Contracts or no contracts?

[JiuJitsuNation]

Should school owners use contracts to do business? Or should they go month to month? and what about the packages?? People paying way up front for black belts???

[GeoGiant]

Should school owners use contracts to do business? Or should they go month to month? and what about the packages?? People paying way up front for black belts???

Contracts.... sure. Why not? Certain things require a commitment and MAs is one of those things.

I'm not what you mean by packages but you sign up for a 3, 6, 9, or 1 year contracts a my dojo.

People paying upfront for a black belt... hu... how does that work?

[bushido_man96]

Signing a contract to "earn your black belt," no. Signing a contract for monthly fees collection, I do agree with. That way, the instructor doesn't have to worry about being a bill collector.

[ninjanurse]

I agree with Bushido_man here. I use contracts for billing and in no way guarantee a student a Black Belt by signing one.

[JiuJitsuNation]

I've sen some school owners put "packages" together for several thousand dollars and sell it to people as black belt packages. And or whatever other belts may be within the system.

[DWx]

Packages to earn blackbelt can be good but it depends how they work. If its a lump sum and you are guaranteed a blackbelt in 3 years, that's bad. Paying a lump sum up front to guarantee you lessons and to cover grading costs until you reach your belt isn't so bad as long as the belt is actually awarded based on skill and not because its "time".

We have an introductory package that works well. New prospective students can pay a sum to give them lessons twice a week for three months and a dobok. If they want to stay on then they can switch over to the normal pay monthly scheme.

[GeoGiant]

Packages to earn blackbelt can be good but it depends how they work. If its a lump sum and you are guaranteed a blackbelt in 3 years, that's bad. Paying a lump sum up front to guarantee you lessons and to cover grading costs until you reach your belt isn't so bad as long as the belt is actually awarded based on skill and not because its "time".

We have an introductory package that works well. New prospective students can pay a sum to give them lessons twice a week for three months and a dobok. If they want to stay on then they can switch over to the normal pay monthly scheme.

Does anyone here offer a black belt package? I would be interested to hear (1) who purchases these packages... white belts.... mid level belts??? & (2) what percentage of people that purchase a black belt package actually obtain a black belt (here I'm assuming you purchase so many sessions that have to be completed in X amount of time. Similar to obtaining a masters degree from a university.)

[JiuJitsuNation]

Paying a lump sum up front to guarantee you lessons and to cover grading costs until you reach your belt isn't so bad as long as the belt is actually awarded based on skill and not because its "time".

This is what I'm familiar with. Financially I'm told it isn't necessarily good for the school. Mostly because the money can be miss managed and then you are left with x amount of students and no residual income.

[GeoGiant]

Paying a lump sum up front to guarantee you lessons and to cover grading costs until you reach your belt isn't so bad as long as the belt is actually awarded based on skill and not because its "time".

This is what I'm familiar with. Financially I'm told it isn't necessarily good for the school. Mostly because the money can be miss managed and then you are left with x amount of students and no residual income.

Exactly. You hit both points i was thinking about.

[sensei8]

This is just my opinion(s)...

Should school owners use contracts to do business?

One will probably hear from both sides of the fence on this one. There are pros and cons to all things, hopefully the pros outweigh the cons. I particularly don't agree with using contracts for one main reason: Contracts force students to pay, and in that, if something financially rears up its ugly head, then that student can't escape from the contract because it's more than likely a very binding contract. One is in for the duration of the contract, like it or not, and depending on how well one has read the contract will decide if you can get out of it at renewal or not. I just don't want to shackle my students with this burden, especially if it means paying for the martial arts versus paying rent/food/utilities. I'm a fim believer that the martial arts is a want, it's not a need.

I see the advantages of those who do use contracts. I also see the disadvantages of not using contracts. See, thats the fence I was speaking about, and depending on which side one is on, that will depend on their strengths and weaknesses. Freeing the instructor up to teach is paramount, and this is the only pro of contracts that I can see. A school has to make a profit, or at least meet the overhead, but not at the risk of their students.

Or should they go month to month?

Month to month frees up the student to decide their path. If they can no longer afford the monthly tuition for whatever the reason(s) may or may not be, then they can just walk away with their heads held-up high. Students come and students go, this is just the way it is in the martial arts. Forcing students to go, or forcing students to pay is a headache that can be avoided by paying month to month. I want students to come because they want to because they love it...of their own free will.

and what about the packages??

Packages are ok. But, in order for packages to be great, they've got to be managed fantastically with the complete understanding that the students are ONLY paying for monthly blocks, and NOT for any rank! If a student even hints that that's exactly what they thought it was for, don't allow that student to partake of any package, if you have them, right from the start. I'd have them sign something that explains that to them with no ambiquity whatsoever: Month blocks and NO guarantee of any rank and/or any testing assumptions.

People paying way up front for black belts???

NEVER! One either EARNS the black belt or they DON'T! There are no in-between and there is NEVER any guarantee about anything in the martial arts. If I had this type of thing, which I wouldn't, I'd have them sign something that explains that to them with no ambiquity whatsoever: NO GUARANTEED RANK! RANK MUST BE EARNED. Another thing about a package like this is once you accept money for this, you'll never get another dime until the black belt is earned, that could be never. I see that some instructor would give in much earlier than normal because they want the money to equate to the rank versus their time spent in it. It's kind of like a mechanic that gets paid by the flat hour. If the Chilton Flat Rate Book says that an oil change takes 2.0 hours to complete it, the mechanic can actually do an oil change in 1.0 hours. This equates to the mechanic rushing through the oil change because he wants to do 2 to 1, this is more money, and this leads up to being sloppy.