How to Start a Skateboarding Lessons Business

Part 1 - How to start a Skateboarding Lessons business - Background

A skateboarding lessons business focuses on providing lessons (typically lasting from half an hour to one hour) that help customers improve their skateboarding skills. Such lessons are typically taught at public skate parks, which also helps this business easily establish itself as a community presence.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start a Skateboarding Lessons business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening a skateboarding lessons business?

So long as your area has anything like a public skate park, the cost of opening this business is extremely low. In fact, you could start for as low as $2500, with $500 of that going towards creating a professional website and the remaining $2000 going into advertising. You should already have your own skateboards, and you should require students bring their own boards and equipment. Conducting lessons at public parks that are free to access means you do not have to worry about an expensive business lease or ongoing overhead that would cut into your profits.

What are the ongoing expenses for a skateboarding lessons business?

For this business, there are no ongoing expenses except for any advertising you do (typically less than two hundred a month after your initial push when you first open) and gas to drive and meet your customers.

Who is the target market?

As mentioned earlier, your primary demographic will be children and young adults. While not limited to this group, many of your students will be males aged 13-18.

How does a skateboarding lessons business make money?

Most skateboard lessons charge a fixed fee for lessons lasting thirty minutes and a higher fee for lessons lasting an hour.

How much can you charge customers?

How much you charge is really up to you. Across the nation, private lessons often range from thirty dollars an hour all the way to a hundred dollars per hour. You will likely want to investigate your local competition and consider the economy of your area before finalizing your prices.

How much profit can a skateboarding lessons business make?

Obviously, the amount of profit you can make is determined by your price and your amount of customers. For instance, someone charging fifty dollars an hour and who teaches for twenty-five hours a week would make $65,000 a year. In reality, in may take some time to establish a steady stream of customers, but the nature of this job (including its low start-up cost) makes it very easy to do this as a “side job” until you feel comfortable branching out.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Consider offering variety in how you teach. This may include lower hourly amounts for group lessons. If you have the skills, you may consider diversifying and offering lessons in adjacent skills such as rollerblading. Be sure to network with local skateboard shops so that you can help advertise for one another. Finally, don’t be afraid to raise your prices as your business gets established!

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at a skateboarding lessons business?

For actual lessons, you will meet customers at the chosen venue (typically a public park) for lessons lasting thirty minutes to one hour. When you are not actively conducting lessons, you will spend most of your time networking, advertising your business, and keeping in touch with your customers.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful skateboarding lessons business?

You must have extensive skills in skateboarding before you can comfortably offer lessons. While not a requirement, having taken skateboard lessons can provide great experience when you start conducting your own lessons. Any previous networking you have done with local schools, churches, and community centers is also helpful in advertising your business and finding new customers.

What is the growth potential for a skateboarding lessons business?

The exact growth potential of this business is difficult to gauge because there is little in the way of research about the industry. However, nationwide entities such as GoSkate have been thriving, and the fact that your primary customers will be children means that almost any community has a steady stream of prospective customers.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a skateboarding lessons business?

Consider taking specialized lessons to help you teach. Websites like Udemy allow you to access lectures and information about how to teach people to skateboard. Try to find opportunities to partner with local schools, especially when their events give you a chance to demonstrate your skills to prospective customers. Finally, use your skateboarding friends to find out what they think the most critical skateboard lessons are and what techniques ultimately helped them to learn particular skills.

How and when to build a team

Due to the nature of this business, most people conduct skateboard lessons on their own. If your business grows past the point where you can personally accommodate everyone, then you may consider building a small team and continuing to grow.

Part 2 - Is a Skateboarding Lessons business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Skateboarding Lessons business in 90 days