Posts Tagged ‘Unrealistic Expectations’

Life As A New Martial Art School Owner

"What the heck is that on the floor? Seriously, I thought I cleaned and mopped before I left last night!"

Being a new business owner is scary, mysterious, and exciting all at once. On the one hand, starting your new business represents an exciting new adventure, as well as the potential for financial freedom and getting to do what you love for a living.

On the other hand, not knowing what to expect can work on your nerves and make your first few months that much more difficult. Starting a martial art school is stressful enough; the last thing you need is additional stress based on uncertainty.

In addition, you may have unrealistic expectations that can later work against you when life as a school owner doesn’t turn out to be the smooth trip you thought it would be.

So, I thought I’d quickly share the following with you… Read the rest of this entry »

Unrealistic Expectations…

I often receive emails or field messages on the forums asking me how long it takes to grow a martial arts school to “x” number of students.

In addition, I sometimes receive similar messages from new and would-be school owners who are ready to quit because they think their school isn’t growing fast enough…

Sadly, this is an all-too-common occurrence which I blame in part on the mainstream industry magazines, who are more than willing to print story after story about Master XYZ’s overnight martial arts school successes.

Unfortunately, this sort of irresponsible journalism creates unrealistic expectations in the minds of those who are unfamiliar with the way business growth typically works in the real world.

Reality Versus Confabulation

Certainly, such wild stories sell consulting packages… but what you’re not reading in those articles is how Master XYZ already had a substantial business in place in a neighboring community, or how they had an extensive marketing budget and experience in martial arts school promotion to help them get off the ground fast. Granted, I’ve personally coached school owners and showed them how to enroll large amounts of students in a relatively short period of time. But, they were, Read the rest of this entry »