#18 Start Your Groups in the Space You Already Have

It's been a busy few weeks here as Paul and I have been doing pre-enrolment chats with piano teachers for Group Training University. What's surprised me is that so many teachers have done other courses that exist out there on group piano teaching, but still haven't taught their first group!

It got me thinking about what's stopping them... Maybe it's that they don't feel confident enough or they want to get it all perfect first - I think a lot of us suffer from perfection paralysis! Gosh, know I’ve suffered from both perfectionism AND not feeling confident enough. But what I’ve learned is that both of those things are a trap.

And when it comes to teaching groups, I think the biggest obstacle or roadblock many put in their way is that they think they don't have space. They say, "I can't start until I have the right space."

But what if that wasn't true?

In this episode, I speak with two Group Piano University graduates - Victoria from Australia and Akera from the US - who just got started with what they had. I call this Imperfect Action.

Victoria had spent the last few years raising her young family, and rather than going back to her professional career, she wanted to build something of her own. That meant that, rather than having an established studio and teaching reputation, she was starting from scratch - with zero students.

She secured a church hall on Thursday afternoons because that was the only day it was available and started her first groups. But then something happened... she was then getting a lot of enquiries for Saturday lessons. So rather than putting them off, she made it happen by rearranging the family room on Friday evenings and starting those classes. Check out the podcast to hear where she’s at now. It’s a great story!

Akera on the other hand started in her lounge room, rearranging furniture to fit four pianos and teaching her first groups while her husband slowly came around to the idea. Nine months later, Akera is starting this school year in a brand new space she found nearby that's big enough to hold all the pianos, including her baby grand, and classes are filling up.

Neither of them waited until everything was perfect; both just kept moving forward.

I've seen this time and time again. Piano teachers are creative and inventive creatures, and we find solutions to all sorts of problems in our teaching and also in our studios!

In this episode, you’ll see -

How Victoria built a studio from zero - no students, no space, no existing piano teaching career
How Akera went from lounge room to her own dedicated studio in under a year
The range of spaces that can be used just to get started
The strategy behind starting small

Interested in having a group side of your business?

Here's your next step.

Do our Mini Training. It's packed with everything you need to know before you even think about teaching groups!

Part 1 shows Paul teaching a piece to a real group in action. No headphones. Just kids completely engaged in the whole learning process.

Part 2 is about the logistics side - like how much to charge, how to work groups into your schedule

Part 3 outlines the 4 foundations to long-term success with groups. If you've crashed and burned with groups before, 9 times out of 10 it will be because you were missing at least one of these four foundations

Here's a link: It's free

🎉 Group Piano Breakthrough Series - Free Training
👉 Register for free here →

If you're ready to start your group piano journey, then make sure you join us Group Piano University course
Our last LIVE course for the year starts October 4.
👉 Interested? Make a time for a chat here →

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#18 Start Your Groups in the Space You Already Have

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