If you are a yoga teacher aspiring to open your yoga studio someday, you must often wonder about the cost of opening a yoga studio. You have probably heard how expensive it can be to open a yoga studio. I will give you a framework that will help you determine the cost of opening a yoga studio in your location.
The average cost of opening a 1000 sq ft yoga studio is $70,000 and the cost of opening a yoga studio can vary from $15,000 to $1,000,000. The cost of opening a yoga studio depends on several critical factors such as location and customer segment.
Some of the factors that affect the cost of opening a yoga studio are:
Lease/rent deposit
Refurbishments
Equipment
Software & Website
Insurance & Legal
Marketing
Branding
Launch event
In this article, I will develop a framework and identify the cost of opening a yoga studio in London, U.K. You can use the same principles to calculate the cost of opening a yoga studio in any city.
I have chosen London as an example because I live in this city and know the market well. Similarly, your calculations will be more accurate when you calculate the cost of opening a yoga studio in your town, as you will be familiar with the current market.
This post is part of a series of guides and articles providing in-depth information about how to start a yoga studio. Head to the main article to find a list of articles and guides covering the topic.
Factors Affecting The Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio
Before we can get into analyzing the various factors that will affect the cost of opening a yoga studio, we must first define the scope of our exploration. In this article, I will only explore the start-up costs to open a yoga studio.
I am not considering the operational costs of running a yoga studio. The operational costs are related to the day-to-day running and managing of your yoga studio.
The start-up costs are related to the initial set up and establishment of your yoga studio. For example, a commercial lease for your yoga studio is part of your start-up cost. However, yoga teacher wages are not taken into account as they are part of your monthly operational costs.
With that crucial distinction out of the way, let’s get into it and explore the critical factors that add up to the final cost of opening a yoga studio.
#1 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Lease/Rent
The typical path of a yoga studio owner who comes from the yoga industry is as follows: Yoga student => yoga teacher => yoga studio manager => yoga teacher trainer => yoga studio owner. If you have followed this path, you are familiar with renting a yoga studio space by the hour to run your yoga classes.
However, in this framework, we will consider the scenario where the yoga studio owner leases and rents a yoga studio monthly. Since this is a commercial lease, you will be required to pay 6-12 months of rent as a deposit.
Also, you will be required to pay rent for the month upfront. So you are typically looking at 7-13 months of rent upfront before you even get to run your first yoga class!
How To Find Out the Lease And Rent Rates For Your Yoga Studio
Today, with easy access to data online, it is simple to get an accurate indication of the lease and rent for your yoga studio. You can use portals such as Zillow, Rightmove, or Appearhere to search for commercial properties that could make brandable yoga studios in your locality.
Additionally, you can also speak to real estate agents and business brokers in your city to get an indication of the cost and terms of leasing and renting a commercial property in your location.
Example Cost Of Renting A Yoga Studio In London, U.K.
In this example, I will give you the cost of renting a yoga studio in London U.K. I spoke to several commercial brokers and used sites such as Rightmove and Appear Here. After this, I was able to identify the average cost of renting a yoga studio in a busy location in London.
As you are already aware, the cost will vary widely depending on the location. In London, you can rent a 4,500 sq.ft commercial site in central London for £20,000/month. This location gets you a massive studio with a newly refurbished reception and shower facilities for your students!
Alternately, you can rent a modest 800 sq.ft location in a busy area near offices that will cost you £3000/month and comes with a basic timber floor and one shower.
For our example, let’s assume that a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio is ideal for our needs. This studio can accommodate 20-30 students per class. The average cost of a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio in London is £3500/month.
Since this is a commercial property, we will have to pay six months’ rent as a deposit. The deposit will amount to £3500 x 6 = £21,000.
Also, we will have to pay the first 3 months of rent in advance. In total, we will need £3500 x 3 = £10,500 for upfront rent payment
In total to rent a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio in a busy London location, we will need £21,000 (6 months deposit) + £10,500 (3 months rent) = £31,500 ($40,000).
#2 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Refurbishments
Although you just spent a fortune renting a yoga studio space, you will need to spend more to make the area suitable for yoga classes. The standard refurbishments include things such as removing pillars, adding appropriate flooring, artwork, lights, sound system, and decor.
Some of the standard refurbishments and the associated costs in London, U.K is as follows:
- Painting the walls and ceiling – £700 (hiring a local painting company)
- Artwork – £500 (I am conservative in my estimation)
- Flooring – adding flooring appropriate for yoga at £11/sq.ft for 1000 sq.ft – £11,000
- Accessories – These include signage, lights, sound system, etc. – £2000
The total cost of refurbishing to make your yoga studio ready for opening day is £14,700 ($19,000).
#3 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Equipment
After the cost of rent and refurbishments, the rest of the costs are minimal in comparison. The final touch to your yoga studio before opening is to provide your students with the equipment they need.
Although some students tend to bring their towels and yoga mats, the majority rely on you to provide the right equipment.
In our example, we considered a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio in London, U.K. A 1000 sq.ft yoga studio can accommodate between 15-30 yoga students.
Some of the standard yoga studio equipment and the associated costs in London, U.K, is as follows:
Non-Slip Yoga Mats
The main equipment in any yoga studio is the yoga mat. A yoga mat should be non-slip and easy to clean and wipe down. Yoga mats often have alignment lines drawn on them. Given that yoga students tend to be environmentally friendly, opt for eco-friendly yoga mats.
Yoga mats on Amazon can range from £15 to £100. You will need to buy yoga mats in bulk. Buy enough mats for all your students in any given session. Since a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio can accommodate 30 students in any givens session, you should purchase 30 yoga mats at the least.
When you purchase in bulk, you can get good quality, non-slip, eco-friendly yoga mats at £20/mat. So, for 30 yoga mats for your studio, you will need to spend £600 ($800).
Yoga Blocks
As you already know, yoga blocks are essential for any yoga studio. The blocks help both beginners and intermediate yoga students with their practice.
Each student will require one pair of yoga blocks. So for your 1000 sq.ft yoga studio that can accommodate 30 students, you will need 30 pairs of yoga blocks.
On Amazon, you can purchase a pair of yoga blocks for anywhere between £7 and £30. Since you will be buying in bulk, you can get good quality yoga blocks for £10 a pair. So for 30 pairs of blocks, you will spend £300 ($400) to equip your studio with yoga blocks.
Yoga Bolsters
Another critical equipment for your yoga studio is yoga bolsters. A yoga bolster is like a body pillow that helps to soften a posture and assists with relaxation.
On Amazon, you can purchase yoga bolsters for anywhere between £15 and £60. For a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio serving 30 students per session, you will need to buy roughly 15 yoga bolsters. Not all your students will need to use bolsters, and in yoga studios, the use of bolsters is infrequent.
When you purchase in bulk, you can buy 15 yoga bolsters at £30 per yoga bolster. The total cost of equipping your yoga studio with yoga bolsters will be £450 ($600).
Yoga Blankets
Similar to yoga bolsters, yoga blankets provide support, warmth, and relaxation in a yoga studio and yoga studios tend to use Mexican blankets.
On Amazon, you can purchase a yoga blanket for anywhere between £10 and £40. For a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio serving 30 students per session, you will need roughly 15 yoga blankets. Not all students will want to use a yoga blanket, and some will even bring their own.
So, you can purchase 15 yoga blankets in bulk at the cost of £30 for each blanket. The total cost of equipping your yoga studio with yoga blankets will be £450 ($600).
Yoga Straps
Yoga straps help in stretching. In a yoga studio, beginner and intermediate students use yoga straps to help them with poses that require stretching.
On Amazon, you can purchase yoga straps ranging from £6 to £25. You can good quality yoga straps in bulk at £10 per belt. For your yoga studio serving 30 students per session, you will require 30 yoga straps. Not all students will use the straps, but given the low cost, you can stock more straps than will be needed.
So you can equip your yoga studio with yoga straps for £300 ($400).
The total start-up cost to equip a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio with all the equipment will be £2100 (£2700). The cost breakdown is as follows:
| Yoga Studio Equipment | Cost |
| Non-slip yoga mats (30) | £600 ($800) |
| Yoga blocks (30) | £300 ($400) |
| Bolsters (15) | £450 ($600) |
| Blankets (15) | £450 ($600) |
| Yoga strap (30) | £300 ($400) |
| Total Cost Of Yoga Equipment | £2100 ($2800) |
#4 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Member Management Software & Website
You can very well start your yoga studio without a website and membership management software in place. However, not having a membership management software in place will make your life that much more difficult.
A membership management software is the backbone of your yoga studio operations. It provides the pages where your students can buy class-packs and memberships and register for your classes. It allows you to take electronic payments.
Additionally, membership management software is vital in the early days as you don’t have to worry about storing student information securely. The software does that for you automatically. The software helps you grow your yoga studio business and incorporates tools such as automated emails and reminders.
Regarding a website, yes, in the early days, you can get by without a website if you have an active Instagram presence. You can provide a link to your membership management software on your Instagram bio, where students can click and register for your classes.
A membership management software can run you anywhere between £1000 to £1500 per year. A simple website build will cost you £600 to buy the theme, hosting, and hire a developer to set it up for you. If you choose the right software and a simple website builder, you will need £1600 ($2100) to pay for the software and the website for the year.
I am biased, but I wholeheartedly recommend StudioGrowth as your membership management software. I have spent years perfecting this software and designed it to help new yoga studios grow and scale.
#5 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Insurance & Legal
One of the lessons that new start-up founders learn the hard way is to protect themselves legally and abide by business laws and regulations that they might not even know.
Before opening a yoga studio, you must get the right certifications and insurance in place. As a yoga teacher and yoga studio owner, you will require public liability and professional insurance in addition to the employer’s liability and personal accident insurance.
Fear not, as today you can go online and purchase the right insurance for you in a matter of minutes. Insurance covering you professionally as a yoga studio owner should cost you around £100 ($130) for the year.
Also, you will need to have contracts in place for your yoga teachers and vendors. You will also need a legal review of your lease contract and terms and business registration. Inevitably you will need to hire a lawyer to help you. You can use websites such as Legal Zoom to employ legal services by the hour.
The total start-up cost to set-up the relevant insurance, business registration, and to get the necessary legal assistance will be £500 ($650).
#6 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Marketing
At the start-up stage, marketing is essential to get you the first few students for your yoga studio. If you are an established yoga teacher with a strong following of students, then you don’t have to spend as much on marketing. You can use your contacts and invite your old students to attend your new yoga studio.
However, if you are a yoga studio owner starting from scratch, then you will need to spend on marketing to attract your initial student base. The marketing you do at the start of your yoga studio will be different from the marketing you do later on.
At the start, you will need to focus on channels that drive immediate results. Your focus will be less on ROI and profits, but more on acquiring the initial base of students for your yoga studio.
The three primary channels that will deliver immediate results for your yoga studio are Google ads, Flyers, and Facebook ads. Once your yoga studio has an initial base of students, you can shift focus on word of mouth marketing and referrals.
Google Ads For Your Start-up Yoga Studio
I love using Google ads to acquire the initial customer base for any business. Google has customers looking and searching for your service or product. Google ads allow you to target the people who will become your customers immediately.
So, let’s assume we want to use Google ads to acquire 30 new students for your yoga studio in London. On checking Ubersuggest to identify search volumes and cost per click, I found that the search term, “yoga classes London” has 1300 searches per month with a cost per click of £2.
This search term is ideal to target and will deliver the first 30 students for our yoga studio. Let us assume that after we send people to our booking page, 5% of them register for a class. So to get 30 students enrolling, we will need to drive 600 people to our website.
The cost of having 600 people click our ad at £2 per click will be £1200. So, for £1200 in marketing spend on Google ads, we have a strong chance of filling up our classes and acquiring our first 30 students.
Flyers
Although old fashioned, flyers still do work wonders. Flyers are a quick way to reach a target market in a given locality. Especially for a local yoga studio, brochures are an excellent way to inform the neighborhood about your presence.
In London, you can print 1000 flyers and hire someone to distribute them for a total cost of £250. Flyering is a cheap and effective way to increase drop-in visits to your classes.
Facebook Ads For Your Start-up Yoga Studio
Facebook allows the hyper-targeting of consumers, and you will be able to target the right demographic down to the postcode level. Although Google ads will help you acquire the initial base of students, you can use Facebook ads in addition to flyering to spread awareness in your locality.
You can run a single campaign introducing your yoga studio to your target demographic in the locality. You can spend £10 a day for 30 days for a total spend of £300 for a sign-up campaign.
The combination of Google ads, Flyers, and Facebook ads will cost you £1750 ($2300) in total. This spend is sure to get you the initial base of 30 students from scratch.
#7 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Branding
Consumers have adopted the concept of boutique fitness studios. Whether it is yoga, HIIT, or Pilates, the consumer hunger for boutique fitness and wellness classes is insatiable.
Along with this rapid consumer demand comes intense competition. Cities like London and New York have yoga and fitness studios in every corner. The only thing that separates you from the pack is your brand.
Consumer loyalty is minimal. However, you have excellent case studies of the likes of Barry’s Bootcamp, 1Rebel, and Soul Cycle, who have shown that building a brand in the boutique group training world is essential for success.
From day one, you should focus on building a brand for your yoga studio. To begin, you can hire a freelancer to create your logo and brand identity. This branding work will be sufficient at the start-up stage of your yoga studio.
You can get a package for logo design and brand identity design for anywhere above £400. Given the importance of branding, I recommend you hire the services of the right brand specialist, and this will cost you £1500 ($2000) for logo and brand identity design.
You will get a logo you can use along with the business card, signage, and merchandise designs.
#8 Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio – Launch Event
You have come a long way! You have secured a place for your yoga studio, you have refurbished the studio and even ran marketing campaigns to acquire your first 30 student members! The final thing you need to spend on is the launch event to announce to the world that you are open for business.
Launch events are significant to introduce your yoga studio to the members of the local community. It is also suitable for inviting local journalists and influencers. The amount you spend on the launch event will depend on the number of people you invite.
For a small, intimate gathering of 20 people, you can budget £35 per person in food and drinks. This launch event for 20 influencers, journalists, and members of the local community will cost you £700 ($920).
Final Total Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio
Based on the above analysis, the total cost of opening a 1000 sq.ft yoga studio in London serving 30 students per session will be, on average, £55,000 ($70,000).
| Expense Item | Cost |
| Lease/Rent deposit | £31,500 ($40,000) |
| Refurbishments | £14,700 ($19,000) |
| Equipment | £2,100 ($2,700) |
| Software & Website | £1,600 ($2,100) |
| Insurance & Legal | £500 ($650) |
| Marketing | £1,750 ($2,300) |
| Branding | £1,500 ($2,000) |
| Launch Event | £700 ($920) |
| Total Average Cost Of Opening A Yoga Studio In London, U.K. | £55,000 ($70,000) |
This post is part of a series of posts providing in-depth information on everything you need to know to start a yoga studio. The other posts in this series include:
- Are yoga studios profitable?
- How much do yoga studio owners make?
- Teach yoga without certification
- Do yoga instructors need insurance?
- How to name a yoga business
- How big should a yoga studio be?
- Best place to open a yoga studio
- Yoga studio decor
- What color to paint a yoga studio
- Best flooring for yoga studios
- Heaters for yoga studios
- Best plants for yoga studios
- Music in yoga class: do’s and don’t
- Candles for yoga studios
- Incense, scents, & essential oils for yoga studios
- How yoga studios pay teachers
- Yoga studio marketing: Ultimate Guide
- Opening a yoga studio in a small town
- How to start a donation-based yoga studio
- Yoga studio grand opening ideas
- Why yoga studios fail
- Yoga studio franchise
- Yoga Studio Scheduling Software
I write abouT establishing and Growing your boutique Fitness/Wellness Business. I promise no spam, i hate spam.
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About the author
Naz Ahm is the founder of StudioGrowth and has spent a decade growing start-ups and venture-backed companies. He writes about sales, marketing, and growth, especially in the fitness and wellness industry.
Naz has an MBA from IESE Business School and started his journey in the wellness industry when he set-up an on-demand wellness business. Naz currently resides in London, U.K.