Private Pay SM Classes

[Erin Spring]

Hi Everyone!
I have a meeting this Wednesday about starting my first private SM class offerings at a community music school and I am hoping those of you that already have classes running could help by answering a few questions I have:

1) How many weeks of class do you run in a session?

2) Do you offer punch cards and monthly/session payment plans?

3) What kind of breaks do you offer families with multiple young children?

4) How do your classes compare in price to other early childhood classes in your area? (Did you aim for a certain amount or percentage higher?) I know Music Together offers classes at $14 per class for 10 weeks & I think Kindermusik was $17 a class for 10 weeks in this area. Any recommendations?

5) Any other tips or suggestions for me?

[Sarah jane Mason]

Hi Erin! I don’t think I am much help, but I am also having the same questions. I proposed a SM class to our local library, but am not sure how that would work with payment. The library offers free classes, so I would be paid but families would come for free at the library? Yet other families not coming to the library would pay for classes? More questions.

As for weeks to run in a session, Meredith had previously recommended a 6 week, rather than 10. As a mom I can understand that as a 6 week commitment seems more likely for me to sign up for with our family personally.

I’ve had several families ask me about drop in classes, which I don’t think is a good idea for my business. After so many parents asking I am considering a “punch card” type plan as in buy 6 weeks and have 8-10 to use them. (Probably 8) I have been surprised at how wishy washy moms have been about a 6 week commitment actually.

So that’s my two cents, but I am not an up and running SM business yet. I had a first round of demo classes with 3 families, 1 registered. I am having another round next week and the week after so we will see how that goes. Good luck to you and keep me posted on how it’s going with the community music school!
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Hi Erin and Sarah,

Here are things I am doing so far regarding Erin’s questions:

1. I was doing 8 week sessions, and a 4 week over the summer, but it I didn’t get as many bites as I would like. I would agree with Sarah Jane that 6 weeks seems to be what families are more comfortable committing too. Also, the amount they have to pay upfront is less overwhelming that an 8 or more week session.

2. I require folks to pay upfront in the full amount. If I offered a punch card I could end up with no one showing up and really never knowing who is coming or going. Actually, I allowed one Mom a special deal to do something similar because of a work situation between her and husband. I told her she could come whenever she did not have to work on a Saturday and pay when she showed up. I am four weeks into the session and she has never shown up. If I had a family that truly could not pay up front I would probably offer them another option to pay to help them.

3. For my families with multiple children I have been offering 50% off for the second child and 75% off for the third. But, I think I am doing myself an injustice by offering 75% off. I have actually been wanting to pick Meredith’s brain about this. I want to be fair knowing it gets expensive with multiple children and I don’t want families to not join because they cannot afford because they have more than two kids.

4. The Music Together in my area is charging $18.00 a class for 10 week sessions. I am charging $20.125 a class right now for the 8 week class. I of course only give families the total amount and not the amount they are paying each class. The other classes, music, gymnastics, dance, open gym, swim classes, and music/movement like classes are going between $12 and $18 in my area. Meredith had recommended that I charge a few dollars more so I chose to price $2 more.

I hope this helps. Sorry I didn’t see this sooner!

[Sarah jane Mason]

I am in a pretty blue collar town so I am charging $99 for 6 classes. Instead of an early bird discount I opted to do a one time $15 off your 1st session.

[Christine Heaps]

Hi All,
I’m sorry I’m so late to the party;) I really struggled with what to charge. I still do. I charge a lot less than I should, but I do have about five moms now who are very consistent and tell others about Sprouting Melodies! I do wander if I held out with higher prices would these moms still eventually have showed up;) My thinking was that I’d rather charge less and have more moms sign up than charge more and just have one or two. At the same time, I definitely feel I should be charging more. Here in Chandler (near Phoenix), Kindermusik charges $16.25, Music Together charges $17, and Musicology (a similar program) charges $18. I actually charge per month. I do have a drop-in option and usually have one or two. The drop-in rate is a little higher per class than the monthly rate. I would really like to raise my rates, don’t know how best to do that. Any ideas?
🙂 Christine

[Brandy Jenkins]

For those of you doing 6 week classes, are you doing them 6 weeks on and three weeks off or something similar? How big is your capacity? I am considering how to give the library a flat rate since they will have people come at no cost with the library paying me.

[Christine Heaps]

I think it’s better to keep going! Last Fall, I had a class that was really growing. The second week of December there were 7 or 8 moms (and babies!) I had to cancel the next three weeks because of traveling. Now, I’m down to 3 🙁

For the library, I would try to base it off what you expect to receive in a full private pay class. Let’s say 10 private pay families would equal $10 for the same time period. I would quote the library maybe $8-$10 depending on their available funds. I actually tried this with a library, but they had no extra money. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I do 6 week classes and try not to have more than one week off. For Christmas time holidays, I did two weeks, but I checked in with my regular families who consistently attend each session. They all agreed that they would not be able to attend during those two weeks. Since NJ has been having a rough winter, I put in a make-up class at the end of the winter session. This was helpful because I actually got the flu and it snowed that same week I was sick so the make-up class was there for that. I have not done a library program, but eager to hear how everyone else is running these and what they find successful!

[Brandy Jenkins]

Thanks for the suggestions. I surely appreciate it. I have not heard back from the library yet, but I did find the community center in town is reasonable. They do an 80/20 split. I set the rate and everyone registers through the Community Center…so they have to be a member or somehow have an ID. They consider a class a success if at least 5 people show up consistently. They give it a 3 month try which is great. I am sure I will be back asking many questions…and hopefully answering a few to help others. I don’t remember….was it in the training or somewhere else that suggested good times to hold the different classes?

[Anonymous]

80/20 split is a nice split, much better than what I have found in my area. Also great they do all the registering. That part takes up so much time. The best times to offer classes by ages is in the Sprouting Melodies Provider manual. I believe it is located under the tab SMP Manual.

[Sarah jane Mason]

It seems that the start of the year is a good time to raise prices. You could give notice a few weeks ahead and post it on your website. It seems pretty normal to me to read new prices with a new year. I will probably be raising mine to $109 for 6 weeks, but offering an early bird discount of $99.

Another question…. Do yall charge a registration fee? How much? I am not currently but for all the ground work I do to get people in the class, signed up and paid it would be nice to have a bit of compensation there.

[Anonymous]

Hey Sarah Jane,

I charge a $25 registration fee. I like having this because it’s a great way for me to collect for the time I spend registering and putting together welcome packets and the cost to do that too. But also, it’s a great place to give a promotion for new families. I see it that if they get a certain amount off the registration I am still making the amount I need from the actual session. I also offer a friends and family discount that gives a new family $15 off their registration fee.

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