Every week or so I get an email from someone who is starting a school and wants the low-down on how to do it right.

It’s a pretty tall order to sum it all up in an email, which is why I wrote a book about starting a dojo. However, there are a few things I’d like to share on the topic – kind of a quick and dirty list of tips and suggestions for prospective school owners:
 
1. Don’t Burn Bridges – Make sure your instructor is aware of everything you’re planning to do, every step of the way. That way, you won’t step on any toes or burn any bridges – I’ve seen guys do that in the past when it could have been avoided through simple communication.

2. Before You Lease – Most of your students will come from a 3 to 5 mile radius of your location. Find a good spot where there are lots of people and little competition, and start a part-time program. That way, you can test the waters before you drop a lot of money getting started....

More Time, Fewer Headaches

The holidays are coming up on us fast. Halloween will be here before you know it, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Then another year will have passed—how time flies!

I sincerely hope that by this time next year, you’re kicking back and enjoying the rewards of all your hard work during the previous year. I love the holiday season as much as anyone else, but it’s even better when you are a small dojo owner. Why, you may ask?

Before I opened my studio, I was a nursing student and EMT and had worked in the health care field for some time. Every year without fail, I always managed to pull a shift during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year (or a combination of the three).

However, owning a small studio changed all that. Once I opened my doors, I was able to shut down my operations every year for one week during Christmas, and one week during the Fourth of July holiday.

Also, I always take major holidays off, like...

Do you have your martial arts business basics down?

You know – those top priority concepts, skills, and tasks that are essential to running a successful martial art school?

Maybe you haven’t given much thought to what those are… but if you’ve read Small Dojo Big Profits, you know about the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle).

Pareto believed that eighty percent of your results come from just twenty percent of your efforts, and I’ve found this to be true in my own businesses.

That’s why it’s so important to know what those “20% activities” are. Once you do, you can focus in on those activities, and cut out most of the extraneous stuff. By doing so, not only will you become more productive, but you’ll also have more time away from your school.

So, let’s examine the “basic foundation” of running a successful martial arts school, and then we can look at which daily tasks and goals we need to focus...

Life As A New Martial Art School Owner

Being a new business owner is scary, mysterious, and exciting all at once. On the one hand, starting your new business represents an exciting new adventure, as well as the potential for financial freedom and getting to do what you love for a living.

On the other hand, not knowing what to expect can work on your nerves and make your first few months that much more difficult. Starting a martial art school is stressful enough; the last thing you need is additional stress based on uncertainty.

In addition, you may have unrealistic expectations that can later work against you when life as a school owner doesn’t turn out to be the smooth trip you thought it would be.

So, I thought I’d quickly share the following with you...

A Typical Day In The Life Of A New Martial Art School Owner –

Chances are good you’ll be working at your “day job” while you’re getting your school off the ground. So, your day will start...

So, you want to know what starting and running your own martial arts school takes? For starters, a lot of guts, plus a willingness to do what it takes to make it a success. Plan on spending the first year or two working harder than you ever have in your life.

Now, if you can handle that, here is a bare-bones breakdown of what you need to do to start your school…

Planning

The very first thing you need to know about how to launch a martial arts school that is how to write a martial arts business plan. There are two very good reasons for this:

1. If you are going to seek outside funding, there isn’t a lender in the world that will consider giving a prospective entrepreneur a loan if they don’t have a solid business plan.
2. More importantly, you need to have a clear picture of the steps you will take to successfully launch your martial arts school, from start-up through the first 3-5 years you are in operation.

We discuss planning and budgeting in chapter seven of my...