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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Today’s episode is more of a public service announcement for studio owners who have businesses that are registered in the US.

On January 1, a new reporting requirement from the US Treasury Department went into effect and it might impact you. I’m talking about the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting rule or BOI Reporting requirement from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the Corporate Transparency Act.

Today I’m going to share what I learned in my research of the ruling. I’m going to go through this in a Q&A format that traces the path I took and the questions that came up for me as I determined whether or not I would be eligible and then what the registration process entailed.

Hopefully it’ll help you jumpstart your own research.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode156.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I’m not giving legal advice here. This is strictly for informational purposes and it’s up to you to ensure your business is in compliance with all applicable laws.

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

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

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Sean Murphy is a saxophone teacher who managed to teach 112 students on a weekly basis by teaching in schools, during the school hours.

In our interview, Sean shares his scheduling strategies, communication tips, and how he keeps his income up in leaner summer months.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode155.

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MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today’s podcast episode is part 2 of a two part conversation with a returning guest. Christopher Maloney was on the podcast last year to talk about founding Practice Warriors, an online practice program aimed at teen and adult students. You can hear that story in Episode 132.

In that conversation, Christopher mentioned that he had formerly owned a multi-teacher music studio, which he sold. That was too big a topic to get into in our last conversation, but I knew I wanted to hear that story, so I’m grateful to Christopher for making the time for another interview.

In the first part of the interview we hear the startup story and Christopher’s take on the 5 things he credits for the success of his studio. Teaser: his wife, Christina, has a PR background and you can hear that influence in the out-of-the-box marketing strategies they used to launch the studio.

In the second part, which you’ll hear next week, we get into the numbers and money side: we talk about startup costs, how they priced lessons, how they financed the building, and how they eventually sold the studio. You’ll hear us talk a lot about “equity” in this episode,  I’ll unpack that a bit in my recap, as well. It’s not something that gets talked about very much in the context of music studios, but I think it’s an important concept for business owners to get familiar with, so we’re going to talk about it.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode154.

Today’s podcast episode is part 1 of a two part conversation with a returning guest. Christopher Maloney was on the podcast last year to talk about founding Practice Warriors, an online practice program aimed at teen and adult students. You can hear that story in Episode 132.

In that conversation, Christopher mentioned that he had formerly owned a multi-teacher music studio, which he sold. That was too big a topic to get into in our last conversation, but I knew I wanted to hear that story, so I’m grateful to Christopher for making the time for another interview.

In the first part of the interview we hear the startup story and Christopher’s take on the 5 things he credits for the success of his studio. Teaser: his wife, Christina, has a PR background and you can hear that influence in the out-of-the-box marketing strategies they used to launch the studio.

In the second part, which you’ll hear next week, we get into the numbers and money side: we talk about startup costs, how they priced lessons, how they financed the building, and how they eventually sold the studio. You’ll hear us talk a lot about “equity” in this episode,  I’ll unpack that a bit in my recap, as well. It’s not something that gets talked about very much in the context of music studios, but I think it’s an important concept for business owners to get familiar with, so we’re going to talk about it.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode153.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today's conversation is one about being a lifelong learner, managing competing priorities and finite time, and aligning a team to work towards a shared vision. 

Most of us can probably relate to at least some of these things from our roles as teachers and studio owners, but my guest today is neither a music teacher nor a studio owner.

Today I’m talking to Bradley Kunda, a musician and Product Owner for the popular music notation app, MuseScore.

Being on a software team, Bradley brings a really different perspective to these topics that I think you're going to enjoy and learn a lot from.

Here’s my conversation with Bradley:

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode152.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

For the first time in two years, we’re forming a cohort of teachers to go through Business Building 101 together! Join today at musicstudiostartup.com/BB101

You’ll get weekly video lessons to complete whenever it’s convenient and you can join the live office hours to get personalized help and hang out with other teachers in the cohort.

Today’s mini interview comes from Jenica Nevala, a music school owner who already had a few years of studio-building under her belt before she joined the Business Building 101 cohort.

During the program, she made some significant changes in her policies that have made her business more sustainable and she later ran a bold promotion that brought in 10 new students in a week.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode151.

Cohort starting 9/23: Music Studio Business Building 101

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Course: Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today’s episode is a rebroadcast of one of the earliest episodes of Music Studio Startup, but it has stood the test of time.

It’s worth noting that at the time of recording, my guest Shannah’s podcast was called “Millennial Money”, but the name has since changed to “Everyone’s Talkin’ Money.” Here’s the episode:

If you’re in the first few years of your career, money can be a complicated topic. You may be trying to balance bills and student loan payments while still investing in your business. On top of that, if you’re self-employed, you have to figure it out all on your own!

In today’s show, you’ll be introduced to Shannah Compton Game, a Certified Financial Planner and the host of the Millennial Money podcast.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode150.

Cohort starting 9/23: Music Studio Business Building 101

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Quarter 2 wrapped up for us at the end of July so we’re bringing you another quarterly recap. You’ll get to hear what’s going on behind the scenes with our team. Today I’m joined again by Cindy from the MSS team. If you listened to our Q1 recap in Episode146 you’ll recognize her voice.

Episode 146 – 2024 Q1 Recap with Cindy Hsu

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode149.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers