If you have successfully moved from a per-lesson payment system to a tuition-based structure,1 you may still be left with the challenge of parents paying on time. There are many ways to tackle this issue, so choose what works best for your business.  Prepay in fullThe most effective means of ensuring that payments come to you on time is prepay...

A studio full of hard-working and well-mannered students is every piano teacher's dream. But few teachers actually have the opportunity to live this dream for their entire careers. The truth is that most teachers have at least one student that they do not enjoy teaching. It might be due to a communication problem, a mismatched energy issue, a behav...

Why do I need policies?Constructing effective and enforceable policies is ultimately about preserving relationships with our piano families. By communicating our expectations formally, we are making space to concentrate on what is most important—teaching. It may feel a bit stiff to require that parents read and sign a contract, but clarifying expec...

Where Do You Teach and Why?Piano teachers are always looking for another angle. They have to! What works to motivate one of your students fails with another. The suggested fingering in a score may be awkward, so you try another one. This search for alternatives is also true when it comes to where we teach. Let's explore the possibilities. Now ...

I am sure that all of us are familiar with the old real-estate axiom that the three most important factors for a property are Location-Location-and Location! I would like to steal (or borrow) that idea and say that three of the most essential ingredients for a successful Magic Triangle relationship are Communication-Communication-and Communication!...