7 Reasons Why All Guitar Teachers Need To Make More Money
Apr 08, 2023
When it comes to making money and becoming rich, most musicians and guitarists shy away from the idea and might even feel bad about making more money. Sure we dream of making it big: signing record deals, going on grand world tours with our band and playing in front of thousands of people, but it's rarely the money alone that drives us.
Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that only 1% of the 1% ever get to have these opportunities, and while everyone is capable of becoming a rockstar and get getting that one-in-a-million opportunity, most of us never make it.
Most of us figure out early that we're not going to make it, and there is nothing wrong with that, after all, if we can find a way to make music work so that we can still do what we love on the side of a day job it's all worth it right?
...wrong!
Many of us dream big and want to be rock stars, but when it doesn't work out we end up stuck in a job we don't like so we can make ends meet and then have to do our music on the side. The problem with this is after working a full 40-hour workweek at a job we don't like we have little mental energy left to put into our music, and our output suffers as a result.
Wouldn't life be so much better if you could just focus on your music and put the best part of your day into creative ventures? It most definitely would be. Here are 5 reasons why you need to make more money and become rich!
#1 Supporting A Family
When I was 24 I was earning about $10k a year teaching guitar and another $10k working at a supermarket. My girlfriend at the time was thinking of settling down and having a family but was worried about my ability to provide for her and our future family. She asked me "when are you going to quit music and get a real job?". It really hurt because it reflected the reality of my situation. Too many musicians find themselves quitting music and getting stable jobs because they don't understand how to make money from music, and as a result, abandon a pursuit they've already sunken thousands of hours and a lifetime of dreams into. You need to make more money so that you CAN provide for your family when you decide to have one.
#2 Invest time into your music career
Everyone in the world has the same 168 hours every week but it comes down to how we use them that determines whether we'll be successful or not. When I was at university I had a study load of 30 hours per week, 10 hours of travel to and from campus, 12 hours of work at the supermarket and 10 hours of work teaching guitar. After subtracting another 56 for sleep, 2 hours a day for meals, an hour for exercise and an hour for getting ready I was down to 22 hours for the whole week to split between music practice, band practice, writing songs, cleaning, and any other leisure activities... not much at all.
If you only had to work 20 hours (or better yet, not at all) then you could easily invest 20-40 more hours every week into your music career. Imagine how much better you would feel just getting up every day whenever you wanted, putting the best hours of your day into your music and not coming home frustrated after a hard day of work and not feeling like picking up your instrument at all.
#3 Freedom of time and opportunity
It's terrifying that so many musicians invest 10,000 hours into mastering their instrument, pay all their dues playing the local scene, self-funding EP's and Albums, then finally get their big break, their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... then they have to turn it down!
Whether it's because they can't get time off work, can't afford to leave their families, don't have enough money to buy onto a tour or know they won't have a job waiting for them when they get back, they decide to not to take it, and flush all their hard work up until that point down the drain.
When you have an abundance of money you don't have to say no to opportunities because you can afford everything you need. When you work your own job you can take time off whenever you want or even set up a business that runs without you or allows you to teach online from anywhere in the world while you're on tour. Getting rich solves all of the financial problems commonly faced by musicians.
#4 Never having to go without
Most musicians are normally pretty frugal and have become accustomed to it simply from having to make tough decisions about where to spend the little money we have our whole lives.
For once wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy nice food from the top shelf, treat your partner to a nice holiday in a great hotel, get yourself a nice new guitar every year or to be able to buy your kids whatever toys they want?
Life is so much easier and more enjoyable when you don't have to weigh up every purchase you make and just get what you want.
#5 Providing Security for Self, Family and Friends
The older you get the more likely it is that you, a family member or a close friend or relative will develop a serious illness or health condition. Chronic illness and disease in the family can put huge pressure on us and become a serious burden to our lives. As unfortunate as this sounds it is a reality of life and the less money we have the harder it is to deal with situations like these when they arise.
While money can't buy happiness, it can definitely buy better healthcare, help you cut the queue when urgent treatment when needed, and can get you extra help at home when care is needed. Dealing with illness in the family is always going to be stressful for everyone involved, but you'll definitely stress less when you can afford to get your loved ones good treatment as soon as they need it without having to worry about medical bills creating financial hardship for the rest of your life.
Not to mention how good would it be to be able to provide your parents or grandparents with a house or pay their bills as they get older in life and start to slow down. All these scenarios might seem like a lifetime away right now but they will be coming and could spell financial ruin for those who aren't prepared.
#6 Creating an awesome experience for your students
Money is often attributed as being the root of all evil and a cause of many people going bad. The reality of the matter is that money is just a tool that amplifies who we are. If we are good people money will allow us to do more good things while if we are bad, we can do more bad things.
If we want to create an awesome learning experience for our students and the wider community, having more money allows us to do bigger and better things. What kind of studio would you make if money wasn't an issue? What kind of building would you buy/rent? What kind of equipment would you deck it out with? Would you have rooms with stages, recording equipment, great gear? Would you hire special celebrity guitar players for workshops?
When you have lots of money, it's easy to create awesome things and these awesome things, in turn, attract more students into a positive feedback loop that allows you to keep on doing bigger and better things, making more money, and reinvesting it into doing more bigger and better things.
#7 Create the awesome life you've always dreamed of
The biggest benefit of creating a guitar teaching business that generates a lot of money from part-time hours is that it gives you the freedom of time, money and opportunity to create whatever life you want.
Want to work 9 months of the year and go on a 3-month holiday, go do that. Want to work 3 weeks of every month and do a week-long vacation at the end of every month, go do that. Want to teach online so you can tour the world with your band, or live in a tropical paradise sipping martinis on the beach, you can do that too.
Money creates opportunities and the more money you have the more freedom that comes with it.
You've spent 10,000 hours mastering your instrument, and you've probably spent another 10,000 hours becoming a good teacher, you deserve to get paid more and not just make a living, but to be rich and wealthy. It's just as hard to become a great musician as it is to become a brain surgeon or rocket scientist, but we musicians don't get the same financial remuneration as most other fields despite contributing to enriching the lives of our students, families and communities just as much if not more than other professions.
Remember, you only get one life, make sure you make it the one you deserve!
About The Author - Guitar Teacher & Business Coach 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.
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