C$15.44
Low hourly wage, 2023–2024 reference period
Business guides
Starting or buying a yoga business
A full yoga class does not necessarily pay for itself. Unlimited members can attend more often without paying more. Test whether customer payments cover the timetable and the work behind it before opening or buying a studio.
This guide is SmallBizSim's own summary of public information and does not constitute business, financial, legal or tax advice.
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Operating model
Choose the commitment, not just the room
Teaching a limited schedule and operating a studio are different jobs. A hired venue can reduce premises commitments, but selling your own classes still means handling customer service.1
Delegating teaching does not automatically delegate management. A cleaner, lead teacher or manager can take on defined work, but someone must be responsible for checking that it happens.
Whether you hire a room, open a studio or buy one, test the work behind the timetable. Adding a class creates another teaching commitment before it creates another sale, and every visit uses a space.
Classes in a hired room
Work beyond teaching: bookings, payments, enquiries, student notices, cancellations and session setup.
Establish before committing: who provides access, equipment and cleaning, and what happens if the room becomes unavailable.
Dedicated owner-taught studio
Work beyond teaching: the same customer work, plus premises readiness, upkeep and ongoing business administration.
Establish before committing: whether teaching leaves enough time to run the operation, and who covers your absence.
Studio with other teachers
Work beyond teaching: rostering, availability, substitute arrangements, teacher communication and pay administration.
Establish before committing: who owns each task, including last-minute cover and notifying students.
Write out a normal week and an absence week
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This matters for a side hustle too. If the plan works only because your management time is unpaid and unlimited, it needs more work.
Records
Members, money and visits need separate records
Separate what customers buy, what they pay and how they use it. Mindbody's documentation distinguishes membership, sales and attendance reports.3 Its revenue-per-visit guidance also shows why unlimited passes need care.45 These are software reporting definitions, not industry benchmarks.
Drop-in
Produces income: a sale for a particular visit.
Attendance shows: whether the paid place was used.
Do not assume: that a booking alone is a paid, attended visit.
Class pack
Produces income: a package sale creates cash and an entitlement to future classes.
Attendance shows: which credits were redeemed and which remain.
Do not assume: that all cash collected is immediately earned, or that unused credits have no consequences.
Limited membership
Produces income: dues buy the access or visits specified in the contract.
Attendance shows: how much of that entitlement customers use.
Do not assume: that member count alone shows collected revenue or occupied places.
Unlimited membership
Produces income: dues buy access for the membership period.
Attendance shows: how heavily members use the timetable.
Do not assume: that each additional visit produces another sale.
Keep a membership register alongside sales, payment and attendance records. Bring them together for management reporting without treating them as interchangeable.
- An active contract does not show that its latest payment succeeded.
- A booking is not a check-in.
- A redeemed pack credit is not another cash receipt.
For management reporting, show:
- membership dues by the period they cover
- pack sales and remaining credits
- drop-in sales
- actual cash collected
Contribution explains the class; profit explains the business
For each class, record direct visit revenue, attendance by pricing option, and the teaching payment. A fixed fee per scheduled class does not fall just because fewer students arrive. If the agreement includes attendance-based pay, record it separately: teaching costs do not all behave the same way.
You can allocate membership dues across attended classes for management purposes, but label the method clearly. Allocating dues by member check-ins is an analytical convention, not another sale. Do not add those allocations to membership revenue again when assessing the whole studio.
At studio level, bring the revenue streams together once and deduct delivery costs. Then account for rent, utilities, software, insurance, administration and owner work.
Keep cash timing separate. A pack promotion can bring in money now while leaving classes to deliver later. Deposits and fit-out also use cash before the timetable has proved itself.
Demand
Test a timetable customers can actually use
Empty spaces at midday do not solve an evening waitlist unless customers are willing to move. Review each class time rather than relying on a studio-wide average.
For a pilot or an existing studio, compare
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Define the measures before comparing periods. “Retention” could mean continuing to pay, returning to class or remaining on the customer list. Use the same definition consistently, and ask lapsed customers what stopped them returning.
Give quieter classes an explicit purpose, then review whether they fulfil it. That might mean serving a distinct customer group, providing useful member access or testing a new time.
Workshops and private sessions can add sales, but need their own checks on demand, delivery cost and owner time. They are not an automatic rescue for a weak core schedule.
Costs
Price the work and premises locally
Teacher pay is not the whole cost of reliable class delivery. Ask:
- Does a quoted fee include preparation or administration?
- What happens on cancellation?
- Does substitute cover cost extra?
- Is this an employee wage or a contractor fee, and what is the actual working relationship?
Instructor, yoga: Canadian national hourly wages
C$19.00
Median hourly wage, 2023–2024 reference period
C$31.00
High hourly wage, 2023–2024 reference period
Canada's Job Bank reports national wages for “instructor, yoga” at C$15.44 low, C$19.00 median and C$31.00 high per hour. The figures use a 2023–2024 reference period and were updated on 19 November 2025.7 These historical hourly wage estimates are not a current contractor price per class or the total cost of employing someone.
Get current local teaching quotes and employment advice rather than copying these wage figures. Obtain separate quotes for premises, fit-out, utilities, insurance and software. This guide does not establish a comparable startup-cost or profit-margin range.
Jurisdiction
Check law, insurance and venue requirements
Keep three questions separate: what the law requires, what an insurer will cover, and what a venue or employer insists on. Yoga Alliance's RYT is its own registration credential, not government permission to teach.9 Ask the insurer in writing about the proposed teaching formats and who is covered, including hired teachers and heated classes.
These are starting points, not a complete licence or insurance list.
Starting points by country
AU Australia
Australia (AU)
Licences and approvals depend on the activity, the state or territory, and the local council area. Use the Australian Business Licence and Information Service, and check the proposed premises use before committing.1011
The Fitness Industry Award may cover eligible employers and employees, including fitness class teachers.12 Check coverage and classification for the actual studio and role. An instructor's contractor label is not a substitute for that assessment.
AU$75,000
General GST registration threshold (GST turnover)
The general GST registration threshold is AU$75,000 in GST turnover.13 Confirm the treatment of each offering rather than assuming yoga classes have a special exemption.
NZ New Zealand
New Zealand (NZ)
Employment New Zealand provides tests for employee-versus-contractor status.14 Assess the actual teaching arrangement before relying on a contractor agreement.
NZ$60,000
General GST registration threshold (taxable-activity turnover over 12 months)
Inland Revenue's general GST registration threshold is NZ$60,000 in taxable-activity turnover over a 12-month period. You can register voluntarily below it.15
Check industry and regional requirements as well as tax registration.16 Room hire does not by itself establish permission for every proposed activity.
CA Canada
Canada (CA)
C$30,000
GST/HST small-supplier threshold
GST/HST registration generally becomes necessary when taxable supplies exceed the C$30,000 small-supplier threshold under the applicable calendar-quarter tests. Timing differs when the threshold is crossed in a single quarter.17 The GST/HST rate depends on the place of supply.18 Separate provincial tax questions may also need advice.
Permit checks can involve federal, provincial or territorial, and municipal authorities.19 Employment standards commonly require provincial or territorial checks.20 For hot yoga, use the relevant workplace-safety regulator as well as general heat-assessment guidance.
GB United Kingdom
United Kingdom / Great Britain (GB)
£5 million
Minimum Employers' Liability cover, subject to exemptions
UK employers generally need Employers' Liability insurance with at least £5 million of cover, subject to exemptions.21 This is distinct from cover for customer injuries or professional claims.
Do not assume ordinary studio memberships qualify for the UK private-tuition VAT exemption. HMRC describes conditions concerning the individual supplier and the subject taught.22 The studio's structure and offerings need specific review.
For premises and workplace safety, check with the local authority and the relevant regulator. HSE's small-business guidance applies to Great Britain.23 Licensing and planning checks depend on the actual location and activity.24
US United States
United States (US)
The SBA says location affects taxes, zoning and regulations, and that zoning can apply to home businesses.25 Check the proposed studio with the city or county and relevant state agencies before advertising it as ready to operate.
Confirm these for your location:
- yoga-specific sales-tax treatment
- instructor status
- workplace-injury insurance
- hot-studio requirements
Buying
Test what survives the sale
Ask the seller for
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Test how much the business depends on the seller as both teacher and organiser. New Zealand's buyer guidance specifically flags key staff leaving and customer loyalty to the current owner.27 Strong attendance in the seller's classes does not prove members will follow the replacement.
Protect member-level diligence records, and check that customer data can be handed over lawfully. Before the purchase becomes unconditional, have local advisers assess:
- contract transfers
- any required landlord consent
- staff obligations
In the UK, specifically assess whether TUPE applies, because employment terms and continuity may transfer.28
Franchise
Count each franchise obligation once
A franchise offers a brand and operating system with contractual constraints. Compare the actual agreement and disclosure documents, not just the joining fee.
Keep these obligations distinct:
- Royalties
- Pooled advertising-fund contributions
- Local-marketing requirements
- Opening campaigns
Do not automatically add the full local-marketing minimum to an existing advertising budget. Establish:
- which expenditure qualifies, and over what period
- the approval and proof requirements
- whether the agreement gives credit for spending you had already planned
Count qualifying spending once. Add royalties, fund contributions, opening campaigns and other genuinely additional obligations separately.
Australia's ACCC explains that paying into a specific-purpose fund does not guarantee advertising for the individual outlet.29 In the US, FTC guidance recommends examining how advertising is divided between national, local and regional activity.30 Neither source establishes automatic credit for existing local advertising. Where the documents are unclear, get written clarification and local legal advice.
Summary
Key takeaways
- Teaching and running a studio are different jobs. Plan the management work, including cover for your absence.
- Keep membership, sales, payment and attendance records separate. A booking is not a check-in, and a redeemed credit is not new cash.
- Extra visits from unlimited members do not create extra sales. Attendance growth alone does not show that a class pays for itself.
- Judge each class time on its own. Get local teaching, premises and insurance quotes.
- When buying a studio, reconcile prepaid commitments and test how much the business depends on the seller before the deal becomes unconditional.
- In a franchise, count qualifying local-marketing spend once. Add genuinely additional obligations separately.
Next steps
Assemble the plan before spending more
A workable operating plan brings together
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Let this work determine the next commitment, rather than justify a room, timetable or purchase price you have already chosen.
Sources
- Day-to-day management as a yoga studio owner
- Burnout: 3 Stories for Yoga Teachers and Studio Owners
- Reports for understanding business metrics
- Attendance with Revenue report
- Attendance Analysis report
- IFRS 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers
- Instructor, Yoga in Canada: Wages
- Hot environments: assessment and control measures
- Standards for RYT Credentials
- Australian Business Licence and Information Service
- Register licences and permits
- Fitness Industry Award coverage
- Registering for GST in Australia
- Employee or contractor?
- Registering for GST
- Five-step startup guide
- When to register for GST/HST
- Which GST/HST rate to charge
- Permits, licences and regulations
- Provincial and Territorial Affairs
- Employers' liability insurance
- Scope of the private-tuition VAT exemption
- Health and safety basics
- Find a licence
- Launch your business
- Buy an existing business
- Buying a business or franchise
- Business transfers, takeovers and TUPE
- Specific-purpose funds for franchise businesses
- Franchise Fundamentals: the disclosure document