A "Successful" school

[Syphax]

You are wise to consider all of the available options. Opening a school can be one of the most rewarding endeavors you partake on, assuming you plan well. Given what I have read from your situation, this is one thing I think you should remember if you plan on opening a school:

Students always quit:

It is a fact. Every student will quit, in some way or another. Some will lose interest, some will move, and some rare students will train until they pass on from this earth. But they will all quit. And for this reason, you must be prepared to keep your school continually growing. Recruitment is one of the largest aspects of running a successful school.

Set a goal for how many students you want to enroll. Then sit down and thoroughly plan out how you will achieve this goal. There are many methods to recruiting new students including mall shows, booths, flyers, etc., however your principal source should be from referrals. One of the greatest compliments a student can pay his instructor is to refer a friend to the school.

As far as the business side goes, I cannot help you too much there. Everyone's situation is unique and there are no global "financial" rules of martial arts.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever course you take though! Let us know what you decided to do!

[IcemanSK]

Heidi:

I'm sure there is a middle ground between a financially successful bottom line & the "aha moment" bottom line. I wish I knew where that was for me as well. Like you, I teach for the "aha" & I'm $$ poorer for it. I'm in the process of trying to decide if I'm going to make a go at a comercial school or just run it out of the community center where I do now. As it is now, money isn't an issue. It's hard to put a monetary value on our time as instructors when we focus on the "aha". But there's nothing wrong with making a living in MA. It's possible to do both. If I discover how to do that, I'll letcha know.

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

This is a teaching question. I just promoted 2 kids to yellow belt. They are brothers & they have been coming since 2/20/05, over a year and a half. They only come once a week except during the summer then they come twice a week. They are brothers & to say they were uncoordinated is an understatement. They are 8 & 10 yrs. old. For yellow belt you need the basics, falls, basic kicks & blocks, defense against chokes, headlocks, kicks, garment & hair holds, 4 judo throws, ten no kata, taikyaku shodan (H form), Arnis - the 12 strikes & banday banda, stances and more. My point is that after 30 yrs. & OK this is my third school because I moved I have yet to promote a black belt. I have a kid now who took 2 silver medals in the AAU State championship & lost by 1/2 pt. in the National tournament. He will undoubtedly make black belt soon. But I have yet to promote anyone to black belt. I refuse to water it down. That's why I never went for my own advancement either. I feel that it's better to be harder than promote to promote. Any feedback?

Thanks,

Sensei Tom

[Jiffy]

Yeah, I completely agree. While we have graded people to black belt, we don't do it light-heartedly.

[bushido_man96]

This is a teaching question. I just promoted 2 kids to yellow belt. They are brothers & they have been coming since 2/20/05, over a year and a half. They only come once a week except during the summer then they come twice a week. They are brothers & to say they were uncoordinated is an understatement. They are 8 & 10 yrs. old. For yellow belt you need the basics, falls, basic kicks & blocks, defense against chokes, headlocks, kicks, garment & hair holds, 4 judo throws, ten no kata, taikyaku shodan (H form), Arnis - the 12 strikes & banday banda, stances and more. My point is that after 30 yrs. & OK this is my third school because I moved I have yet to promote a black belt. I have a kid now who took 2 silver medals in the AAU State championship & lost by 1/2 pt. in the National tournament. He will undoubtedly make black belt soon. But I have yet to promote anyone to black belt. I refuse to water it down. That's why I never went for my own advancement either. I feel that it's better to be harder than promote to promote. Any feedback?

Thanks,

Sensei Tom

Good for you!! Excellent, excellent, excellent!

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

Thanks for the reinforcement guys.

Sensei Tom

[Rick_72]

You know its funny. I always here about keeping young people interested, by advancing them. But from what I've seen, the kids that take their training seriously, and there are actually quite a few of them, don't need trumped up promotions to do it. They just need something that holds their interest. Many times its nothing more than learning a new technique to practice every once and a while.

I say keep doing what your doing! Never water it down. If a kid wants his jr black belt, his path shouldn't be that far off from the adult route. On that note, most adults don't walk into a martial arts school looking for the quickest route to black belt.

I say keep doing what your doing Sensei Tom! Never water it down!

[bushido_man96]

You know its funny. I always here about keeping young people interested, by advancing them. But from what I've seen, the kids that take their training seriously, and there are actually quite a few of them, don't need trumped up promotions to do it. They just need something that holds their interest. Many times its nothing more than learning a new technique to practice every once and a while.

I agree with this. Look at kids sports, like wrestling, football, etc. They don't have ranks to advance them, and the kids stick around. The martial arts has the added advantage that no one gets cut from the team.

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

You guys are right on the mark. The guys that are serious don't want you to make it easy. They don't want you to give it away. They want to work for it.

Thanks,

Sensei Tom