Examples of a niche business for guitar might be: - A business that specializes in guitar for young children - A business that helps adults fulfill their dreams of playing guitar in a band - A business that specializes in heavy metal guitar

These are just examples - there are literally thousands of possibilities, but the niche must be something that customers actually want, it cant be something that you think might be good!

Strategy #3 - Increase your retention rate and don't take on every student

Increasing your retention rate is vital for all businesses - but particularly for music teachers - where your income is determined by the number of students you are teaching multiplied by the dollars that you charge.

If you increase the quality and standard of the students you teach while simultaneously cutting down on the number you lose you'll steadily increase your income, and have a more satisfying day to day teaching role.

There is no way you should accept every student that you get offered. Not every student is going to be right for you - they often are looking to learn different things to what you offer, and they might not be as reliable in terms of paying their fees and attending lessons as your regular students, so you should always meet and interview prospective students before you agree to teach them.

By avoiding "problem" students in the first place you'll be able to spend your time with more productive activities and better quality students.. and this will increase your income in the longer term.

Most of the problems with retention can be traced back to one thing - the students lack motivation because they don't practice enough. At the fun music company teachers blog we have a few strategies for increasing your retention rate, including practice systems and ideas for making lessons more fun.

Strategy #4 - Add passive income streams to your business

Teaching income is active income - if you stop teaching the income stops. That is ok.. because it is like any earned income. What you should be looking to do is also add passive income to your business.

Do you write any of your own teaching materials?

If so you are in the perfect position to add passive income to your income mix. All you have to do is find a way to publish your materials so that your students and others can access them. It can be as simple as getting the materials printed and bound at a copy shop just for your students only.

Do you purchase books and music for your students and pass them on to them?

If so you may be able to negotiate bulk discounts from suppliers and then add the full retail cost of the books to the students account. Parents will appreciate the convenience of not having to go into a shop to purchase the books if you put it through your business.

Can you sell leads to other teachers or businesses?

For example students all need to purchase instruments. Sometimes possible is an arrangement where you can can get a monetary commission from a music store if you refer your students to purchase their instruments there. This is certainly possible on the internet, via the use of affiliate programs.

I hope this article has given you some ideas of ways that you can improve your income as a private music teacher. I was a private music teacher for over ten years, and I've used all of these strategies during that time. Private music teaching should be fun and rewarding, and it gives you freedom to practice what you love, which is sharing the joy of music with others.

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