tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55267670397389292862024-03-12T19:17:08.123-07:00Starting a Martial Arts SchoolOpening a Martial Arts School from A-ZJoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-25491041353849019752013-05-19T22:35:00.002-07:002013-05-19T22:35:20.633-07:00What would you like to see posted?What would you like help with? Send an email to capomico@gmail.com with your request. If your question is picked to be featured, I'll include a link to your school's website!<br />
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<br />Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-69234995757422655352013-05-19T22:06:00.001-07:002013-05-19T22:06:31.164-07:00How Much Should I Charge?This is one of the most important questions you'll need to answer. In order to figure this out, we'll need to look at a few things:<br />
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1. What is the income level of your target demographic? Are you catering to the working class? Is your target market upper class families? Once you know this, you can get a good idea of how much disposable income they have and how much they spend on related goods and services. If you don't have a good idea already, just ask! Start asking people how much they spend on dance classes/gymnastics/music lessons/sports/art classes. etc If you are trying to get the most profit, I suggest going for upper middle income bracket and pricing higher than your competition (more on this below)<br />
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2. Where are others pricing themselves? I have started a few programs in rec centers and other martial arts studios. When they ask me how much I want to charge, or how much I want to be paid per hour, I ALWAYS counter with "I would like to be priced in line with other similar programs that you offer" This will ensure that you aren't overcharging or selling yourself short. If there is a range, I insist that I am placed at the high end of that range.<br />
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3. Here is a big one that is often overlooked in martial arts.. read closely now... <i>The value you place on your classes is the value that others will place.</i> If you charge 50 bucks a month, people will value your classes as such. If you charge $150, 200, or more per month, your customers will perceive a higher value. <br />
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4. Supply and demand. If you get a chance, I highly recommend taking a basic economics course. The short of it is, if there is more demand you can charge more. If there is more supply, the price is driven down. This can be looked at a lot of different ways - number of classes you teach, number of schools in the area, number of teachers you have, etc.<br />
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5. Teach FREE classes. Especially in the beginning. I use free classes to generate interest in my programs. I often have had "feeder" programs for both youth and adults. Also, teaching free classes in underprivileged areas comes with its own rewards.<br />
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6. Lastly, you can just do some simple math. If you want to bring in 5,000 month and you are planning on teaching 50 students, you'll need to charge $100 per student! <br />
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Happy Pricing!Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-32550881744182137482013-05-09T19:00:00.003-07:002013-05-09T19:00:48.888-07:00Great ResponseSo lately I've been getting a lot of emails from all of you. I know I haven't posted anything in a long time but you have inspired me! Keep an eye out for new posts coming soon!<div>
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Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-29218251544376094952010-02-05T00:50:00.000-08:002010-02-05T00:50:42.707-08:00How to select a location for your own spaceThis 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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. <br />
3)Inside remodeling- How much work will you have to do to get your space looking good on the inside?<br />
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. <br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
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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.<br />
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If you have any specific questions feel free to email me or leave a comment on the post!Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-63662946569829395762010-02-04T23:55:00.000-08:002010-02-05T00:17:57.417-08:00Basic Marketing Tips"If you don't have a marketing plan, you just have a hobby"<div><br /></div><div>I just heard a business consultant tell us this the other week. Its really true. You can be the best at your art, a super nice guy, great at keeping books, and have all the best intentions in the world.. and still fail miserably if you don't have a good marketing plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at McDonalds. Worst hamburger on the planet. But everyone knows them and they rake in the money. Why? Because among other things, they are always marketing and marketing well. Its unfortunate but true. So what can you do?</div><div><br /></div><div>Before you do anything else, read some books and articles on basic marketing concepts. The basics go a long way. I'm going to assume you know the basics or are about to learn about them. These ideas I'm about to present aren't super advanced or anything so don't worry. Here are some things that have worked for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>1)Google rank. Get a website and get your google rank up. Google rank is the importance that google puts on your site. The formula itself is complicated and secret. But it pretty much comes down to how many people clink and link to your site. When you have a higher rank, your site will appear higher on searches. Learn about SEO. "Search Engine Optimization" This will help your google rank a lot. My websites have always been my best marketing tool.</div><div>2)Web site. Make sure you are really getting the most out of your site. Does the feel of the site appeal to your target audience? Do you have call to action phrases with links to promotions or sign up pages? Is it easy to navigate? Does it look good? Making a good martial arts website really needs its own blog post.</div><div>3)Have a marketing budget. Take a percentage of your monthly revenue and always put it into marketing.</div><div>4)Marketing isn't just advertising. An ad is what you expect to see on TV or in a newspaper. Marketing is the whole plan. How are you presenting your service (your art)? What are the stages? What media outlets are you using? Just passing out a flyer isn't marketing. </div><div>5)Track your marketing. There are many ways to do this and this could really be its own post as well. Just make sure you know how many people are calling you or coming in from your marketing efforts. This is so you can know which ads to keep running and which to pull. </div><div>6)Be great at what you do, and be different from your competition. This is very important. People want to train with talented teachers. You don't have to be a Michael Jordan of your art but you should be constantly working on improving yourself. Students like to see that. At the same time, you need to find a way to differentiate yourself from your competition. Do you appeal to a female audience? Kids? Do you like to teach inner city kids while everyone else is in the burbs? Or vice versa? Do you give an amazing workout? Find your niche. People might really like one particular art but not really fit in at a particular school. I have gotten tons of kids in my 3 to 5 year old program simply because no one else in my city offered classes for kids that young. People drove literally an hour each way for a 45 minute class for their kids. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm a big fan of looking at what everyone else is doing, then doing the opposite. I like filling in the vacuums left by other schools. Its great business for me and its great for keeping a good relationship with other schools. Its great to see what other schools are doing right, but if they are all gung ho on college kids, no problem! Look to see about starting teen classes or family oriented classes. Or vice versa.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-19402215096987694572010-02-04T23:40:00.000-08:002010-02-04T23:54:47.580-08:00Get a billing companyI think this is by far one of the most important steps for a school to be professional. In the beginning this might seem like an unneeded expense. Sure you can handle collecting from 5 to 30 students. You know your students well, of course they will pay..... The reality is, they don't. And don't get mad at them for it. People forget, stuff comes up. And yes, some will try to take advantage of you. <div><br /></div><div>Having the billing company does a few things. First, it removes you, the owner and teacher, from the equation. Its not "you" billing them anymore. Its another company. And for some reason, people pay way more often this way. Also by taking yourself out of the equation, you are never the bad guy when it comes to money. The teacher should avoid all dealings with money with the students. Of course you have control, but you don't want to always be asking students to pay on the 15th or whatever. Sets a weird mood and you will actually collect less. If possible, you should even have someone else trained to sign up new students. And of course, most martial arts teachers are good at their art, thats why we started this right? But usually we are terrible at handeling money. My billing company is one of the strongest members of my team. Its just energy I don't have to spend on worrying about collecting and recording monthly dues.</div><div><br /></div><div>Choosing a company-</div><div>There are many billing companies out there and I've used a few. The first one was terrible. The owner actually called me "retarded" on the phone because I had some questions. Needless to say I cancelled them. As of now I use ASF and I'm transitioning to Mind Body online. There are many others out there. Shop around. Some have high set up fees, some zero. Check all the fees on credit card transactions. See what the full system does for you and if it fits your needs. How scalable is it? How good is the customer service?</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, I can't stress the importance of this no matter what size your school is. Get a billing company in place even before you get your first student. You will collect more money each month. You will be less stressed doing it. And your students will never have to be bothered by the teacher for money. Sometimes students have money problems and feel embarrassed for not being able to pay and so just stop coming. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you have any questions feel free to post them. </div>Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-55597570471903532010-02-04T23:28:00.001-08:002010-02-04T23:39:55.681-08:00One month in...So I'm one month in to starting my new marital arts school in the big city. Here are some things that I've been doing that seem to be working so far.<div>1)Walking A LOT. I live in a place now where thankfully I can walk everywhere. You get to see a lot this way, things you might miss speeding by in a car. I have found a lot of spaces to teach and start programs this way.</div><div>2)Talk to A LOT of people about starting programs. Be prepared for a lot of people to say no. Its a numbers game. If 8 out of 10 people say no, you just have to ask more people. Talk to schools, other martial arts schools, gyms, parks, etc. Depending on your schedule, you can offer free intro classes during the day at public or private schools.</div><div>3)Offer to volunteer. I am now in pretty well with the city parks and rec department because I offered to come in for free for some intro programs. After only a couple weeks, we have moved to how I can be a consultant to make money from these new programs with the city. They also want to expand to other sites.</div><div>4)Give a lot and participate in related activities when possible. To create something from nothing takes a lot of energy. You have to really put yourself out there.</div><div>5)Try to recognize and go with your gut when you know a program won't work at a particular location. Sometimes it just takes talking to the right person. Getting passed the "Gate Keeper". This is usually the case with most places. Some gym manager is really busy and could care less about your martial art. Be polite, don't waste your time or theirs. If its a spot you really want, keep trying in a polite way to reach the person who will say yes. If someone doesn't actually say no, keep sending nice emails now and again to remind them you are there. Eventually they might call on you if they need to fill a time slot.</div><div>6)Be strategic with where you teach. Sometimes you take what you can get in the beginning. But don't spend your energy in a part of town you don't want to be. Think about the future when you eventually open your own space if that is your goal. Will your students drive to your new location? Most people wont drive more than 5 miles for a martial arts school.</div><div><br /></div><div>As always, feel free to leave feedback. If you have any questions just shoot me an email!</div><div>More posts to come.</div>Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-81293710850907318822009-09-15T11:27:00.000-07:002009-09-15T11:42:09.079-07:00Don't do it all yourself. Get a team!This is huge for me. I love my martial art. But I really suck at most of the stuff involved in running the school. So what do I do? I get others to help me! There is definitely something to be said for "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" But for me, that doesn't mean necessarily that I go and actually do that thing. I just have to make sure that I arrange so that whoever is doing it, does it how I want it. You never see the owner of 7-11 when you walk in do you? Why? Because he/she is off doing bigger things like growing the company as a whole. <br /><br />Martial arts schools are tricky when its comes to this though. Its really easy to go straight to your top students for their help. And of course most will be willing. Avoid this as much as you can. In my experience mixing business with training usually doesn't work. At least I haven't figured it out yet. Mostly because a student is there to destress, get in shape meet friends, etc. They aren't there because they want a career in martial arts. If you do get a student to help with something, make sure its a very minimal commitment and don't stress if they can't meet it. You won't get your work done and you'll lose a great student.<br /><br />Examples of team members you might need:<br />1. Accountant<br />2. Cleaning staff<br />3. Marketing<br />4. Retail manager<br />5. Contract manager<br />6. Kids program manager/adult program manager<br />7. Assistant instructors<br /><br />At first, write down every single job you can think of in your school and leave a space for a name. If you are just starting out, and its just you, plug your name into every position. Now, as you get more team members, plug their names into those positions. The idea is to work towards eliminating yourself from as much as possible and leave yourself with only the jobs that you truly enjoy and want to do (for example teaching!!)<br /><br />Time is your most valuable asset. The dollar worth per hour of your time is infinite when you work for yourself. Because its dependent on YOU how much you make. The more you maximize your time the better! You will also be less stressed and can enjoy your students, your school, and your outside life even more.Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-60490254662486205892009-09-15T11:10:00.000-07:002009-09-15T11:26:15.581-07:00Research Research ResearchYou have your mental image now. Time to really dig in and get your hands dirty.<br /><br />Opening a new martial arts school or any new business requires lots and lots of research. My first school I opened I just plunked down my deposit on a warehouse and hoped for the best. Wow was that a bad idea.<br /><br />For this new school I'm opening now, I'm moving clear across the country. I know the general area but not exactly. I really recommend reading "The Art of War". Contrary to popular belief its not just for presidents, warmongers and moral-less businessmen. One of the ideas in the book is to know the lay of the land so to speak. If you are looking to open in a new city, look to see what the best cities are for what you want to do. Are you targeting families, kids, college kids? (More on target groups later) From there, look within the city to see where other martial arts schools are centered. Look at gymnastics schools, dance schools, gyms, etc as well. A great tool I use is google maps. You can center in on an area and look up all the schools there. You can also put your own pins for particular schools you want to be near/far from or possible locations for your school. You can get street view as well to scout out the area.<br /><br />Another good thing to research for your new martial arts school is lease rates in the area you want to open. Its kind of a past time for me to constantly pop my head in windows in shopping centers and cool buildings for lease. Get an idea for what is a good deal in your area for lease rates. Do this over a few months while you are getting all of your other things in order to open. So when you come across that "gem" you can act fast. I'm always looking at craigslist.org as well. The last school I opened I had to move a lot faster than I would have liked because of my previous lease arrangement. Thank god I had a good idea of the area. I was able to move out and into a new school in less than two weeks from start to finish. And I got one of the best deals in the area.<br /><br />There are tons of things to research of course. There are interest rates on loans, equipment purchase prices, mats, mirrors, pro shop items, insurance... The list goes on and on. The important thing is to do as much of this as possible up front. This will save you tons of headaches and money in the future.Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-67479343212722202062009-09-15T10:46:00.000-07:002009-09-15T11:09:54.822-07:00Where to start?Just to put it out there, I'm one of the least original people on the planet. I love to use other people's ideas. Starting a martial arts school is nothing new so why would I try to reinvent the wheel? In everything I do in life, I look for advice from those that have the results I want. In running my martial arts school, I don't ask my parents for advice because they have never owned a school. I don't ask for marital advice from people that fight a lot or are divorced. <br /><br />Opening a new martial arts school can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life, it has been for me. You will touch the lives of hundreds and hundreds of people. You might save lives with your self defense teachings or with giving kids a place to go after school instead of getting in trouble with gangs or drugs. You will give people mental and physical health, the best investment anyone can make in their lives. <br /><br />Here's the catch. Just because you are good at your art doesn't mean that your business will do well. Being a good teacher and being a good businessperson/school owner are two VERY SEPARATE skill sets. I highly suggest you read "The E-Myth" before you go any further with your plans to open a school. You might be horrible at business and that's ok. You can learn just like you were probably horrible when you started your art, you learned. Just make sure you recognize that you will have to train your business skills if you don't already have them.<br /><br />Ok. You read E-myth. You are mentally ready to open your own business. Now what?<br /><br />Start with the end in mind. You have to give yourself an ultimate vision of what you want for your new school. That way you can work backwards and plan efficiently how to get there. No one ever plans to fail, but we very often fail to plan. Imagine what your school will look like. What color are the mats, the walls, the bathrooms. Do you have an office? How is it decorated? Sketch out your ideal floor plan. Don't be afraid to dream big. Is every class packed with tons of students? Or do you have multiple sessions with smaller more intimate classes? Form a vivid mental image and also write all these things down in a notebook you can reference later. You can change your mind as you go of course, but when you do, make it a conscious decision and write it down.<br /><br />With your plan in hand you can start making decisions that bring you closer and closer to your goal.Joshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526767039738929286.post-1687875060798702172009-09-15T10:39:00.001-07:002009-09-15T10:45:20.795-07:00Starting a martial arts school from scratchHello everyone. This blog is my way of documenting my process of starting a martial arts school from scratch. I'm going to blog all of my ideas, things that work, thing that don't work, in the hopes that this will help anyone new in the martial arts world. I have opened a few schools in the past and I'll be taking all of my experience and putting it all into this new project. I plan on generating enough income to adequately support myself and my family but by no means am I looking to create a "belt factory" or take advantage of anyone. I practice Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, but this blog is meant to be style neutral and hopefully everything I present in this blog will be able to help anyone looking to open a martial arts school. Feel free to email me with comments or questions at capomico@gmail.comJoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11435616493451599328noreply@blogger.com0