I understand the conflicting impulses that bring up this question.
On the one hand, you don't want to be inflexible or come across as unsympathetic to the unpredictable life events we all have to work around sometimes.
On the other hand, you need to make a living and need committed students to do this. You don't want to reward poor planning or encourage indifference to the lesson commitment by making last minute cancellations pain-free.
With these concerns in mind, I strongly recommend that last minute cancellations should be paid cancellations, with a few exceptions.
Here are the two main tenets that guide my thinking:
Teaching is your livelihood and your policies should reflect that. You offer an amazing service and the gift of music to each child you work with. Your payment policies should allow you to support yourself so you can continue to offer this service without hardship or resentment.
We teach people how to treat us (and our time). Throughout my 25 year teaching career, I've experienced this time and time again: When I set fair policies and good business boundaries and firmly maintain them, parents and students respect me and my time more and are easier to work.
There are, of course, good and bad ways to enforce policies. Here are a few things I recommend you keep in mind as you establish and implement your lesson cancellation policies.
Make parents aware of policies up front.
Parents should not be blind-sided. Make them aware of your cancellation policies in writing before lessons begin.
Additionally, I strongly recommend that you have parents sign a copy of the policies before you start lessons. This signals that you take the policies seriously. I created a policy page on my website that parents sign electronically before long-term lessons begin. You can view it here.
Offer make-ups as a first option.
First, clearly define acceptable reasons for last minute lesson cancellations that are eligible for a make-up and stick to those guidelines. If you'd like some ideas, click here.
Second, make it clear that a make-up lesson is an option, not a guarantee. If the student is not available to make up the lessons under your terms, the lesson is forfeit. (This might sound harsh, but I'm here to tell you it works.)
Third, make sure that the make-up opportunities you offer don't overburden your schedule. For example, offer cancelled lesson times as make-up options for other students, or set aside a two or three hour block once per month for make-ups. (Yes, you're offering limited times. And yes, students will often have to choose between attending a make-up or another activity, and that's OK.)
Offer refunds on a very limited basis.
First, I recommend you offer refunds only to those families you've worked with for a while. This deters new families from expecting that refunds will be readily granted for missed lessons.
Second, a refund should be just that. Make sure your payment system is set up to collect lesson fee in advance of each lesson. This means you are actually refunding the student, not refraining from collecting payment in the first place, and there is a big difference. Parents will think twice before asking for money back, but won't hesitate to not pay you.
"Re-home" students who aren't a good fit for your studio.
As Maya Angelou once said, "When people show you who they are, believe them."
If a student shows a pattern of consistent cancellations, it's naive to think that this will change. So it's important to know your limitations: Are you Ok working with students who cancel a lot as long as your income and schedule aren't negatively affected? Or do you dislike working with students who can't seem to keep the commitment?
If the former, enforce your policies and happily teach the student whenever they show up.
If the latter, don't hesitate to tell a student who cancels a lot that your Studio isn’t a good fit for them and recommend other teachers. You'll both be happier if you're well-matched with someone who shares a similar view of the lesson enterprise.
I know that enforcing a policy that might not be popular with parents can be difficult and can result in some uncomfortable situations.
The goal, however, is to set up a teaching business that is sustainable. This means setting good boundaries and sticking to them so you can continue to make a living without the added frustrations that can result in burnout.
If you kindly but firmly stick to good policies, you'll develop good working relationships that make everyone happier and will set you up for a long and happy career.
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