3 Ways You Can Increase Your Prices To Help Ease Inflation Pains
Apr 08, 2023
On the back of the recent pandemic, lockdowns, fuel shortages, supply chain issues and now, the war in Ukraine, inflation is at a recent high and everyone is feeling the pinch.
What's worst is that inflation is a negative feedback loop; when the cost of goods goes up, the cost of labour and services goes up too, and everyone needs to raise their prices just to keep up which causes everyone else to need to raise their prices too.
No one wants to raise prices unnecessarily, and it's often a touch subject for music teachers who already feel guilty about having to charge what they charge, but inflation isn't going away anytime soon.
While it's easy to point the finger at the cause of inflation, no one is coming to save you, and it's up to you to take action in your business to combat inflation and make back the money that it's eroding out of your revenue and profit.
In order for you to ease the pressure put on by current rates of inflation, here are three ideas you can implement into your business to help increase your rates and bring in more money to combat rising inflation.
#Inflation Killer #1 - Have An Annual Price Increase Included In Your Lesson Policy
Smart guitar teachers and studio owners have lesson policies in place so that their students understand how their tuition and payment system works so that disputes never arise. Even smarter teachers have an annual price increase included in this lesson's policy so that students expect and anticipate a price increase at the same time every year.
I recommend including a 2-3% price increase for all students at the start of the calendar year or new financial year and the first payment in the new cycle is charged at the new rate.
While a 2-3% price increase won't keep up with the current inflation rates of 8-9% we're seeing, it will help you stay ahead of the average inflation rate most years. You could always increase by 4-5% annually, but I recommend choosing a rate that is fair rather than using this as a way to subtly increase your prices and generate more income.
Inflation Killer #2 - Increase Your Prices For All New Students Starting Today Onwards
Most guitar teachers and studio owners know that they need to increase their prices but sit on the fence about it until the last possible moment.
What you need to do is change your pricing for all new students effectively immediately.
Your new price can be an increase of 3-5% on your current rates should you need to keep in line with inflation however for the vast majority of you reading this, you are probably undercharging for what you're worth and should (or could) be charging for lessons.
My recommendation is that if you're not currently charging what you think you're worth for your lessons, start charging your new price from today onwards. Of course, the value you deliver must justify the prices that you're charging otherwise customers won't pay it, and you can't just make up an extraordinarily high number without getting results or providing an amazing experience.
Price is only an objection in the absence of value, so raise your prices for all new students coming in and experiment with how much you can charge until you find the magical combination for your niche market, area and the value you provide.
Inflation Killer #3 - Offer Upsells Or Secondary Programs
A big mistake 99% of music teachers make is charging a flat rate per lesson and only asking their students to attend once a week. At any given time 50% of your students would happily pay you more for your lessons and 10% of them would happily pay you to double their current rates. The only reason they aren't paying you more is that you never asked them to, or never provided them with the opportunity to do so.
To make more money, consider offering your current students (and all future students) an upsell.
This could be $10 extra per month to access a video database, $50 extra to attend a monthly theory class, and $200 extra a month to attend a band workshop.
You will be surprised at how much more money your students are willing to spend with you when they see the value in what they do. You need only provide them with the opportunity to do so.
Implement These Inflation Killers In Your Guitar Lesson Studio Today
Inflation is definitely tough and no one likes to ask for more money, but when you're not having to worry about finances and whether you can afford to put fuel in your car or food on the table for your family, you can focus on being a better teacher, giving your students a better experience and living a better more enjoyable life.
Hopefully, you can use one, two or even all three o these tactics to beat inflation in your business! Let me know in the comments below which ideas you implement and how they serve you.
As always if you're interested in how to make more money as a guitar teacher make sure you get in touch via my website or by following @MichaelGumley on your favourite social media platform.
About The Author - Michael Gumley
Michael Gumley is a professional guitar teacher from Melbourne, Australia. He has over 15 years of experience teaching guitar and is the owner of Melbourne Guitar Academy and the author of Guitar Ninjas - a modern guitar curriculum for students of all ages.
Michael helps guitar teachers grow successful teaching businesses. He is an expert at helping his clients get students to use both online and offline marketing methods while making things super simple to understand and execute.
If you're interested in starting your own guitar teaching business, levelling up your teaching skills, or ramping up operations in your music school then reaching out to request a free strategy session will be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Want To Earn $100,000 Or More Teaching Guitar
At Six Figure Guitar Teacher we help Guitarists and Guitar Teachers create a life of financial freedom through success principles, frugality hacks and savvy business processes.
If you're tired of working the 9-5 grind in a job you hate, we'll show you how you can replace your income through guitar teacher so that you can make guitar playing and your music career your main priority!
Never Miss An Article Again
Join our mailing list to receive the latest teaching tips & tricks plus a wealth of financial advice as applicable to musicians and guitar teachers. We'll also notify you every time a new article is posted to the blog!
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
