My friend is opening a school...advice needed

[Karate74]

A good friend of mine is opening a shotokan karate school. He is very well trained and a very good teacher. At this time he does host classes in a church that has a hall he pays rent for a few days out of the week. For the most part my friend has everything planned out on paper including cost, schedule and he found a location at a reasonable rate. My concern.....money issues.

I am unable to pitch in financially but told him I would help out an way possible. As a friend I expressed my concern because he was not able to get a business loan and is depending on the student/ratio to earn money for the rent. The goal here is not to "get rich" off this but to have a good place to train and continue to pass on what was taught to us to anyone who wanted to learn about the style. I am curious on how some of you who own and run a school got started? Are there any suggestions I could pass along to my friend?

[DWx]

One thing that I think is crucial to our school is our involvement with the local primary and high schools. Maybe kids aren't your ideal student but if you can get the schools to promote it (maybe do a few demos and short classes there) you can attract a big audience. Once a few kids start they bring their friends who bring their friends and so on.

[yingampyang]

By the sounds of it he needs to branch out more to other schools and get more information on how to promote his school.

[bushido_man96]

A good rule of thumb when starting a business is to have 3 months worth of capital saved up to cover the first 3 months of operation. You can basically forget about making any money over at least the first 3 months of startup. That could be why he can't get a business loan. He needs to set up a business plan that shows the bank how he intends to make the money, and in what kind of increments. Projecting growth will help too.

The bottom line is that he may have to keep doing what he is doing now, and save up more money before he can get going. If he isn't making any money where he is now, he sure isn't going to be making more money by taking on more overhead.

[Karate74]

good idea. Yeah the only problem hurting him now is exposure. He is in a hall that literally has no exposure to traffic or people. He has done a great job so far and does have enough for 3 months worth capital. What we are doing at this point is creating flyers and trying to market the school. Will see how things go in 3 months.

[yingampyang]

Yeh its all about the structure , if you have a good foundation for your busniess you should be fine.

[Throwdown0850]

A good friend of mine is opening a shotokan karate school. He is very well trained and a very good teacher. At this time he does host classes in a church that has a hall he pays rent for a few days out of the week. For the most part my friend has everything planned out on paper including cost, schedule and he found a location at a reasonable rate. My concern.....money issues.

I am unable to pitch in financially but told him I would help out an way possible. As a friend I expressed my concern because he was not able to get a business loan and is depending on the student/ratio to earn money for the rent. The goal here is not to "get rich" off this but to have a good place to train and continue to pass on what was taught to us to anyone who wanted to learn about the style. I am curious on how some of you who own and run a school got started? Are there any suggestions I could pass along to my friend?

If you dont mind me asking? What city or state are you located?