Posts Tagged ‘Start-Up’

As I’ve said many times before, planning and goal-setting is crucial to your success as a martial arts instructor. Or, as someone once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know when you get there?”

The first step to developing a comprehensive plan for your business is setting goals for profits. Since the majority of our income is derived from tuition payments, we must set profit goals that are based on our enrollments, renewals and attrition.

Setting goals and adopting performance guidelines based on these numbers is one of the most basic management tasks you need to complete if you are to become successful running your studio.

Here’s how to do it… Read the rest of this entry »

Oftentimes, prospective martial arts business owner start their schools without ever taking the time to write out a specific game plan for their success. I know that I was guilty of this mistake when I made my first few attempts at opening my martial arts business. Oh, I did all the “business owner” things; I secured a location, had business cards printed (they made me feel like I was officially in business), put an ad in the paper, and told everyone I knew about my programs. Yet, my first few attempts at opening a martial arts business were Read the rest of this entry »

license – “a grant by the holder of a copyright or patent to another of any of the rights embodied in the copyright or patent short of an assignment of all rights”

franchise – “a right or license that is granted to an individual or group to market a company’s goods or services in a particular territory under the company’s trademark, trade name, or service mark and that often involves the use of rules and procedures designed by the company and services (as advertising) and facilities provided by the company in return for fees, royalties, or other compensation”

Over the last year or so, we’ve seen several martial arts franchises pop up in the industry. In fact, I even had one company approach me to write their operations manual for their school owners (And no, I didn’t write it).

John Graden told me he’s been approached for the exact same reason several times over the last couple of years by companies that were launching martial arts franchises.

Of course, we’ve been seeing the “cookie cutter” approach to martial arts schools for years. Many martial arts organizations have already been in the business of licensing their name, logo, business systems, etc. to their member schools and instructors. However, there is a huge difference between holding a license agreement to represent a style or system and entering into a franchise agreement with a franchisor.

For better or for worse (mostly worse, in my opinion) martial arts school franchises are here to stay. And while other martial arts business writers might disagree with me, I believe martial arts school franchises are a really bad idea for the the individual school owners that buy into them.

Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »

I sincerely hope that by this time next year, you’re kicking back and enjoying the rewards of all your hard work during the previous year. You know, I love Christmastime as much as anyone else, but it’s even better when you are a small studio owner. Why, you may ask? Well, before I opened my studio, I was a nursing student and EMT and had worked in the health care field for some time. Every year without fail, I always managed to pull a shift during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year (or a combination of the three). Read the rest of this entry »