Success Story: Yoga for You

Yoga for You – Bismarck, 2016

What started as a passion later became an opportunity of a lifetime. Since Brenda Stone’s third class in yoga teacher training, she dreamed of owning her own Yoga studio. She thought this “what if” idea would stop there… it was a dream that would be hard to reach.  Soon, Brenda would be facing the opportunity to re-ignite that “fire in her belly.” Brenda’s dream became a reality when a yoga studio owner was looking to retire and contacted her to buy the existing studio.

Brenda was familiar with the ND SBDC and had worked with Nancy at the Bismarck SBDC before.  For this business, Brenda needed assistance with writing a business plan, sorting out the financial details, and getting accurate market research about yoga services in the Bismarck and surrounding area.  The guidance and alignment of ideas and strategies were key to her process.  The ND SBDC was able to provide the knowledge, contacts, and connections to resources that Brenda needed for her business to be successful.

The best part of working with the ND SBDC?  Brenda felt she was able to be successful in a short period of time with Nancy’s help.

Brenda says that the biggest benefit to being a business owner is “making my own schedule and being able to do something I love.”

Since her ownership in 2011, Brenda has partnered with Yoga Center of Minneapolis and, in the Fall of 2016, started the first yoga teacher training in Bismarck, ND, and is planning on starting up another training program this coming April.

Brenda keeps retail out of her studio and focuses on helping her students be aware of their bodies to be healthy. She cares so much, she even implemented an intricate program called MindBody to help her students track their success and access their instructors.  Brenda also enjoys the challenges of the constantly changing Yoga practice, new techniques, and advancements that continuously evolve her classes.

Brenda is also looking to the future of her yoga practice and her business.  She sees areas of growing demand where she can offer services, especially for seniors; “as we age, we can do it gracefully if we keep active, and yoga is the best form of gentle activity.”

Her advice to other entrepreneurs: “First thing is have a CPA!!  Don’t do the bookkeeping on your own; you have a business to run.  Don’t let the business run you, and it will if you are keeping the books.  Secondly, do something you are passionate about.  That passion and desire will keep you going,g and it will show through in the success of the business.”