Have you ever felt run down? Overworked? Taken for granted? The antidote to .all the above is to eat right, get plenty of sleep and develop a firm make-up policy. For a healthy studio we each must decide on an acceptable make-up policy and then abide by that policy at all times.

Why do we need a make-up policy? Why not just decide each case on an individual basis when a student misses a lesson? The answer is because 1) your generosity will be taken for granted, 2) parents will not know what to expect, 3) you will not know what to expect, 4) the absence of a policy could impact your income and 5) you will grow to resent that-little-rascal-Susie-for-missing-her-music-lesson-again-this -week-and-while-we-are-on-the-subjectwhy-aren’t-her-parents-taking-music -as-seriously-as-soccer-anyway?

Discussing the above items briefly, I am sure we all have had the experience of someone taking advantage of our generosity. Parents don’t mean to drive us to the brink. They just don’t know what an inconvenience make-up lessons can be. We need to let them know that unlimited make-up lessons are unacceptable, and we need to be clear about what to expect when a lesson is missed.

Parents actually appreciate clear policies. If we are up-front about all studio policies regarding payments, rates, make-ups and so on, parents can decide whether or not they wish to have their child study with us. Once a family chooses us, they also are choosing to accept our policies, including the make-up policy. If they do not like our make-up policy, they can exercise their freedom of choice by deciding to go to another studio. They do not, however, have the right to choose to study with us but not accept our studio policies.