I was without power from July 8th until July 15th. This caused a major challenge for my studio. I wrote a bit last week about improvising in connection with the hurricane. We escaped the heat and humidity of no power by going 2 and a half hours to my in-laws, while waiting for the power to return. Now that the power has returned, we’ve been cleaning up the yard, cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer of things that are no longer usable and just returning to “normal”.
Continuing for a moment with the idea of improvising, last week, I had planned on being on “vacation” while staying home, so I didn’t have lessons scheduled. That helped with no power. But this week was my return from vacation. With no power, I had to shift. I had a week scheduled between my “summer” and “fall lessons”, but it was clear that this weeks’ lessons needed to be shifted to that week. And so I did. This gave me time this week to wait for the power to come back on (FINALLY) and get home and prep to return for lessons.
I’ve had a smaller number of students over the summer, which makes things a little more financially tight, but now my plan between now and the fall schedule beginning is to focus on prep for the fall. I’m very excited to integrate new and fun ideas, activities and games to use to help my students learn, grow and enjoy music in a new and creative way. I still have 2 spots open for the fall, which I’ve been working to fill with students from the summer or students on my waiting list.
Because of having a full in person schedule, I’m shifting to a new offering, which I’m excited about. One of the things that I’ve noticed for people learning music is through YouTube videos and apps. While tutorials are great, the challenge is, where is the feedback or encouragement or double-checking technique? So that’s what I’m building. A video based, self-paced opportunity to learn music through video tutorials created by me, shared with students as they need it. The expectation is that they’ll share videos other their playing with me and I’ll give them feedback. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years, and so now, I’m finally diving into it. That’s what’s going to be coming up in the next few weeks.
One of the benefits of being a business owner is that I can include (and pay) my daughters for their help. My 15 year old has helped me this summer with social media and running camps. My 12 and a half year old has helped me with snacks for camps, and will be helping me with organization of materials and resources for the fall. This way, they get to see what dad does and have a part in not only earning income, but being a part of seeing success for the studio and using their gifts in a creative way.
So that’s where things are at the moment. Cleaning up and prepping. Not the most glamorous, but definitely necessary!
Next week I’ll share about my finds that I got for the studio from Prime Day!