The First Thing You Need When Starting a Yoga Business

Starting a Yoga Business

When it comes to starting a yoga business, people love to give advice.

  1. You need a website.
  2. Have you thought about blogging?
  3. Monetize your yoga videos on YouTube!
  4. You need a clear marketing strategy.
  5. Do you have a business plan?
  6. You really ought to use social media more.

And, while all that advice is well-intentioned, none of those things are the first thing you need for starting a yoga business successfully.

Sure websites, social media platforms, marketing plans, business outlines, and the like are all super important and very helpful ways to build, maintain and grow your business, but they are not the seed which starts it. They are the water, the sunlight, the soil. They nurture your budding business, but without the “seed” there is nothing to grow.

So, what is the seed that when nurtured can flourish into a blossoming business? No, it’s not an expensive website. It’s not a techy tool. It’s not a gimmicky must-have.

It’s clarity.

Yes, clarity.

It costs nothing, but is invaluable when starting a heart-centered, feel-good lifestyle business.

When clarity is present, it brings everything into flow. Ideas come, students flock, workshops sell-out, marketing captivates, websites convert, classrooms fill. Everything arrives in abundance.

So, when I speak of clarity — let’s be, well, clear. I’m talking about clarity about who you are serving, why you are serving them and what your mission is as a yogi. Without that, you have no foundation on which to build your biz. Clarity enables us to laser in on our true strengths, capitalize on them, and then strategically and effortlessly build them into every layer of our business.

Clarity has a number of names. Some call it dharma, niche, calling, passion, focus, mission, intention, or vision, but no matter what you choose to label it, it’s the unique role that ONLY YOU can play in the world. It’s what you were put here to do, teach and share.

And, once you have clarity, there is no stopping you.

You are on a mission to deliver your one-of-a-kind brand of yoga to the world. You may not see every step of the path clearly, but that’s okay. Clarity gives you the faith to move forward even when the path is uncertain, even when times get tough and even when others would quit. Clarity transforms you from an amateur yoga teacher into a world-changing yoga pro primed and ready to make a big splash!

If you’re now thinking: “Uh-oh. I have no idea what my focus should be! I just love teaching yoga, and I don’t have niche.” That’s totally okay. It takes time to mine down to the truth of who we are.

I’ll be back with the next installment of this blog series soon which will include a list of self-discovery questions that will help you zero in on your strengths so that you can begin to elucidate what you were put here on this earth to do.

Until then, however, I want to leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Martha Graham which speaks to the spark of uniqueness that dwells within all of us.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”

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About the Author

Cailen Ascher is a marketing maven & yoga teacher/entrepreneur who wants to live in a world where everyone’s dream job is their day job and yoga pants are acceptable work attire. She has been spotlighted on GaiamTV, MindBodyGreen, YogipreneurTV, and more. She’s the creator of the revolutionary online course - Become a Yoga Brand.

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