This is the holy grail for a lot of people starting their own school. Its a big benchmark. You are going to be on the map now! Its so exciting you can taste it! This is also the thing that can crush your school and all your hard work that got you to this point. Make sure you take your time and do it right.
First off, as I mentioned before, make sure your programs are all within close range (less than 5 miles driving) of where you want your space to be. You should have a good idea of what part of town you want your space to be in before you even start teaching anywhere. I've seen a successful school with over 100 students fail completely after they moved just across town. They wanted to expand to a bigger space but when they moved, they lost almost their whole client base.
Next big thing, make sure you have plenty of money in the bank and plenty of students to support not only the expected expenses, but also your salary and also unexpected expenses. Plan to be able to afford to lose some students in the move. And if you don't have money in the bank for all the deposits and all the basic remodeling needs of the new space- DONT DO IT! Trust me. I've done it twice. If you have gotten this far, then you are smart enough to figure out how to get the money you need. Be patient. Its worth it. I won't even think about opening my own space again unless I have at least 10-50k in the bank and enough students to cover expenses plus my salary (even if its small to start) and extra for unexpected things. Its just not worth it to me and it just isn't smart. You will spend all of your energy just trying to stay afloat. Money is the lifeblood of any business. If you don't have cash on hand, your business won't have the fuel it needs to survive the first years which of course are the hardest.
OK. You have your plan and you have your cash- or will have it by the time you are ready to make the plunge. Now what? How do you qualify your potential spaces? How do you know if a space is good for you or not?
1)Location Location Location- Can't stress this enough. Don't be tempted by that big cheap space that is hidden in a maze of side streets. Trust me, you will make up the extra rent easily just in the extra number of students that will see your sign on a more busy street.
2)Curb appeal- Drive by your space during what will be your peak hours. Is there parking? Is it well lit? Does it look nice? If you have women and kids training, can you envision them being ok with coming to your space at night? Martial arts teachers and hard core students will train anywhere but they don't pay the bills.
3)Inside remodeling- How much work will you have to do to get your space looking good on the inside?
4)Price per square foot- Is the space a good deal compared to others in the area? Shop around and don't be afraid to offer less than what the owner is asking. Don't be afraid to walk away either. The more emotion you can take out of moving into your own space at this point, the better for you.
5)Are there other complimentary businesses close by? Schools, restaurants, bars, shopping, dance, gymnastics, other martial arts schools? This will help with getting more traffic to your school.
6)Are you close to major roads or freeways? Depending on your city it might be nice to be near a turnpike or a major throughway of a town.
You can add any number of factors depending on what exactly you want to offer at your school. Again, the best thing is to plan ahead, have money in the bank, and be patient. Your time will come.
If you have any specific questions feel free to email me or leave a comment on the post!
No comments:
Post a Comment