My First Year In Business

[sensei8]

That was so, so, so long ago, but what I learned help me to ensure a future for my family and I, but for my students as well. Hopefully, what I learned will help you during your first year.

The three most important things I learned in my first year my dojo was opened, might help those here who are in their first year and/or those who are thinking about opening a martial arts school (Dojo/Dojang/Etc)

As most MA school owners will tell you, the lessons come quick and hard when you go into business for yourself. The sheer number of things that you do not know will astound you, and the sheer amount of work that is required to get things started will exhaust you. One positive thing that can be said is that it does get easier as time goes on.

You don’t know it all, but, man oh man, you don’t really need to:

Many people open up a martial arts school do so based on a hobby or some other passion they have for the martial arts, and think they know all they need to about it. Worse still, they think they know all about how to run a business, and yes, whether it's a full time or a part-time endeavor, it's still a business; in reality most people have no clue about accounting and record keeping in general, or how to price their lessons and/or products. Those things, of course, can mean the success or failure of a business. One important thing I learned in my first year was that I could ask for help and that there are so many wonderful people willing to help. Another thing I learned is that most of what I did not know, I could find out by asking help from credible friends and/or associates who've been there once themselves. So, you don’t need to know it all because there are always ways to find out what you don’t know and get help if needed.

Don't become a workaholic, although it's hard to not to:

You will find so many things to be done that you can quickly turn into that dull boy that always works and never plays. I found myself doing this, and finally decided that I had to set specific class times that will be fair to my students as well as to my family and myself. The pitfall with that being the case is that I sometimes caught myself working around the clock, and neglecting family and friends in the process. Why? Because your school can't run itself; it can't take out its own trash, it can't manage itself, and it can't tend to the most basic needs for its success; your school needs you! It needs you to execute each and every aspect of it from the most mundane chores to managing your schools brand. Only you can decide what will work best for your school and your situation. For me, splitting my time up between early mornings and late evenings worked well and gave me time during the remainder of the day for normal school chores, yes, spending time with my family, and friends outside and away from my school. I had to learn quickly that my school wasn't more important than my family, and friends time. I needed to walk away when the classes are over; that's when one walks away from the school and go home!! One can spend every waking moment at ones school, way before opening to way after closing because we "think" that we need to do it all and we need to do it by ourselves only.

Believe it or not, but the second year is easier than the first:

No, it really is! Once I made it that far, to my second year, I found that running my school is easier. I mean, I've already worked out and through a mess of the kinks that could've prevented me from having a successful school, and I've found out how to handle situations that inevitably come up on a daily basis. I became a great fire fighter; putting out one business fire after another. Working through all these things gave me the confidence I needed to make decisions that are needed to keep my school floating and not sinking.

Good luck in your first year and please keep us informed on how it went and that you're looking forward to your second year and so on and so on.

[/u]

[evergrey]

OSU Bob, thank you very much for this! It is helpful- I hope to teach someday myself, after all. :}

[WolverineGuy]

Excellent post. Thank you.

[bushido_man96]

Great post, Bob. Good info there on managing time and seeking help. Never be to proud to ask for help!