Every student has a teacher, a slot and an instrument. Most music schools track none of the three.

1. 01Students

   Students drift away after a few months and nobody notices

   What it looks like

   A child who started guitar in June has missed four of the last eight lessons. The teacher thinks the parent will call. The parent assumes the school will. By January the fee has stopped.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: 120 students at ₹2,400 a month is ₹2.88 lakh a month. Losing one in ten without noticing is ₹28,800 a month, ₹3.5 lakh a year.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each lesson is recorded as taken, missed, cancelled or rescheduled. Verity lists students who miss more than your limit, with their teacher and their fee status, and assigns a follow-up task. What the parent said is recorded.

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2. 02Students

   Trial lessons and enquiries are not followed up

   What it looks like

   A parent asks about keyboard lessons on Instagram, comes for a trial on Saturday and is told to call on Monday. Nobody calls her. She joins the school across the road.

   What it costs you

   A trial is the best sale a music school has. An unfollowed trial is a lost year of fees.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each enquiry and trial is a record with the instrument, age, preferred slot and next step. Verity lists trials with no follow-up and assigns each to a named person. Staff make the call; the outcome is recorded.

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3. 03Teachers and slots

   The weekly slot grid is full of holes and clashes

   What it looks like

   Three students at 5 pm on Tuesday, none at 3, and two teachers booked in the same room. A new student is told no slot is free when two are open on Thursday.

   What it costs you

   An empty slot cannot be sold later. A clash costs a student's trust in the first month.

   How Verity fixes it

   Teachers, rooms and slots are records. Verity shows free and booked slots by teacher and room, flags a clash and lists the open slots to offer to new students.

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4. 04Teachers and slots

   Cancelled lessons and make-ups are managed by WhatsApp

   What it looks like

   A teacher is ill, so nine lessons are cancelled by message. Some students are offered a make-up, others forget. At the end of the term a parent says three lessons were never made up.

   What it costs you

   A parent who feels a lesson was lost is a parent who does not renew. Unrecorded make-ups also confuse the teacher's pay.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each cancelled lesson is a record with who cancelled it and the reason, and creates a make-up owed to the student. Verity lists make-ups owed and expiring and records each one when taken.

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5. 05Teachers and slots

   Teacher hours and pay are argued at month end

   What it looks like

   A tabla teacher is paid per lesson taken. She counts 62, the school counts 58. The diary and her phone disagree, and some lessons were group classes counted twice.

   What it costs you

   A disagreement over a few lessons damages the relationship with a teacher the school can ill afford to lose, and qualified teachers are scarce.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each lesson is recorded with the teacher, the duration and the outcome. Verity totals lessons by teacher and type for the month so the accountant works from a record. The school still runs its own payroll.

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6. 06Teachers and slots

   A teacher leaves and takes the students

   What it looks like

   The best vocal teacher sets up on her own. Her students follow, because the school has no record of their progress and no second teacher who knows them.

   What it costs you

   The loss is not one teacher. It is her whole timetable, plus the cost of finding and training a replacement from a small pool.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each student has a progress record: pieces learned, level, notes from each lesson and goals. A second teacher is named for each student. Verity shows students without a backup so the school is not at the mercy of one person.

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7. 07Fees

   Fee renewals lapse in the quiet months

   What it looks like

   Fees are paid monthly or per term, and renewals come around when exams and school holidays distract families. A family's fee is a month late, then two, then the student stops coming.

   What it costs you

   Late fees are a direct cash gap. A lapsed renewal that is chased early is usually kept; one that is chased in month three often is not.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each student has a plan with due dates, discounts such as sibling or term upfront, and what has been received. Verity lists renewals due in the next 30 days and fees overdue by age, with a task for a named person. Payments come through your existing channels.

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8. 08Instruments

   Instruments go home and never return

   What it looks like

   The school owns six keyboards, four guitars and a set of tablas. A student borrows one for the holidays. The notebook entry is illegible, and in March nobody knows where Guitar 3 is.

   What it costs you

   A lost or damaged instrument is a purchase the school did not plan. Lending without a record also leaves no proof of the condition when it went out.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each instrument is an asset record with condition, location, who holds it and the date it is due back. Verity lists overdue returns and instruments due for tuning or repair.

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9. 09Instruments

   Tuning, repairs and room upkeep are done when something breaks

   What it looks like

   The piano goes out of tune before the exam week. A drum skin splits during a lesson. The sound-proofing in Room 2 has not been looked at in years.

   What it costs you

   A lesson on a bad instrument is a bad lesson, and a repair done in a hurry costs more than one booked.

   How Verity fixes it

   Tuning and servicing dates are tasks on each instrument and room, with the technician and the last visit on the record. Verity raises a task before each is due.

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10. 10Exams

    Grade exams: entries, fees and rehearsals are tracked on paper

    What it looks like

    Graded exams such as Trinity College London's are offered in India. The school collects exam fees, enters candidates, books the accompanist and schedules practice. A late form means a missed session.

    What it costs you

    A missed exam entry means a student waits another cycle, and parents blame the school.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each student's exam is a record with the board, grade, date, fee, repertoire and readiness. Verity lists students who should be entered and those whose entry is not yet filed. Staff file entries with the board.

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11. 11Events

    Recitals and annual day need weeks of organisation

    What it looks like

    The annual recital has 90 students, 14 items, 3 rehearsals, a hired hall, a sound engineer and a programme to print. Parents ask what their child is playing and when. The details live in a chat group.

    What it costs you

    A poorly run recital is the main thing parents remember, and last-minute changes leave students unprepared.

    How Verity fixes it

    An event is a record with items, performers, rehearsal slots, venue, hire costs and tasks with owners. Verity shows who is not yet in the line-up, which items lack a rehearsal and what the event is costing against what is collected.

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12. 12Compliance

    Music licences for events and recorded tracks

    What it looks like

    A recital uses recorded backing tracks and some film songs. Nobody knows whether a licence is needed, who to ask, or whether a school event is exempt.

    What it costs you

    In India, IPRS handles licences for live performance of music and PPL for recorded music in public settings. Whether a school recital is exempt is not always clear and the school should confirm it.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each event record holds a checklist: the music to be used, whether recordings are used, the licence status and who decided. Verity raises a task for the owner before the date. The school confirms with the rights bodies or an adviser.

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13. 13Compliance

    Child safety: teacher records and reporting

    What it looks like

    A parent raises a concern about a teacher. The school has no record of the teacher's references, no written policy, and no clear person who knows what to do next.

    What it costs you

    Section 19 of the POCSO Act generally obliges any person who knows or has reason to believe an offence has been committed to report it. A school with children as pupils needs a clear procedure and records.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each teacher has a record with identity checks, references and training. A child-safety policy and the named contact are kept as documents. Concerns are logged with who acted and when, with access limited by role.

    See the screen

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your music school works.

1. Week 1

   Discovery and mapping

   What we do

   Spend an afternoon and an evening at the school. Watch how a trial becomes a student, how a cancelled lesson is covered and how an instrument is lent. List where the leaks are.

   What we need from you

   Two to three hours of yours and the coordinator's. The slot grid, fee plans, teacher list and instrument list.

   What you have at the end

   A written map of your school: instruments, teachers, rooms, slots, fees, exams and events, and the first problems we will close.

2. Weeks 2 to 3

   Configuration

   What we do

   Set up your instruments, teachers, rooms, weekly slots, fee plans, make-up rules, instrument register and exam boards. Build the six screens in your school's terms.

   What we need from you

   Check the setup with a senior teacher and the front desk. Tell us where a rule is wrong.

   What you have at the end

   A working Verity with your real teachers, students and rules, ready for your data.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Migration and training

   What we do

   Bring in your student list, fee records, instrument register and event notes from the diary and sheets you use. Train teachers and front desk between lessons.

   What we need from you

   The student and fee data in whatever form it exists. Half an hour with each teacher.

   What you have at the end

   Your students, slots and instruments inside Verity, and a team that has used it through a teaching week.

4. After go-live

   Operations partnership

   What we do

   Stay on after launch. Review the first weeks with you, tune the limits, and handle a new term, new teachers and the build-up to the annual recital.

   What we need from you

   A short monthly review with the owner.

   What you have at the end

   A system that keeps matching how the school runs, with someone responsible for it.

• Owner

  Are students staying and are slots full?

  Students at risk, open slots, renewals, instruments overdue, event costs and teacher hours.

• Coordinator

  What needs sorting this week?

  Cover, make-ups owed, clashes, trial follow-ups, exam entries and rehearsal slots.

• Teacher

  Who is coming and where are they in their learning?

  Their slots, attendance, pieces, notes and make-ups owed.

• Front desk

  Who is this and what do they owe?

  Enquiries, trial bookings, fee status, instruments lent and parent contact notes.

• Accountant

  What is paid, due and owed to teachers?

  Renewals, overdue fees, discounts and lessons taken by teacher.