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The director of the “Virtuosi” music school, Dmitry Tolstyakov, shared his practical experience of creating his own music school from scratch with readers of the website project.

- Dmitry, how did you come to the idea of ​​starting this particular business? How did the idea of ​​your music school come about?

I started my business in my 3rd year at the University of Economics and Finance. I had many different projects: tourism business, foreign language courses, wholesale sales of mushrooms and berries. These projects were not successful.

Once on the Internet I saw a young man asking where to find a good guitar teacher. And then I noticed how the guitarist posted an advertisement looking for students.

I decided to become a mediator between these people. I started with an agency; at first I didn’t even have an office. Then I rented an office and worked as an agency for six months. But the turnover increased, the number of students and teachers grew, and I decided to open a permanent school.

We teach people of all ages to play all types of musical instruments. The uniqueness of our approach to learning lies in the presence of a staff of professional teachers, an individual approach to each student, as well as the ability of students to choose the place of study: at school, at home, or with a teacher.

All students who come to us achieve their goals with our help, perform at reporting concerts and other events, and also take prizes at competitions and festivals. Our school does not only target adults. For children from 2 years old, the school offers children's music development courses using the Zheleznovs' method, which is today recognized as one of the most effective early development systems.

- Tell us more about the peculiarities of your music teaching methodology?

The main idea, and this is also the peculiarity of the technique, is an individual approach to each client. We are ready to teach both academic and pop vocals, both classical guitar and accompaniment for bard songs.

The basis of our unique approach is our teachers, whom we select very carefully. We rely entirely on their professionalism. They, together with the student, draw up a training program based on the desires and capabilities of the student.

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One of our teachers specially traveled to Moscow in order to take a training course using the Zheleznovs’ method. The main principles of this technique are: the participation of parents in the learning process of children, learning occurs in movement, the use of phonograms, the use of classical or high-quality modern music and familiarization with the keyboard and playing light songs. We conduct educational music classes for children with their parents, which really brings the family together.

Have there been cases when teachers, having learned the main secrets of the method, opened their own courses using your author’s method?

We do not have a specific universal technique that could be stolen. However, there are other problems that we face. The first is the leakage of students when studying at home. Every third client who came to the teacher’s home suggested that the teacher study without the participation of the school.

But we have our own methods of dealing with such manifestations. First, we rely on the honesty and integrity of our teachers and talk to them about this. Secondly, if after the first free lesson the student does not come to us to conclude an agreement, and this situation is repeated several times, then we stop cooperation with this teacher.

This means either that the teacher is not honest with us and is working with the student behind our back, or that he cannot interest the student. In both cases, such a teacher and I are not on the same path. In addition, we also have methods to combat and prevent such cases.

But still, there was a case when one of the teachers took our idea of ​​a private music school for adults and children, our thoughtful contracts, course system and created his own music school.

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However, by and large they do not create competition for us. Because we have independently thought through all the intricacies of running this business from the very beginning and we know where pitfalls can arise. But this teacher simply copied the appearance of our diagram, and now he is faced with problems of a deeper nature.

And nothing can be done about such cases. Anyone can steal an idea. In this case, we only need to keep the quality of services at a level so that competitors have no chance, despite the similarity of the work scheme.

- How did you implement the idea from its conception to the final implementation of the school?

From the origin of an idea to its implementation is one step. I just started acting. At first, I independently searched for students and teachers on the Internet and simply matched them up. Three months later, I began renting a small office in which I conducted interviews and meetings with clients, hired employees who took calls and concluded contracts with students and teachers.

From the very beginning, I immediately advertised on social networks (ads) and improved the site’s position in search engines. So the calls started coming on their own. Within six months, the school acquired a new format - it became stationary. It took me no more than a month to find premises and purchase tools. We did a lot of decorative work ourselves.

- How much did it cost you to start the project?

The initial investment in a music school operating under an agency scheme can be estimated at 150 thousand rubles. But this is an approximate amount; I got by with much less money. The main costs are the search and rental of office space, the purchase of furniture and equipment (tools and office equipment), printing and advertising.

- Are there additional (administrative) requirements for premises and personnel?

There are no special requirements for office space. Workplaces and a place for employees to relax, where they can have a snack and drink tea, should be equipped. But in the case of a stationary school, everything is a little more complicated.

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The room should be large and easily accessible. It should be possible to equip several classrooms for classes, an office part, a place for the administrator, and a kitchenette. It is also important to make a good and interesting room design.

Finding excellent staff is the most important and difficult task. It is essential that your staff genuinely do a good job and want to please your customers.

- What difficulties did you encounter in the initial stages of doing business? And how did you deal with them?

The biggest problem at all times is yourself. Or rather, what's in your head. It is necessary to get rid of “garbage”, from stereotypes, live for today and fight your fears. Therefore, the limitation of our success is only in ourselves.

The main difficulty is choosing a good team. Find adequate teachers and good employees. But this is not even a difficulty, it is a task. And one of the most interesting in business in general. There is only one solution - to communicate with people, conduct interviews, find out what is important to these people, why they want to work at the Virtuosi music school.

-Have you recouped your initial investment?

Yes, it paid off. Six months later, I was already working in profit.

- What can you say about the profitability of this business?

If it were not profitable, it would have ceased to exist long ago. Although this business has such a feature as seasonality - in the summer everyone goes on vacation and vacation, and there is a drop in the number of clients. However, even at this time the school pays off. But the autumn period is a boom of new clients and applications. Last September the company's turnover amounted to 1 million rubles. On average, the profitability of this business can be estimated at 20%.

What kind of employees does your company have on staff? How did you select key employees (requirements)? How are they paid for their work?

Now the company's staff consists of a head teacher, a methodologist and two administrators who work on a shift schedule. The head teacher is responsible for marketing, finance, teacher selection, and monitoring the work of the methodologist and administrator. The methodologist works with teachers and clients. And the administrator takes calls, greets guests, draws up a schedule, and monitors everyday matters.

The basic requirements for personnel can be formulated by three principles:

The attitude towards clients and partners should be the same as you would like for yourself: decent, respectful, without arrogance.

Fulfill your obligations efficiently and on time. Or don't take on these obligations.

Always strive to be the best at your job. If you are not interested in doing this work and constantly learning, our company is not for you.

I looked for people through advertisements on job search sites. I used both free and paid ads. But these investments paid off. Regarding salaries: for administrators, payment is made per shift. And for the methodologist and head teacher, a salary + percentage of profit scheme has been introduced.

We conclude civil contracts with teachers, and payment is piecework, i.e. the number of classes is simply counted, and wages are paid once a month. When the stationary school “Virtuosi” appeared, we signed up several teachers under employment contracts, and they work on a salary.

- How do you promote your services? Name the main promotion channel. How is your sales network built?

We promote only through the Internet, and word of mouth is already working very well. We tried different types of advertising: leaflets, newspaper ads... But nowadays, only the Internet brings a real number of clients.

On our website, in a group on social networks, you can leave a request for training, and clients actively use this service. After receiving the application, our administrator or methodologist contacts the client and the production process begins: selection of a place of study, teacher, course.

Among the methods in “real” life, we tried advertisements on houses and poles, leaflets in the mailbox, advertisements in public places. Now we have already abandoned all this, although some methods brought a certain number of clients (for example, advertisements around the city).

But this is St. Petersburg - a big city. For cities throughout Russia that are not so large, all of the above methods may be effective. We were also filmed on television several times. But it was free for us, because... they became interested themselves. Why not? This is an excellent news opportunity, unlike another disaster or financial scandal....

Do you engage in direct sales, offering your courses (lessons) to schools, kindergartens and other institutions for children and adults?

No, we do not engage in direct sales. Advertising on the Internet (at first, mainly social networks) immediately brought a sufficient number of clients. We are in a position where people are calling themselves.

It's not just those who want to study who call. We often get calls with offers to perform at some festival or competition. We agree with pleasure, providing an opportunity for our students to test themselves, grow professionally, and show the results they have achieved.

- Do you have representative offices in other cities of Russia?

Just two months ago we launched a franchising program for our school. We want people in all Russian (and not only) cities to have the opportunity to realize themselves in music, regardless of age, employment, or place of residence. We chose franchising development precisely because it is not just selling a business. This is a search for partners, new acquaintances, new people who are also infected with our idea and are ready to actively work on creating their own business, ready to share their ideas, successes and failures, and tasks.

Quite recently we signed the first agreements with Novosibirsk and Moscow. Now our new partners are actively preparing for the opening: they are looking for premises and teachers. We support them, advise them over the phone and the Internet.

In general, people from completely different cities - large and small - leave requests and call. This means that the idea of ​​organizing music education in the private sector comes to many people’s minds. Because people see that the existing music education system is not able to satisfy the demand for services and does not provide the kind of quality service that the residents of our country want to see for themselves.

- How do you see the prospects for the further development of your business?

Now I am closely working on a new project “Academy of Talents”. This is a large-scale educational project that includes many different schools. For example, we will have a photography school, a chess school, a computer school, a culinary studio, a foreign language school, a creative workshop and a “Virtuosi” branch.

- Online learning is very popular now. Are you planning to launch such a service yourself?

Yes, sure. I follow modern trends and always try to “stay in touch.” I already have some ideas on how to implement this.

What can you say about competition in your business? Have you encountered such a problem as opposition from colleagues?

In St. Petersburg and Moscow the competition is quite strong. Now more and more different creative studios are opening for both children and adults. And in the regions this sector is not represented at all. That's why we count on the success of our franchisees.

What advice could you give to beginners who are just planning to launch their own courses in various fields and industries?

Focus on the results your clients can achieve and do whatever it takes to help them achieve their goals.

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