Being a yoga teacher training in Vancouver BC is a wonderful endeavour to share with the world. It likely means that you are passionate about physical health and spiritual well being, and that you want to see others find their own sense of wellness.

Yoga teachers can sometimes have a hard time thinking about their path as a business, and that’s why it can seem like it’s a crowded field to enter. We all know that yoga teachers work within studio spaces, vying for classes and studios throughout the city. If you are a yoga teacher, have you ever considered expanding your services in new ways?

Many yoga teachers feel that they need experience in studios before they can offer their services for private lessons. This isn’t true! In fact, finding ways to offer private or small-scale sessions can be a great learning experience for yoga teachers, too. And it’s a way to accelerate your confidence and yoga training, while at the same time, building your business. By teaching in small groups or with private clients, you can spend more time with individual students and hone your own teaching style.

But the question is: how do you get private clients or small groups? The answer is to be inventive and think outside the box. There are countless ways to reach people that might be interested in private classes.

We’ve come up with some inventive ways to grow your private practice that we’d like to share for teachers new and experienced alike.

1. Neighbourhood canvassing

One successful yoga teacher we know made beautiful cards and dropped them off in mailboxes in neighbourhoods around the city. She offered her teaching services in-home for people, and gave an option for small groups of three or four clients. This way, she found groups of new moms and retired friends that had time during the day but don’t feel comfortable in a studio setting. She was surprised at her success and built her business off of in-home small scale classes, which spread by word of mouth. She was able to tailor her schedule and gain some excellent long-term private clients.

Related Article: How Do You Get Sales After Becoming A Yoga Teacher?

2. Befriend concierges

Often people traveling through the city and staying at hotels would love to practice yoga, but they don’t have time to research studios and find teachers they like. Besides, they are busy and would rather have an instructor who can come to them. One idea to expand your client base is to introduce yourself to concierges at hotels who can pass along your card to guests staying at their hotels. This can be a lucrative path and you’ll have the opportunity to meet many interesting people.

3. Consider offices

Many offices are investing in ways to keep their employees as healthy as possible. One way to tap into this is to approach companies and offer customized classes. For example, you can offer to come in during lunch hours three days each week, or offer early morning classes before the work day starts. Often companies will have board rooms that can be easily converted into a yoga space, making the commitment easy for people.

4. Take advantage of parks and beaches

One obstacle that yoga teachers often face when trying to build their own business is finding a suitable space to offer their services. An excellent solution to that problem is to take advantage of all the free and beautiful public space the city has to offer. Public parks and beaches are a perfect and relaxing atmosphere to teach in. You can create posters and put them up on telephone poles and coffee shops, with the time and place. Make the posters as inviting and inclusive as possible, set a price per person and see who shows up. This option appeals to a lot of people who are intimidated by yoga studios and want something more organic and casual. These kinds of public classes can be fun and an excellent way to build community.

As you can see, there are countless possibilities to gain clients and develop a yoga teaching business. One of our favourite sayings is: “aim high, there’s plenty of room” and we think that it applies perfectly here. If you are thinking of creative ways to gain clients, chances are they are untapped areas with huge potential.