Before you start a music instruction business, read these tips to get yourself on track and focused for success. By following a clear path and being a skilled entrepreneur, you can start your business and thrive while working from home and maintaining your own schedule. 

Tip #1: Assess the Local Competition

Before you start any business, you need to do your due diligence and determine if the market is large enough to support another music instruction business. Your music instruction business will most likely be targeting one instrument's instruction, so look in newspapers and online to find out how many instructors there already are, what their rates are,and how their business is doing. You should also begin thinking about how you can do things better than the competition. 

Tip #2: Talk to People in the Business

Locate someone who is in the business of music instruction to get some tips and perhaps even mentor you as you start out in the business. Don't target local music instruction business owners, as chances are they are not going to help potential competition. Instead, find someone from another town that you would not be in competition with to talk to about your business. Learning from someone who is doing it is often the best path to success. Check out the free small business consulting group SCORE online and see if you can locate a mentor in the area of music instruction to help you as you get started. 

Tip #3: Register Your Home-Based Business

Obtaining the necessary permission to run your music instruction business from your home should be relatively easy in most cities. Work with your local or residential authorities to get a license to work out of your home if necessary. Also, register your business with the IRS. Research what is needed for your unique situation through the government's Small Business Administration website, and complete any necessary paperwork or forms that are needed to get your business up and running. 

Tip #4: Create Your Instruction Studio

Determine the size of your studio based on the instruments that you are teaching. Either way, in private music instruction, a one-on-one quiet setting is a must. Dedicating one particular area of your home to be your studio will make your business all the more professional. Use a spare bedroom, renovate an area of the basement or even partition a larger room to develop your studio.

Tip #5: Begin Marketing Your Business

Determine how you want to market your business. There are many cheap, or even free ways, to market your business. Visiting local music stores and hanging signs for your lessons on their general bulletin boards is always an easy way to drum up some business. Get business cards and/or flyers printed to pass out to people you meet throughout the day. Placing a classified ad in your local newspaper and talking to teachers at schools in your area (to pass the word on to parents that you are offering additional music lessons) are two other ways to spread the word of your business.

By following these 5 tips, you can have a more successful music instruction business.