dojo location

[backfist]

You've gotten some great advice here. But I'd be vary wary of giving any consideration at all to the Burger King/McDonalds or Shell/Chevron scenarios (no offense to the gentleman or lady who posted it). All of those entities are multinational corporations who employ hundreds or thousands of professionals to continually research the feasability of operating across the street from their direct competitor.

Second, I'd strongly consider the feasability of purchasing the property. In some markets, buying commercial property is a must. Others, you don't want to mess with anything other than a lease. Does your would-be competitor own their property? How about the surrounding businesses? If they're all renting, you may want to consult a CPA to see if there's a reason others aren't buying.

If you know for sure that your program is at least equal to theirs (objectively AND subjectively), and you know that you can offer this where they don't offer that, then maybe you're on the right track. Otherwise, you might want to hold off until a better situation comes along where you can get yourself established without the competition constantly removing blocks from your foundation.

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I hate to ask this on a forum, but...

I have a great opportunity to purchase my own building/storefront in a small shopping plaza for < 150k.

If your MA school fails, could you sell or rent the store front and not lose money that you can't afford to lose? Can you rent it and cover the expenses? Are properties going up in value? Are you financing it or paying cash?

Look at the real estate part of the transaction as a seperate business than your MA school. This will tell you if buying the property makes sense. Now do the same sort of thing with the MA school.

One thought that came to mind is to talk with the guy across the street. Do you know him, have you met him, or just seen his school? I can tell you that if you opened a business right across from me and it was similar to mine, I'd have adverse feelings towards you. Now if you talked with me before, I still might, or I might actually want to work with you for the betterment of both of us. It would depend on many factors, such as how directly you compete with me, and what benefits and negatives your business would have on mine. In other words, think things through carefully before opening across the street from someone else. Do some homework before you decide to talk to him/her or not.

Good luck and keep us posted.