Open a music school

brendon

marybelle01 wrote: »

The UK has a well-structured system of proficiency examinations in music. It is not sufficient that you can teach, and that you can play a musical instrument - you must be able to teach music AND that instrument. Unless you have the specific skills in a number of instruments you could not teach them - you would need to hire others to do so, and you could not make any profit from doing that. If people want to learn and instrument well, then there is plenty of home tuition available from suitably qualified teachers of the instrument. All you are doing is adding overheads to the price - a building to teach from, staff costs, DBS checks for all your staff (and yourself - you cannot simply decide to organise or sell activities for children without being vetted), insurance. And instruments - because anyone who already has the instrument is unlikely to not also have music lessons so why would they come to you - all the evidence suggests you will be more expensive!

If there are no such schools in the UK already, then that is telling - if there is a profit to be made, someone is likely already doing it; and if there is nobody doing it that is probably because there's no money to be made in it.

If we all were as gloomy as you, nobody would ever start a business. While you have listed many negatives, there are also many positives. And most of the negatives you have listed can be dealt with, by simply adapting the idea.

The idea of a 5 times per week school probably won't catch on, but having, say, a 2 hour session per week would be probably be an attractive proposition. You don't need a building to teach from, you can rent rooms for a couple of hours a day. Staff can be affordable for reasonable class sizes, and if they are only employed for a couple of hours per week. I assume the OP is already DBS check, since she is a teacher, and that's not a major barrier is it?

My advice: just give it a go. You only live once.

marybelle01

brendon wrote: »

If we all were as gloomy as you, nobody would ever start a business. While you have listed many negatives, there are also many positives. And most of the negatives you have listed can be dealt with, by simply adapting the idea.

The idea of a 5 times per week school probably won't catch on, but having, say, a 2 hour session per week would be probably be an attractive proposition. You don't need a building to teach from, you can rent rooms for a couple of hours a day. Staff can be affordable for reasonable class sizes, and if they are only employed for a couple of hours per week. I assume the OP is already DBS check, since she is a teacher, and that's not a major barrier is it?

My advice: just give it a go. You only live once.

It isn't gloomy to know quite a lot about safeguarding, quite a lot about music and music teaching in the UK, and quite a lot about business planning.

The OP did not say she is a teacher - she said she holds a qualification in teaching, which we cannot even be assured is accepted in the UK since the OP is not British born and there is no evidence to say she is UK educated or qualified. There is certainly no evidence she holds a DBS certificate. Whether is is a barrier or not, I wouldn't know since I am not assuming anything but it IS a cost, as it would be for anyone else that she hired.

Tuition on musical instruments needs to be individual, or in VERY SMALL groups of no more than two or three in an instrument - a single instrument at a time. Otherwise the child and their parents are wasting time and money. If they ever aspire to be good at what they are doing then these are the only "reasonable class sizes". And very likely the only achievable ones too - how many children in an area do you think there would be who want to learn a particular instrument, and are all at the same level of learning?

It is not gloomy to realistically point out that someone has not considered a wide number of crucial pieces of information required to plan a business from which they wish to make money. Even hiring rooms costs money - and it is the OP who is risking their money on a business venture. If it is a business venture it should have a chance of succeeding, and a business plan that shows it can do so.

googler

There's a number of recognised music exam qualifications in the UK - ABRSM, Trinity College and others. These are generally accepted as an indicator of the standard that a pupil has reached on their instrument, for instance, someone who has Grade 8 practical and Grade 5 theory may be considered to have reached a standard suitable for a university course.

I think the key hurdle facing you is- will students WANT to get a 'qualification' from your school?

AP007

marikara wrote: »

I would say part time. It would be 1-2 classes a day, 3-4 times a week..After school..

and you are going to charge for this? Where are you going to be based? Have you don't any market research in the area?

Hermia

marybelle01 wrote: »

The UK has a well-structured system of proficiency examinations in music. It is not sufficient that you can teach, and that you can play a musical instrument - you must be able to teach music AND that instrument. Unless you have the specific skills in a number of instruments you could not teach them - you would need to hire others to do so, and you could not make any profit from doing that. If people want to learn and instrument well, then there is plenty of home tuition available from suitably qualified teachers of the instrument.

I think if the OP wants to run with this idea they really need to look at what competition they are getting from the home tuition market. My friend is a violin tutor and I know she said our county has lots of highly qualified home tutors. I expect a lot of parents will always prefer their child having one to one tuition in their home unless they are particularly wanting the child to meet other children.

marybelle01

Hermia wrote: »

I think if the OP wants to run with this idea they really need to look at what competition they are getting from the home tuition market. My friend is a violin tutor and I know she said our county has lots of highly qualified home tutors. I expect a lot of parents will always prefer their child having one to one tuition in their home unless they are particularly wanting the child to meet other children.

Yes I agree. I also know that most people offering home tuition / private music lessons don't come cheaply and make very little money from it. As I understand it, it is something that many do as much for the love of music and passing that on, as for what money can be made from it.

googler

OP, I suggest you register on the forums at ABRSM.org, and broach the idea on the 'teachers' sub-forum therein.

The level of expertise there is likely to be more focused than here.

googler

brendon wrote: »

If we all were as gloomy as you, nobody would ever start a business.

My advice: just give it a go. You only live once.

A start-up business has to either target a gap in the market that isn't being filled by existing businesses, or excel in some area that the existing businesses do not, thus outshining them and taking market share from them.

I don't see how a new music school, as described by the OP, does either of these.

Where music teachers at present minimise their overheads (and hence keep tuition fees down) by teaching from home, or at the student's home, the OP seems to be proposing a school building with its own premises, and a number of teachers on payroll. The expense of keeping this running when it's only in use 3-4 days per week, for a few hours in the late afternoon and evening doesn't bear thinking about.

Where there are already established qualifications, it's unclear whether the OP proposes that this school would issue its own 'diplomas' or other certificates on completion, or whether students would work toward the current qualifications and hence take exams at the current exam centres. If the former, what would it be worth to have a diploma from the Marikara School of Music?

Yorkie1

My first reaction is that the level of commitment from the students / their parents envisaged by the OP is too high (frequency and duration) for most people in this country. Kids have homework to do, probably some other out of school clubs too, and it's a time of austerity.

I got to a high standard in my various instruments whilst at school, but I had only 1 x hour's lesson for each per week with a private tutor and 1 x 30 minute lesson for a third instrument during the school day. Plus school orchestra / wind band once per week after school, plus Saturday morning music school through the local borough music services. And also county level music during holidays - some counties do this on a weekend instead.

There is no way I could have justified 6-8 hours per week for what the OP envisaged, on top of these sorts of musical commitments and my school homework and sports clubs, even if my parents could have afforded it and got me there / back several times a week.

jobbingmusician

I absolutely agree with Yorkie. The middle class parents who can afford to pay for 2/3 lessons a week are likely to be the same ones who are already paying for extra tuition in 'core' subjects. Children can only do so much.

You and I, OP, know that developing musical skills develops the brain in the way virtually nothing else does. However, this well-researched field doesn't seem to have influenced policy and practice nationally at all.......