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| All these years, I put myself on hold to volunteer a few weeks at TT training. Although the students paid a hefty tuition (almost $7.000) we never were given a small token of appreciation for all this hard work.
Business wise, TT was a good deal ball park :
- revenue: 350*$6.700=$2.345.000
- VERY FEW EXPENSES (most of the staff volunteers!)
And this twice a year!
To quote Bikram " why change something that works! ". In other words is it REALLY REASONABLE FOR US TEACHERS TO VOLUNTEER AT TT UNDER THESE NEW CONDITIONS?
Will this agreement be the straw that will break the camel back! Not sure Bikram will fix this one!
I also explained the the situation to future trainees and ask them to postpone their inscription to the next training.
SO DEAR OTHER TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, FOR THE FIRST, TIME I WON'T SEE YOU AT TT ! Will miss you! (unless you not there too!)
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| Hi Epson, I'll bite.
(Taking what you write at face value because I have only the tiniest bit of knowledge of the teacher training program or how Bikram does business)
Some for-profit businesses are especially good at getting their customers to provide free labour aka volunteer work, either because they're selling something that people have a deeper attachment to than the average consumer product/service, or because there's an understanding that by volunteering, you're keeping costs down. This occurs at private schools, preschools, daycares, and also some amateur commercial theatrical ventures (others may spring to mind).
When the business is engaged in an activity that people want to be a part of, then-- in the absence of a union--they're able to create a non-profit paradigm and invite volunteers to provide free labour.
Aside from the expenses relating to venue rental and administration/marketing, it sounds like Bikram saves a fortune by 'employing' an army of volunteers. AND he takes all the profit$.
Don't beat yourself for having volunteered to do something that you love, and for the benefit of meeting other like-minded yogis at each TT.
But, yeah, at the very least, I would expect an honorarium for services rendered.
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| I left this alone mainly because I have NO idea what specific point Epson was trying to make about the running of TT, other than the fact that s/he is unhappy with the Bikram organization.
But for the record, I'm pretty confident that TT has not really made ANY profit$ since they moved it out of LA in 2007. They've been changing venue every 6 to 12 months and paying a LOT at these different venues. They get a new yoga room built every time they move... they pay for use of the luxury hotel facilities for 9 weeks... they pay for travel costs and accommodations for the senior staff, who rotate in and out every few weeks (and think of the airfare when they were in Acapulco).... Yeah. If they've even broken even over the last 3 years, I'd be surprised. |
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| I think the point is this:
1. The OP is pretty sure that there is some profit for Bikram in TT. After all, Bikram has a pretty kick-ass house and a bunch of Rolls Royces in his multi-car driveway, and you don't get THAT without having some substantial coin. In the OPs opinion, TT is a major source of income for the Bikram organization.
2. With the new franchising agreement, IF Bikram decides to de-certify non-participants as Bikrams' studios, then the potential flow of teachers to his TT is cut significantly. Say, for example, out of the 300 studios eligible, only 100 sign on. Bikram decides this is enough and decertifies the other 200 studios. Those studios will most likely continue to offer a form of Hot Yoga but will have to source their teacher training from others, such as say Borkan. Resut: he will lose 2/3 of the revenue derived from TT.
3. With respect to November's training, the OP feels that if someone spends the huge amount of coin to become Bikrams' certified in this time of change, they may find that on their return, their home studio will not be a Bikrams' studio anymore. With the terms of TT (i.e. you can't teach at non-Bikram's studios) the "value" of the training may just not be there at this time because portability of the TT licence is in question. For example, if I graduate from TT in November and my studio doesn't franchise and loses its certification, my home studio may allow me to teach anyways. But if I move or want to temporarily teach in another area the Bikram's studios are now unavailable to me as an employment opportunity because I've taught in a non-Bikrams studio and to employ me would be a violation of their franchise agreement. And the other hot yoga studios that chose not to franchise may decide that all their instructors need a different type of certification and not employ me, making my training non-portable and non-recognized and unusable should I move.
I don't read the OP's post as an "I hate Bikram" post as much as it is perhaps fear with respect to the new franchising agreement...
IMHO
Freia
Edited by freiamaya 2009-09-04 11:30 AM
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| Well THAT is a VERY clear post, Freia. ;) And I agree with a lot of those points, actually... I'm kinda happy to NOT being going to TT right now cause I'm in no hurry, and this lets me wait to see what happens with everything after the dust settles!
I still hold to my point (which was largely in response to joysweat's post, actually)... just because Bikram's done well for himself at times in the last 50 years - accumulated nice house, nice cars, etc - that doesn't mean he's pulling in tons of income at the MOMENT. TT is pretty much the single large source of income for the Bikram organization (think about it, where ELSE does their money come from?), and evidence suggests that profits from TT must have VERY steeply declined in the last few years. Their overhead is through the ROOF. Lots of people seem to assume that Bikram is still making out like a bandit and trying to get more more more, just because of his image, and I don't think this is true. |
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| Ya, you don't know the financial truth about anyone unless you do a forensic accounting (can we all say Bernie Madoff together! -- not that Bikram is Madoff! Just, you don't know REALLY what is going on unless the poop hits the fan, so to speak, and others take an accounting)...
I PERSONALLY don't think the franchising is about the money per se. I mean, it WILL be a source of revenue especially if TT isn't so profitable, BUT I think I understand why Bikram would want to franchise. He's spent his life developing a form of yoga with standards for teaching, and I think a franchise with its regulations would mean that he could enforce the standard of Bikram that he originally envisioned. After all, if it is a McDo's franchise, you KNOW what you are going to get regardless of where you are BECAUSE it is a frachise -- standards are enforced. It must be hard to hear about studios that offer "Bikram's Yoga" that don't approach what Bikram envisioned offering students who wish to study his form. And the fact that his name is being used is proof enough that his "brand" of yoga so to speak has a fair amount of clout in the market.
My biggest concern is for those small studios in small towns like mine. Our owner has a beautiful small studio in a historic property downtown. There is NO space for her to conform to what the franchise agreement dictates. She can't expand her studio and to move and rebuild would be cost prohibitive. So she's stuck -- she believes in Bikram but doesn't have the resources in our small town and small market to uproot and rebuild to the standards required by Bikram...so what on earth can she do other than refuse the agreement and hope for the best? I suspect if she is "decertified" she'll continue to offer Hot Yoga because this is her LIVING and she has devoted 10 years of her LIFE to Bikram and his studies, but she just can't afford to reconfigure her studio to meet Bikram's franchise agreement.
Freia
Kira |
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| Yes, I totally agree.
My point was just about the TT's, and it was financial, not philosophical. ;)
I don't think that the current franchise agreement is a good one, either. But I am optimistic that there is going to be a "plan C" somewhere in between "everyone has to be a franchise" and "everyone gets kicked out of Bikram Yoga College of India!" Because it's not just a few small studios that aren't signing. As far as I can tell, virtually NO one is signing on, including a lot of the very strong, well established studios, including studios owned by senior staff who are very close to Bikram, and including studios run by people who HELPED Bikram put together his franchise plans. So I don't see 100 out of 300 studios signing. Maybe TEN out of 300, max. And I just can't see Bikram expelling 290 of his 300 studios from his organization; he'd be shooting himself in the foot. That's why I keep saying, just wait until things settle down this winter and then see what emerges. There are a lot of different ways this could go, not all of them bad. It's gonna be VERY interesting. |
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| Ya, totally right! And you're not the first one to note that I think too much! LOL!!!! I'm just gonna head to the studio and do my thing. The bigger issue stuff will sort itself out.
Hugs
Freia |
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| If Bikram weren't making money on TT because he's holding it in other cities, he would simply move it back to HQ in Los Angeles, plus the original post didn't even calculate the $3500 per student he charges for housing. He's just mad at the city of LA because they fined him for not having enough fire exits, or something like that if I remember correctly. People who know him tell me he's all about the money. I don't know if that's true, it's just what people tell me. |
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| Epson's post expresses a new-found resentment around working for Bikram for free, precipitated by the new franchise agreement. S/he is entitled to withdraw his/her voluntary services.
Bikram Yoga is a for-profit business and those who work for the business--whether in TT or any other avenue--are entitled to be remunerated for their work (WHETHER OR NOT the business is successful  ). However, if enough people are willing to volunteer their services, the value of the work decreases and the corporation doesn't have to pay (the scenario to this point). |
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| if you are being housed and fed during your volunteer stint, i think that counts as 'being compensated' or a 'work-study' scenario. i don't know if you are, but for me, that would be enough to make it worthwhile.
i did a thai yoga massage training that was great. you pay for the first training (they have three levels), and you can retake the same training 'for free' as many times as you like, but you're also a "helper" in the sense that you help lead the workshops or assist during them in different ways. you do pay your own expenses (housing, food), but you get the training for free which is *sweet*.
i also did a lot of work-study for a lot of studios over time. i worked (cleaned, desk work, etc) in exchange for yoga classes. sometimes, i assisted yoga classes in exchange for free yoga classes (when i wasn't a teacher at a place). i enjoy just assisting now and again, but the class has to be large enough to warrant it (more than 10 people, i think).
what is interesting to me, though, is how much "$ value" my work always ended up being. for example, when i did the thai massage thing the second time, my "work" consisted of making sure that the students were doing well with the materials, commuicating with them, getting people to places on time (from their hotel rooms to our classroom in the hotel), and answering questions based on my experience. it was very little work, and the value of the workshop was $1000. i think the transportation and housing cost me $350 total.
when i worked at yoga studios, assisting would be 1.5 hrs of work for 3 yrs of yoga, which meant i was getting a value of about $30-35 per the one class i worked. that's not a bad deal for me, personally, since i don't necessarily have the cash on hand to pay for those classes. when i did desk work or cleaning, the value was something like $15 per hr, which is a pretty great amount of money for an hr of very simple work.
so, i guess i was renumerated in some way, but i don't think people often see how they are being renumerated.
i think that if you do volunteer at bikram's tt, if your housing, etc isn't covered, then your renumeration is getting to review, participate, be with other teachers, be with bikram, and whatever without having to pay $7k. i don't know what the work is though.
i don't know, i think that in any of these sorts of exchange-seva positions, sometimes people get to a point where they feel used. i never got to that point, but i have had friends in other locations feel that way. |
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Vegas Teacher Training Doomed?
