, a CPA, as our guest today to talk about all things self-employment taxes.

We’ll cover a bunch of things including the earning thresholds for when you need to earn to start filing taxes and what to do if you did not earn a profit in your business this year (spoiler: it can benefit you to file anyway!). We’ll also talk about what’s different for the 2024 tax year and what we know (and don’t know) about expected changes for the 2025 tax year.

Plus, we’ll share an exciting announcement about new services coming to Music Studio Startup this year and a new perk for Hub members!

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode158.

MSS Tax Prep + Accounting Services for Music Teachers

Join the Hub: MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Q1 Mastermind Groups start Jan 27

 If you've ever wished you could travel, but have told yourself that you can't take time off or it's too expensive or whatever, this interview will have you rethinking those assumptions. 

Today, I'm talking to a returning guest about how he has designed his studios, plural, to be able to take extended backpacking trips every year. We talk about budgeting for the trips, how he preps his students and teachers, and how he keeps things on track while he's away. Here's my conversation with Noah.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode157.

A quick reminder that next Tuesday, Dec. 10 is our BOIR Filing Party. If you have an LLC and it’s been on your To Do list to file this report, join us!

If you missed Episode 156 where I talked about the new BOIR filing requirement for LLC owners, you’ll definitely want to check it out.

📅 Register for our BOIR Filing Party on Tues, Dec. 10

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