Arms Outstretched By Pool

We’ve reached the end of my book’s contents in my blog tour of my new book, “Stretched: Grow Your Yoga Business, Build Your Teaching Techniques.” This last summary is of the appendix of my book which contains worksheets, forms and documents. You might have thought that working as a yoga teacher means you get to avoid the forms and documentation that went along with your corporate job (if you had one of those) but I’m a firm believer in the importance of tracking information and as such, I’ve created some forms and documents to help you keep track of things.

Here is what you’ll get in sample form, at the end of my book:

Weekly Business Report: I have written a weekly report every week, without fail, from the first day I started this business as a full time venture on September 30, 2010. I use it to track revenue, expenses, detail results and plan for the week ahead. I email it to my parents. It holds me accountable, to myself really, in terms of what I want to get done. It gives me a way to look back and see trends (good and bad). It also gives me a weekly opportunity to reflect on my business.

Weekly Worksheet of Activities: I share with you my personal form for tracking my weekly activities. What does that mean? Well, I found that as a yoga teacher, there’s no one to remind me to get anything done except myself. It’s not as if you work in a corporate setting where you have a boss and infrastructure to remind you to get certain things done. I was finding that keeping it all on track was hard because so many things were happening at once. So, I made a list. On it, I have the things that always need to happen and the things that sometimes need to happen. These were, of course, the easier things to forget, but they were often the most important (like sending the monthly invoice to a client). I give you my form and honestly, it’s already changed but it’ll get you started. I literally print one out every Sunday night and use it throughout the week to keep me on track.

Sample Resume: This is a kind of “old school” because in a way, resumes seem to be making their way out of the flow of the job hiring process, being replaced by Linked In profiles. But, regardless, I share with you a sample resume to help you get started on putting your teaching resume together.

Business Expense Report: I share with you my spreadsheet for tracking expenses. This is a really important thing to do every day or at least every time you have a receipt that relates to your business. Also, don’t forget to create general categories for your expenses! Things like “transportation,” “medical costs,” and “gas.” This will help you or your accountant when it comes time to do your taxes.

Teaching Log: This is the form to use to track all your classes. I track the class I taught and a number of things about the class, like where it was, how many students were there, what I was paid AND how much I need to put away for taxes. This is the most important part. If you’re not putting away into a savings account a regular amount each month ( that you know is based on your estimated payments) you need to put away a percentage of your weekly earnings. This was explained in detail in the business chapters but this is the form where you’d track this number.

Sample Budget Log: This is a sample of a budget. Please be sure you have this! This is the only way you will know how much money you need on a monthly basis to MAKE YOUR LIFE WORK. This will include a category for savings and extra fun things but most importantly, it contains all your FIXED expenses. You need to have this number firming rooted in your mind because it’s the bare minimum you need to make, revenue wise, each month. It also allows you to see where you spend most of your money.

Business Dashboard Sample: This is the most important form in the book. This is my own creation and honestly, it looks funny to share it in the book because it’s so personal. But I so believe in the importance of doing this exercise and keeping up with it as your business develops. I explain how to use this document/spreadsheet in Chapter 4. This dashboard, as I call it, will illustrate your revenue goals and the activities you need to do in order to hit your goal number.

Statement of Work Form: This is a sample document you can use to outline a contract/agreement with a client for business you have been hired to do.

Sample Release Form: This is a sample release form you can use with your clients ( note: I am not a lawyer.. this is just a sample but check it with whomever you feel needs to verify its contents).

I hope these forms and documents will help you as you build your business.

Next Up: Overall Summary of the Book