http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453?format=rss Tribe.net. Local Connections http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#9228934c-ce28-4890-8c77-85a5a784e9da I'm going to assume you're already doing this but definitely look at different income streams for the space. Lauren on Bhuz was recently talking about doubling her studio as an art gallery since she has lots of open wall space. I told her how my cafe use to host not only tango classes but also the tango teachers ran a once a month milonga (dance party) where we got a cut of the door. That was a great way to fill a Saturday night empty spot! Team up with other businesses for art walks or First Fridays. Network to the rest of the arts community to see who might want the studio at those non prime times. In addition to prime time rental prices I'm not sure if you'd also want to have different fees for renting to teachers versus someone/group renting for practice. For your music fees, does your ASCAP cover BMI too, you might want to look and see if that's also required. Liability insurance. Contracts for teachers stating they should have personal insurance coverage. Contract for students to release you from liability, and the same for renters. Make sure your lease stipulates what you and your landlord is responsible for in the space (a place we rent had the trouble where the landlord didn't want to take care of a light that fell from the ceiling from water damage, he said he was only responsible for the outside of the building. WTF?). Do you want a security system on the space? I'd also think about having contractors lined up such as a plumber, HVAC and all that so when something does go wrong (it will!) you already have them on speed dial. Usually during your build out time you get free rent (for a cafe that's usually 12 weeks, you might need less). If you're working with contractors be involved, keep an eye on them and don't be afraid to be firm. I had to literally stand over my guy with a list of the Health Department regulations to make sure he was doing everything correctly. Oh, speaking of, check with your HD and see if you need any permitting from them (and make sure all your city permits are lined up). In my city there is a total lack of studio space, it's mostly yoga studios and they are packed full (or outrageously expensive for a troupe to rent to practice on a weekly basis). I'm working with some people to hopefully open a cafe this year and we want to have not only event space but (if we get the building we're looking at) studio space to rent out for artists/dancers/etc. I polled out local BD scene and I got a definite yes that people would love to have more practice and teaching space, so though we may be crazy to take on all that extra work we're going to go for it. Good luck! Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:50:22 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#9228934c-ce28-4890-8c77-85a5a784e9da Kazoo 2009-07-07T14:50:22Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#57369c14-4e88-4edc-a2ed-4a47974bce37 Rya, Don't mind sharing at all. Yes, roughly $100 per year for 'Folk/Ethnic Music" for a 'small' studio (with an average number of students of 75 or less per week). Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:41:32 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#57369c14-4e88-4edc-a2ed-4a47974bce37 Just Joyce 2009-07-05T22:41:32Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#d4aed9d5-c900-4709-9275-be57964d6fed Do you mind sharing the Music Licensing fees? I've been finding about $100 a year. Is that even remotely accurate? lol Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:19:48 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#d4aed9d5-c900-4709-9275-be57964d6fed Rya 2009-07-03T04:19:48Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#4e26065a-3984-458a-b8f3-6f7168a5a6c3 Joyce, that is sooooooo exciting! Congratulations! Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:24:05 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#4e26065a-3984-458a-b8f3-6f7168a5a6c3 Xanthea 2009-07-02T02:24:05Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#d245a8f7-8c48-465c-8d2d-d8869d700f0a Hi Folks, Just to update everyone on the ASCAP ‘wildcard’: I played phone tag with a fellow from ASCAP, and eventually he just sent me an estimate via email. The fee quoted was reasonable, and after talking to him today and getting full details to him on he size of my studio student base, and the type of music to be used, ASCAP fees for annual licensing are VERY reasonable! I met with the Small Business Economic Center this morning, and other than getting a state of Alaska business license ($100 per year), I have accounted for all the things needed in opening my own studio. Looks like we will open our doors September 1 ! btw- I have also confirmed that the floors will be installed before we plan to open, thanks for the tip on that Maura :) Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:58:10 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#d245a8f7-8c48-465c-8d2d-d8869d700f0a Just Joyce 2009-07-01T21:58:10Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#83428138-4ea4-46b7-8f77-1fb3cf3e8409 Your negotiations with your prospective landlord may be on very sound and honest footing. But be aware that commercial leases don't have the protections built in for the consumer that apartment leases do. Do not accept the lease provided by your landlord until it includes everything that YOU want, even if you think your landlord is a nice person. And be aware of the differences between net and gross lease. Gross lease is what you have on an apartment: X dollars per month. Net lease is rent plus operating expenses (taxes, maintenance and insurance) and there's very little way to force a landlord to disclose what the real operating costs are without a lawsuit. Also be aware that if the landlord doesn't comply with the provisions of the lease, you may feel you have no recourse but a lawsuit - but a lawsuit is usually not cost effective. When we first thought of our own studio (for exactly the same reasons you are - we got tired of being bumped and closed out of studio spaces) a dancer who is operating a studio 75 miles away warned us that we might regret the decision. That seemed odd at the time but we have come to realize that you may need to be especially tough, or stupid, to run a dance studio, at least if you have our kind of luck. Our first studio location included parking in the lease, but parking turned out not to be available (the parking lot had been rented to another group during evening hours). We ended up re-negotiating much lower rent because of this and moved at the end of the year's lease to another location where we had a long-time relationship with the leasing agent. What we forgot to put in THIS new lease was penalties for not completing the studio on time... we spend five months operating out of a nasty corner of the facility with the floors and mirrors in storage while the landlord got a round tuit... Every day we asked ourselves, do we look for another place? But guess what, they had our deposit money, money for the electric upgrades, and the first month's rent ... see note on lawsuits and cost-effectiveness thereof.... Anyway, you get the idea. The next lease, I include clauses about oxygen for breathing! Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:40:49 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#83428138-4ea4-46b7-8f77-1fb3cf3e8409 Maura 2009-06-25T12:40:49Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#43f0fa4b-1935-465e-a972-e24c17dc92fb Insurance. Will your insurance cover the other teachers, or will they need to carry their own? Prime time vs most-time rental fees: in this area, the prime time for teaching is Mon-Thu 5-8 PM. That's 12 hours per week, 50 per month, but you pay rent 24/7. Then there's a few semi-prime hours, and then there's a lot of echoing space, but to keep on the black side of the ledger, we ignore those... so assuming you have a similar prime-time configuration: if you are renting your studio during prime-time hours, make sure you are charging at least 2% of the total cost of your studio for each hour. The prime-time issue is probably why you kept getting bumped as a renter; everybody wants to teach during the hours that the most students are available! Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:16:19 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#43f0fa4b-1935-465e-a972-e24c17dc92fb Maura 2009-06-25T10:16:19Z http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#f5e397f2-e6bc-4bca-ad4f-2726f2537ff0 Hello, So, as mentioned in a previous thread where I was asking about flooring, I am considering opening a studio and wonder if you have any advice for me. I asked about this on a yahoo list but only got a couple replies (though one of them was GREAT, thanks again Shay :), so I figured I would try here too. Been teaching for 4 years; in that time I have been renting space from other studios, and have had to change locations 5 times due to my time slot becoming unavailable, or the most current issue is they no longer have room for any of my classes (or the other MED classes that are renting from the same location) starting in the fall. I have weighed the cost benefits of renting, and getting my schedule changed around due to being a renter, and am seriously considering opening my own studio. This has been something I have been thinking about doing for a couple years now, so I am not just jumping into this blindly, but as I have never opened a business like this before, I could use advice! I am looking at space that costs more than I pay for rent, but I don’t expect to use the space the whole time, I think I would get into the business of renting out space to other instructors and have had some interest already, even before it is finalized. I am still in the planning phase but I think things are going to be moving quickly in the next 2 weeks for the space I have looked at which is plenty big enough for me now, and has some room to grow and support workshops suitable for my area. Right now the lease is something I can mange between my classes and renting out space (and I have crunched the numbers so I know how much ‘rental income’ I need to feel secure before committing to this). I am in the process of securing renters now (I have half of what I need already), and think I have thought of most everything from a financial standpoint, from startup costs like sound system, mirror installation, seating for the waiting area, changing room area, etc, I have my own personal fitness insurance already, am investigating building rental/theft insurance and will be meeting with my local small business economic development center next week to work out a business plan. This place seem so perfect and things seem to be falling into place so well… so many things about this location are so perfect (central downtown location, lots of parking) and the owners seem really motivated to get me in (so much so they are willing to consider building the floor for me as part of my lease arrangement!) that it almost seems some other force is at work :) And do any of you have any advice for a tentative first time studio owner? Other than figuring out how to budget to cover costs, and how to be a teacher, I know nothing about running a studio so would appreciate any and all words of wisdom. And, does anyone know what the approx ASCAP/BMI costs for music in the studio might be? I put in a request for a quote on their website mid last week but haven't heard back yet so that is my biggest wildcard right now.... Thanks in advance, Joyce Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:19:02 GMT http://bellydancebiz.tribe.net/thread/1b3de8ef-514a-496c-872e-690eddc91453#f5e397f2-e6bc-4bca-ad4f-2726f2537ff0 Just Joyce 2009-06-25T07:19:02Z