Business plan
Sample plan · fictional businessA complete yoga studio business plan: Still Pine Yoga
Boise, ID · Startup plan · a fictional yoga studio, written by the free generator from five answers
Executive summary
Still Pine Yoga is a new yoga studio in Boise, ID offering unlimited monthly membership; drop-in classes and ten-class packs; a four-week beginners' series; private and small-group sessions; and workshops and a seasonal teacher training. The model is one owner-teacher's 1,200-square-foot one-room studio on a neighborhood strip: the owner teaches half the schedule, two part-time teachers paid by the class teach the rest, and memberships and drop-ins run through one booking app.
Startup budget: $41,425 across 12 items, funded from savings. Target: $13,000 in monthly sales.
Twelve months from now, success looks like this: About $13,000 a month by the end of the first year — 90 unlimited memberships at about $130 a month plus about 65 drop-ins at $20 — with the owner teaching half the schedule and two part-time teachers the rest
Products and services
Still Pine Yoga's core offer is unlimited monthly membership. Twenty classes a week run on a fixed schedule from week one, every student signs the waiver and checks in on the tablet at the door, memberships bill monthly to a card on file, and the props are wiped after every class.
- Unlimited monthly membership
- Drop-in classes and ten-class packs
- A four-week beginners' series
- Private and small-group sessions
- Workshops and a seasonal teacher training
Market analysis
The customers are the neighbors within ten minutes who want a studio three times a week; the beginners who want a teacher in the room; the members who left a bigger studio; the runners, cyclists and lifters booking yin and mobility; and the students who come for the workshops and the training.
- Neighbors within ten minutes who want a studio they can walk or bike to three times a week
- Beginners who tried an app or a gym class and want a teacher in the room
- Members who left a bigger studio when it raised prices or lost its teachers
- Runners, cyclists and lifters booking the yin and mobility classes
- Students and teachers for the workshops and the training
Marketing strategy
Most students will come through the intro offer and the Google Business Profile — “yoga near me” plus your neighborhood — with word of mouth — the members who bring a friend — Instagram and the running clubs and physical therapists adding the rest; the website with the schedule, the pricing, the intro offer and online booking turns a search into a first class.
- The intro offer — the first month at a price that gets a new student through the door three times
- Google Business Profile and Google — “yoga near me”, “beginner yoga” plus your neighborhood
- Instagram: the room, the teachers, the schedule, in short clips
- Members who bring a friend to a free class
- The local running clubs, gyms and physical therapists who send the mobility students
- A website with the schedule, the pricing, the intro offer and online booking
Operations plan
The owner teaches, schedules, bills and reads the numbers in year one: ten classes a week of their own and two part-time teachers on the rest, one booking app for memberships, packs and payments, a written cancellation policy, the room reset by the teacher leaving it, and a monthly read of attendance by class so the empty slot is retired rather than subsidised.
- Twenty classes a week on a fixed schedule from week one; add classes only when the room fills
- The owner teaches ten classes a week; two part-time teachers cover the rest, paid by the class
- Booking, memberships and payments in one app; every class checked in on the tablet at the door
- Memberships billed monthly to a card on file, cancellable with a month's notice — in writing
- Props wiped after every class; the room reset by the teacher leaving it
- A monthly read of attendance by class and teacher; the empty slot is retired, not subsidised
Startup costs
What it will take to open the doors, funded from savings.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lease deposit and first month's rent on about 1,200 square feet | $4,800 |
| Flooring, mirrors, paint, cubbies, lighting and a changing area | $15,000 |
| Twenty mats, forty blocks, ten bolsters, straps and blankets | $3,900 |
| A sound system and a tablet at the door | $1,750 |
| Scheduling, memberships and payments software (first year) | $1,248 |
| General liability, or a BOP with professional liability (first year) | $776 |
| Music licensing for the classes (first year) | $515 |
| Business registration, the city license and the occupancy sign-off | $313 |
| CPR and first-aid certification, and background checks for the teachers | $200 |
| Launch marketing: the intro offer, flyers, local ads | $1,500 |
| Website: schedule, pricing, online booking, plus Google Business Profile | $0 |
| Working capital: two months of running costs | $11,423 |
| Total | $41,425 |
Typical range to start a yoga studio in the US: $20,865–$63,984. Your list is what you decided to spend — replace estimates with real quotes as you get them. Website: schedule, pricing, online booking, plus Google Business Profile: Your Zarla plan includes the website — the schedule, the pricing, the intro offer, the teachers, the contact page and online booking — and walks you through your Google Business Profile. Having one built typically costs $1,000 to $2,000 from a freelancer.
Financial plan
The numbers below come from your own startup list and typical monthly costs for a one-room studio in the US. The lease and the build-out are the real startup; the monthly lines are the rent, the teachers, the software and the music; and the memberships times the price — less the members who pause — decides what is left.
Typical monthly operating costs for a yoga studio: $4,040–$8,231 a month, before the owner's own pay.
At $13,000 in monthly sales, Still Pine Yoga would clear $4,769–$8,960 a month before owner pay and tax, and recover the $41,425 startup budget in roughly 5–9 months.
| Cost | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Rent on about 1,200 square feet | $1,800–$3,000 |
| Electricity, water, internet and the phone | $200–$500 |
| Two part-time teachers: about 40 classes a month at $30 to $75 a class | $1,200–$3,000 |
| Booking and membership software, by the month | $59–$149 |
| General liability or the business owner's policy with professional liability, by the month | $29–$100 |
| Music licensing, by the month | $28–$58 |
| Mat spray, towels, laundry, tea | $100–$300 |
| Instagram, the email tool, the intro-offer ads | $150–$500 |
| Bookkeeping and the tax preparer | $50–$200 |
| Card fees on about $13,000 across 155 payments | $424–$424 |
US ranges for a small operation; replace with your own figures as you learn them.
Risks and honest downsides
Every yoga studio plan should say out loud what can go wrong. For Still Pine Yoga, the real risks are:
- The rent is due from the day the lease is signed, and the hundredth member arrives a year later
- A teacher leaves and takes the regulars of a class with them
- January fills the room and July empties it — memberships churn with the seasons
- The owner is also the lead teacher: an injury or a sick month halves the schedule
- A bigger studio or a gym opens on the same strip with a cheaper intro offer
- A membership billed without the right contract words is a complaint to the state
Licenses, permits and insurance
What Still Pine Yoga needs before it can legally trade in the US. Rules vary by state and city — confirm each item with your local licensing office and an accountant.
- Your state's health-club membership law — In the US about half the states regulate any business that sells memberships for exercise instruction, and a yoga studio selling monthly memberships is one. Texas registers it as a health spa with the Secretary of State ($100 a year) and requires $20,000 to $50,000 of security — a bond or a deposit — unless the studio holds a certificate of exemption and sells no contract over 31 days, no installment note, no recurring debit authorization, no initiation fee and no prepayment over 31 days, so a Texas studio billing a card on file posts the bond; Florida registers health studios for $300 a location a year and requires a $25,000 bond only when fees are collected more than 30 days in advance through a third party; California's Health Studio Services Contract law (Business and Professions Code §1812.80 and following) sets what a membership contract must say, caps its term and gives the member a cancellation right. Read your state's statute before you write the membership agreement.
- No teacher license, but the certificates members and insurers expect — In the US no state licenses yoga teachers or studios — Yoga Alliance's RYT and RYS marks are a voluntary registry ($50 to apply and $65 a year for a teacher; $400 and $240 a year for a school) — so a 200-hour training, CPR and first-aid certification, a background check on every teacher and a signed waiver for every student are what the insurer, the members and the lease require. Check whether your city needs a business license and an occupancy sign-off for an exercise use.
- Waivers and injuries — In the US a clearly written liability waiver is enforced for ordinary negligence in most states, void as against public policy in Louisiana, Montana and Virginia, and limited in a handful of others (Recreation Law's state list and the Athletic Business waiver guide); it never covers gross negligence. Every student signs one in the booking app before the first class, every teacher is trained to offer modifications, and the professional liability policy covers the instruction itself.
- Teachers as employees or contractors — In the US a teacher who works your schedule, in your room, teaching your core service looks like an employee to the IRS's control test, and in California the ABC test under AB 5 makes it almost certain — a contractor must be free of your control, doing work outside your usual course of business, and in an independently established trade (the Employment Development Department). Many studios put teachers on payroll by the class; a studio that keeps contractors has them carry their own insurance and set their own classes. Confirm the classification with your accountant.
- Sales tax on memberships, classes and the retail shelf — In the US about 24 states and the District of Columbia tax fitness memberships — Texas, Florida and New Jersey among them — while California and New York State do not, and New York City charges its 4.5% local tax on every health and fitness facility inside the city (TaxJar's fitness guide and the New York Tax Department's bulletin); mats, towels and tea sold at the desk are taxable retail in every state with a sales tax. Register with your state's revenue department and confirm the details with your accountant.
- Music licensing — In the US recorded music in a class is a public performance: BMI and ASCAP license fitness rooms per member or per location, and a personal streaming subscription's terms exclude business use. Pay the licenses or use a business music service that carries them; the exemption that lets a small shop play the radio does not cover a playlist in a class.
Milestones: the next 30 days
The first month's to-do list for Still Pine Yoga, in order:
- Pick the schedule — twenty classes a week, the styles and the times — and the two teachers who cover half of it
- Form the entity, take the EIN, and check the city license and the occupancy sign-off for an exercise use
- Sign the lease with a build-out period, and plan the floor, the mirrors and the cubbies
- Bind the business owner's policy with professional liability, and register under your state's health-club law if it has one
- Set up the booking app with the memberships, the packs, the intro offer and the waiver
- Order the mats, blocks, bolsters and straps; license the music
- Put the website live with the schedule, the pricing, the intro offer and online booking, and claim the Google Business Profile
- Write the membership agreement with the cancellation words your state requires
- Run two free community classes in the park and a soft-opening week before the grand opening
Appendix: what a lender will ask for
This plan tells the story and shows the numbers. If you take it to a bank, expect to be asked for these documents as well:
- Two years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement
- The signed lease and the build-out estimate
- Your teaching certifications and the certificates of insurance
- The membership agreement and the booking app's member and attendance reports
- The health-club registration or exemption certificate, where your state requires one
- Your credit report and the business bank statements