Belt Testing Fees

[Kieran-Lilith]

Let's see...$25 belt fees, $30 monthly fee. I love small towns...

[MasterH]

So, does anyone here have a problem with an instructor "making a living" teaching a school full time? Even if that means charging $130-150/month?

[Menjo]

well when i first wanted to get into martial arts there was a kenpo gym that charged $574 a week!!!!!!!!!!the more surprising thing is how he got people to train under him..........but i dont have any problems with a teacher teaching for a living and i actually respect it greatly.

[MasterH]

Yea, I'm going in that direction. I'll need to start thinking about this stuff. Really not the best part of Martial arts.

[fallen_milkman]

So, does anyone here have a problem with an instructor "making a living" teaching a school full time? Even if that means charging $130-150/month?

Depends on your city, and how much other schools charge. I personally would pay that if the instruction, or more importantly the instructor, was worth it. Better make sure your school kicks some serious behind!

And I, too, plan on teaching one day, although I am not sure if I'll attempt to make a living on it.

[MasterH]

Concidering I'm near Seattle, I think $150 is close to max. Nowdays all you need is a good pitch and curriculum, get new students - keep the old. Basic buisness R & R - Recruitment and Retention.

[tkdBill]

MasterH,

I made the jump last October and couldn't be happier with my decision. The good news is that all the resistance to paying a reasonable price for training is apparently only on this forum. In real life, I have not had a single person object to the monthly fee or the testing fees. The usual reaction when I tell them the price ($90/month) is "that's not bad" and then they sign up.

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[MasterH]

TKDbill,

Do you do contracts? MC, BBC, Basic? Ya-know I'm getting to like you.

[tkdBill]

Annual contracts, I would not do it any other way. Contracts are contoversial on this forum, but not so in real life. When I first started I was tempted to allow some month-to-month to attract borderline people. As it turns out, I don't really want borderline people, or parents who allow their kids to quit whenever it gets too hard.

Now that I have over 100 students (all on contracts), I feel perfectly comfortable requiring contracts, if they're not willing to commit, I don't want them. My contract includes a 30-day guarantee, and I will give prospective students as many free classes as they need to try it out.

In 10 months, I have had exactly one person exercise the 30-day cancellation.

Also, make sure you collect monthly fees via auto-debit. If you're like me, you like teaching MA much more than bill-collecting.

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[MasterH]

Contract is a bad word (via Chief Master Clark) use the term program. I was going to ask about EFT, do you use a billing company?