Our Prop Wall: chairs, pads, blocks, bolsters, sandbags, and more!
One of the biggest
challenges a small business owner faces is pricing. How do you determine a price
for the product or service you offer? How do you help people
understand the high value of your business, and the way in which value
is translated into price? How does your price set you apart from similar businesses in your area?
As a boutique yoga studio, Maple Leaf Community Yoga offers a unique experience: semi-private yoga instruction for regular folks. Teachers who are highly trained, experienced professionals. A space that is clean, peaceful, and conducive to the inward work of Purna Yoga. The opportunity to strengthen community relationships. What we do here matters.
It is life-changing.
It is valuable.
How much should it cost? This summer we did a whole re-organization for the studio. Based upon student surveys and suggestions, we developed new programs. We built a new website, hired more teachers, scheduled in new classes, created a new look, designed a new logo, and set up a new payment structure that empowers students to organize their own class schedule. New prices ensure that we will be able to continue to offer our students that which they desire: small classes, expert teachers, safe yoga experiences.
The fabulous Rope Wall and the fabulous husband!
If you are a small business owner, whether it's a storefront business or an etsy shop, how do you determine your prices? Join the conversation and we'll help each other succeed!
As a dance teacher, my prices are set largely by market-matching: as a community, bellydancers tend to keep their pricing similar across the board, so no one is undercut and nobody is pricing themselves out of the market on the top end. I could charge a little more than some other teachers because I have experience, credentials, and a reputation for excellence in teaching which can back it up; and I may have to in the coming year because my rent is going up again at the studio I rent.
When I have my own studio, as I hope to in the next few years, my prices will definitely have to go up to cover increased overhead, but I will be able to deliver a more personal experience through the studio itself, as you do with your space, and it will more than justify a need to raise prices. As it is, I feel we bellydancers charge too little for our classes--prices haven't changed more than a few dollars per class in decades. Yes I said decades!
Posted by: Sharon | November 27, 2009 at 12:36 PM