Opening A Yoga Studio In Your Home: OriGym Guide

There are many things to consider when it comes to opening a yoga studio in your home. From not having to pay rent to a studio to creating your own controlled space, there’s plenty of reasons to consider this option and we’ll break down the steps to get you started.

• Step 1: Acquire The Qualifications & Experience Needed To Run A Home Yoga Studio
• Step 2: Choose & Design A Space Dedicated To Teaching Yoga In Your Home
• Step 3: Organise The Legalities Of Opening A Yoga Studio In Your Home
• Step 4: Do Thorough Market Research For Your Home Yoga Business
• Step 5: Work On Getting Your Clients Through The Door

The first step in starting your home yoga studio is to get qualified with our range of yoga teacher training courses, beginning with our Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Yoga.

To find out more about how you can excel in a competitive industry, download our course prospectus or simply leave your details below.

Opening a Yoga Studio In Your Home: OriGym’s Guide

Teaching yoga in your home is an appealing option for many when they become a yoga instructor. The independence you’ll have, plus savings on travel and rent costs, are just two of the draws of this career path.

Let’s break down the steps you’ll need to take to make this career change a reality.

Step 1: Acquire The Qualifications & Experience Needed To Run A Home Yoga Studio

If you’re looking to start a yoga business in your home or working in a studio, you need to ensure you have the right qualifications and experience.

Required Yoga Qualifications For Opening A Home Yoga Studio Business

The first step for anyone looking to open a yoga studio at home is to get qualified with a Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Yoga.

This is absolutely crucial. The modules on this course provide a solid foundation of skills and knowledge, preparing you for a successful career in yoga, as well as building your theoretical understanding of yoga’s fundamentals. 

Another key aspect to note is how many hours of guidance you’ll receive. A Level 3 course consists of up to 400 hours of practical and theoretical study, as well as 50 hours of independent yoga class experience.

When deciding on a course, you should ensure it’s regulated by Ofqual, and endorsed by CIMSPA. These stamps of authority mean the courses are recognised by all major health and fitness brands both in the UK and internationally.

This gives you more credibility and means students can be assured they’re being taught by a legitimate teacher. 

When opening a yoga studio in your home, this is a great way to reassure students that your classes and teachings are as effective as those they’d see in a more traditional yoga studio.

Once qualified with a Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Yoga, it’s a good idea to continue expanding your qualifications by completing a Level 4 Diploma in Teaching Yoga.

To separate yourself from those working in more traditional studios, you may decide to specialise in a particular discipline of yoga such as:

• Ashtanga
• Iyengar
• Hot 
• Hatha

With a Level 4 course, you’ll also continue developing your knowledge of the business side of the industry, with specific focus on Teaching Yoga As A Profession, where you’ll learn the legalities of teaching yoga and setting up a business.

This also consists of 400 hours of guided learning and 50 hours of in-class learning time.

Relevant Experience For Running A Home Yoga Studio Business

Although your ultimate goal is to start a yoga business from home, it’s crucial you develop your experience by teaching in an actual yoga studio first.

Only by teaching classes in a professional environment will you be able to gain an insight into what it takes to run a yoga studio. This will help you become comfortable teaching classes and allows you to build a reputation as a yoga teacher students can trust.

Working in an actual yoga studio is great for making the transition to a home yoga studio much smoother as you’ll have already acquired the confidence needed to teach classes. 

This transition can also be made easier as it gives you the option to advertise and transfer current students over to your services rather than starting completely from scratch.

It also means you can split your time between working in a studio while also building your home yoga studio business. This is a great way to keep stability as you grow your students and streamline the process of your business.

For example, a part-time position such as this one posted on Glassdoor for Xinx, is perfect, allowing you to split your time between developing your business while still working with a group of people you can recommend your services to:

Consider First Aid Qualifications When Teaching Yoga In Your Home

As you’re looking to teach yoga in your home, you may also consider obtaining additional qualifications to ensure your students are safe. 

First aid courses for personal trainers and yoga instructors are important for reassuring students in your home, and that you know how to help them should an unfortunate situation happen.

The most common first aid course providers are St John Ambulance and The British Red Cross. While it’s not a requirement to complete these courses, it’s a great way to enhance your credibility and show students entering your home that their safety is of the utmost importance.

Step 2: Choose & Design A Space Dedicated To Teaching Yoga In Your Home

When looking to create a home yoga studio, you need to settle on a space that’s both professional and practical. Although any room can become a yoga studio, you need to think carefully about how this will look, and how it’ll reflect on your business.

Garages and large spare rooms are great as these can be completely transformed into yoga studios without having to serve as a family space when you aren’t working. 

If space inside your home is limited, you may consider converting an old shed or other outdoor area into a small yoga studio. This limits having to sacrifice space if you already have a busy home and means you can also hold sessions even if other people are home.

The most important things to consider when deciding whether you can run a yoga studio out of your house are:

You’ll Need Plenty Of Space For Home Yoga Classes

You need to ensure there is enough space in your chosen room for both yourself and students to comfortably hold sessions. 

When measuring how much space you have, be sure to use yoga mats as a way to determine how big the room is and perform some poses to see if there’s enough space to stretch out.

The amount of available space should also factor into your business decisions, such as how many students you’ll be taking on at once, and the kinds of classes you run.

A Home Yoga Studio Requires Suitable Flooring

Once you've decided on your space, the next thing to do is see whether the flooring in the room is suitable to be teaching sessions on.

Hardwood floors are the ideal choice for a yoga studio as this provides a non-slip support for a yoga mat and absorbs any shock from heavy movements.

It may be a good idea to invest in the best home gym flooring to ensure safety and comfort when teaching yoga in your home. However, a more cost-effective option is to lay down a mesh or mat on the floor to reduce the risk of students slipping. 

This is more widely available and much easier to implement, especially if you have limited funds.

The Temperature Should Be Balanced In A Home Yoga Studio

Although yoga is considered low-impact exercise, those engaging in beginners yoga may work up a sweat. With this in mind, you should ensure you pick a room where the temperature is balanced. 

Conservatories, for example, can become uncomfortably warm in summer. At the other end of the spectrum, outbuildings like garages or sheds will be much colder over the winter months.

If you choose to teach yoga classes in rooms like this, ensure you use heaters and fans to keep the temperature steady and your class comfortable.

You Should Limit Distractions In Your Home Yoga Studio

Another thing to consider when opening a yoga studio in your home is privacy. As distractions can really disrupt a sequence, this is even more of a reason to choose a room away from main living areas.

If you have children, you should make sure to hold classes when they aren’t home. Loud noises can take people out of their practice, especially if you’re conducting meditation.

You should also eliminate unnecessary clutter that makes noise, such as telephones or toys. All yoga studios should be tidy to help students clear their mind.

To avoid filling your room with pointless clutter, here’s a quick checklist of items you could have in your home yoga studio:

• Yoga Mats
• Candles 
• Yoga Wheels
• Plants
• Yoga Blocks
• Artwork
• Yoga Straps
• Mirrors
• Yoga Bolsters

While this may seem like an extensive list, you don’t have to buy multiple pieces of equipment if you have limited space. You can ask students to purchase equipment themselves or buy one of each piece for yourself so people can still use them if you don’t need to.

Step 3: Organise The Legalities Of Opening A Yoga Studio In Your Home

There’s more to teaching yoga in your own home than simply setting up a studio and teaching students there. It’s important you understand the legal processes and why you need to cover yourself if issues arise.

Insurance For Opening A Yoga Studio In Your Home

Your next step should be to organise insurance coverage for your home yoga business. Without the right yoga teacher insurance, you run the risk of serious legal issues.

Accidents can and do happen, even to the most experienced and qualified yoga teachers. Incidents where students can injure themselves and make a claim against you include:

• Slipping on a wet floor
• Injury after attempting a specific pose
• Falling while trying to balance

If they choose to make a claim against you regarding situations such as these, you need to have insurance to protect yourself financially.

Situations where you need insurance can arise from other things like injuring yourself or being accused of misconduct by a student. Even if you aren’t found guilty, you may be left with a large bill after the claim.

To provide the minimum coverage, there are 2 fundamental types of insurance you’ll need:

• Public Liability Insurance For Yoga Teachers - This type of insurance is one every yoga teacher needs as it covers against third party injury and property damage. For example, this protects you against students claiming they’ve been injured because of your business activities.
• Yoga Teacher Professional Liability Insurance - Also known as professional indemnity insurance, this covers claims of professional negligence or professional mistakes. An example of this is if a student claims to have received incorrect advice, you can use professional liability to cover the cost in court.

Other Types Of Yoga Teacher Insurance To Consider

Opening a yoga studio in your home means you need to consider carefully about purchasing any additional insurance to protect yourself even further.

Secure Business Equipment Insurance For Your Home Yoga Studio

Although you may not be using lots of expensive equipment when teaching yoga in your home, it’s still a good idea to protect whatever equipment you may use. 

Most yoga insurance policies cover you if your equipment is damaged or stolen before, during, or after sessions, as well as against damage through electrical faults or accidents. 

You can use it to protect any laptops or sound systems you may use during sessions. This is especially important to get this if you’ve completed an online yoga teacher training course and run virtual classes.

Income Protection To Cover Your Home Yoga Studio Salary

Opening a yoga studio in your home means you aren’t protected the same as somebody in a contracted job where you’d be offered sick or holiday pay.

This kind of yoga teacher insurance protects your income if you’re injured or become too ill to work. It saves you from having to dip into your savings if you’re out of work for a period of time. 

Income protection helps you against any financial losses while ensuring you can pay your bills and gives you peace of mind that you’ll be protected if something happens.

Home & Contents Insurance For Extra Protection When Opening A Home Yoga Studio

As you’ll be operating out of your own home, it’s a good idea to protect yourself with home insurance, if you haven’t already. This protects your home and its contents against damage or theft.

Content insurance protects the possessions in your home, which is essential if you’re inviting people into your home, especially those you don’t know very well.

Ensure You Have Permission To Open A Home Yoga Studio Business

Aside from getting the right insurance, you should check with your landlord or in your mortgage rearrangement if you can actually start a business from your home.

If a space in your home needs renovating or you plan to teach in the garden, you should also check if you need planning permission from the council.

While renovating a small space for a yoga studio is unlikely to be an issue, the council can refuse planning permission for several reasons such as:

• Causes a loss of privacy by overlooking over homes
• Overshadows a neighbour, causing a loss of light
• Impacts protected trees
• Restricts road access

As long as your planning doesn’t interfere with any of the above, it’s unlikely the local council would refuse the building work.

Register Your Home Yoga Studio Business

Most businesses register as either:

• Sole trader
• Limited company
• Partnerships

When opening a yoga studio from your home, it’s best to take the simplest approach, and register as a sole trader. This means you’re the exclusive owner of the business and are entitled to keep all profits after tax but are also liable for losses.

This makes you personally responsible for your businesses debts, meaning you’ll have some accounting responsibilities. 

To register as a sole trader, you’ll need to inform the HM Revenue & Customs that you pay tax through Self Assessment, and file a tax return every year.

If finances aren’t your strong point, though, you may decide to hire an accountant to file your taxes.You’ll still need to record expenses and keep receipts to make this process run as smoothly as possible, though.

Having someone file your taxes is a great way to give yourself peace of mind by ensuring they’re paid properly and on time.

Additional Legal Issues To Consider For Your Home Yoga Studio Business

When teaching yoga in your home, you should look into other legal issues such as a Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check. For most self-employed people, it’s likely you will only require a Basic DBS Check.

These checks reveal any ‘unspent’ criminal convictions and conditional cautions on a criminal record, and is absolutely essential if you’re planning to teach children or vulnerable adults as part of your home yoga studio plans.

- - - -

If you need some more information about opening a yoga studio in your home, this article will certainly help:

• Yoga Studio Names: Ideas For Every Style

Step 4: Do Thorough Market Research Into Other Home Yoga Studios

Once you have all the legalities in place, you should begin market research. Effective market research is important as this allows you to:

• Identify customers - Target specific demographics and find out who exactly in your area you can attract to your business by identifying those who are seeking your services.
• Create a competitive pricing strategy - By researching the average prices of other yoga teachers who operate from their home, you can use these as a benchmark and set your prices accordingly. A slightly lower price can often be a deciding factor for customers.
• Get an idea of how much demand there is in the area - This can help you forecast how much you might earn, decide how many classes to run, and determine whether they should continue working in a studio while building their business.
• Develop new and effective strategies - Collecting data and examining both the failures and success of different businesses is important for marketing a yoga business. You can develop different strategies to improve upon the business model of someone else.

How To Conduct Market Research For Teaching Yoga In Your Home

Market research is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company’s target market. It’s best to start off broad and narrow your research as you learn more.

This is important to do when opening a yoga studio in your home as it can help inform your forecasted earnings, giving you an idea of how much you can potentially make, as well as an idea of how many classes to offer per week.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to effectively:

• Define your customers
• Know what customers are seeking and what they prefer
• Understand how competitors are positioning themselves in the market
• See how you can gain a competitive advantage

Here are a couple of simple ways you can conduct this market research:

Using Google My Business To Research For Your Home Yoga Business

You can use this tool to get an idea of how many yoga studio businesses there are in your area, and what your home business will be competing with. For example, by searching ‘yoga studios Manchester’, you’ll be given a list of businesses:

Users can leave reviews for these businesses, meaning you can see what they’re doing successfully and also what customers think could be improved. Users can also add photos, allowing you to see what other businesses look like, which can influence your studio.

Use Instagram To Research For Your Home Yoga Studio

Social media is also a great way to conduct market research. You can explore the most popular hashtags for home yoga studio businesses and see what the most popular ones are doing successfully. For example, these images are currently the top posts under the #homeyogastudio hashtag on Instagram:

This can then lead you to their websites or pages and can help determine your own prices and strategies.

Step 5: Work On Getting Your Clients Through The Door

The ultimate goal with your home yoga business is, of course, to get customers, and earn money. Let’s look at a few different ways you can do this effectively.

#1 - Set Up A Competitive Pricing Strategy

Using what you’ve learned through market research and by looking at the price of competitors in your area, you need to determine the right price for your classes.

When deciding how much to charge, some questions to ask yourself include:

• How many students am I anticipating?
• How much will I pay myself?
• How much will my bills and equipment cost?

For example, if you live in Liverpool and are opening a yoga studio in your home, you should take a look at the prices of popular businesses such as the Liverpool Yoga Studios:

As you can see, they offer yoga packages rather than individual, one-off classes. This is the best way to ensure you have students returning to use your service.

Similarly, Yoga Hub Liverpool have both introductory offers and studio class prices. However, they offer both class packages and drop in sessions.

To ensure students get the best value for money and to help keep track of them, it’s a good idea to limit the number of options you offer, especially when starting out. 

While having plenty of options may seem better, it can actually be harmful to your business. Customers can often be overwhelmed with too many options as it makes it harder to decide which one is best for them. 

Something to consider is being specific when it comes to your yoga studio packages. For example, in the table above from Yoga Hub Liverpool, they have both 5 and 10 class cards. 

These come with a 2 and 3 month expiry, meaning you can use them over a long period of time. However, this could actually be detrimental to your business if you decide to follow this example, as it’ll often be more difficult to keep track of.

By specifying how your classes should be taken consecutively gives you an idea of how many students you’ll be teaching each session, and helps beginners get into more of a routine with their practice.

For example, Yoga Rocks specifies their intro and welcome offers are for 21 and 30 consecutive days:

This is a good idea to let students know exactly what the offer entails and where they stand with it. Specifying also helps you keep track of when students will be using their offer and how long this will last.

#2 - Encourage Existing Students To Try A Home Yoga Session

As mentioned earlier, if working at a yoga studio, this is a great way to encourage current students to try your home yoga classes. If you already teach them, they’re more likely to join you as they’ve already built up loyalty.

You will already know one another, meaning there’s already some kind of rapport and you’re aware of their level of experience.

This stops you having to start from scratch and worrying you won’t find customers as they can help spread the word.

It’s also cheaper for them to attend your home yoga classes than going to a studio, which may be more appealing. You can also use this to your advantage by giving discounts or a free session for joining you and letting them try out your service.

For example, Viva Pilates in Shepperton offers a complimentary taster session as a way to learn about yoga and meet people:

Offering a free yoga taster session to people you already know is a great way to help them decide whether they want to commit to using your services. It’s also a nice way to thank them for their loyalty by giving your class a chance.

#3 - Ask People To Refer Their Friends & Family To Your Home Yoga Studio

As word of mouth can often be the simplest but among the most effective yoga business marketing strategies, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use it for your home yoga studio business.

Asking people to refer their family and friends to you makes for stronger leads than strangers since people are much more likely to trust their family and friends over online adverts.

You can incentivise students by offering free or discounted sessions for them and any of their friends or relatives who sign up for a monthly package. While this may seem like a loss if you’re just starting out and seeking paying students, it actually works in your favour for the long term.

A great example of what this can look like comes from Battersea Yoga:

As you can see this scheme is simple and both students receive a £10 reward either as credit or a discounted session.

These referral schemes are very effective as they only cost you something once you are assured you have a paying customer.

#4 - Build A Website For Your Home Yoga Studio Business

Having a website helps increase brand awareness and showcases your service to a wider group of customers. It also helps increase credibility and this is especially important when operating a business from your home.

It gives a business legitimacy, assuring customers the service will be provided by a trusted professional with relevant qualifications and experience. 

Website builders such as Wix and Squarespace are great for helping you create a professional page for your home yoga studio business. These tools allow you to use templates and colour palettes to best suit your personal style.

By having a website, you’re building your online presence and offering a simple way to passively market your services.

#5 - Use Social Media To Reach New Yoga Students

Many people gain their first impression of a business through online platforms by taking a look at their content before deciding whether to pay for a service.

Social media is a powerful tool for a business and should be used to your advantage. You should post about your business regularly and promote your service with engaging and professional content. 

For example, take a look at the Instagram account of popular yogi Adam Husler:

Most of his content consists of professional pictures of him performing yoga poses as well as tips and personal content to give an insight into his life.

You should use your knowledge to help inform students outside of classes and use tips and challenges as a way to build a community. 

By including some non-yoga related content as Adam does, it helps humanise you as a teacher and makes you more relatable to students. It’s also a great tool for marketing yourself, as well as interacting with students outside of the classroom.

#6 - Set Up A Google My Business Page So Your Home Yoga Business Is Easy to Find

The purpose of a Google My Business page is to help people find your business when looking for services like yours in their area. This makes it easier for potential students to find you with location-based services.

For example, by searching ‘yoga studio Liverpool’ on Google, a list of results of the top yoga studios appears based on this location:

As you can see, the location of each business is shown on a map. If we click on Your Yoga Studio, there’s further information provided for this yoga studio:

This business page provides users with:

• Business Address
• Phone Number
• Customer Reviews
• Photo Gallery

You can also find the website and directions to the business too. This is a great way to ensure all information regarding your services is in one place, meaning potential students don’t need to search for a long time to find it.

This makes it a much smoother process for students who want to use your service. Making it difficult for people to find important information about your business is likely to turn them away from using it. 

#7 - Ask For Reviews Of Your Home Yoga Studio Business

Every business needs reviews and with online review sites, it’s never been easier for customers to leave both positive and negative reviews. 

Similar to personal trainer testimonials, feedback is important for yoga businesses to help them continue improving their service as well as understand what they’re doing successfully.

Having plenty of positive reviews on sites such as Google Reviews and Trustpilot helps a business stand out and makes it look more trustworthy. People can also leave reviews on business pages on social media. 

For example, the Facebook page of Yogacita in Liverpool has a 5 star rating based on 96 reviews. This means students can be assured they will receive a great service and can trust the reviews are legitimate as there are so many of them:

The large number of 5 star reviews assures potential students the service they will receive when attending yoga classes in your home will be of a high standard. Positive reviews are often a deciding factor for customers when comparing yoga classes.

Before You Go!

By following our steps on opening a yoga studio in your own home, you’ll be sure to make your ideal career a reality.

As people will be coming to you, it’s crucial you expand your knowledge and experience with yoga teacher training courses, beginning with OriGym’s Level 3 Diploma in Yoga.

Download our course prospectus to find out more about what we have on offer or leave your details in the space below.