running a school full time vs. part-time

[stickarts]

I am curious to hear from other school owners about what you think the pros and cons are of running a school full time vs. part time. by this i mean having no other job but running your school vs. having another full time job. I would especially like to hear from owners that have tried both!

 

[tshadowchaser]

If you have the $ to PR the school and can afford to not make a lot of money in return or a peiod of time it can be done ,depending on the area.
In a small town area it may even be possible if you are the only school in the area.
Articales in the local paper every other week and pictures of your students with tropies, and certificates of rank make people know you around.

 

[tshadowchaser]

It also depends on how much you charge and if you charge for every test. How offten you test and how hard it is to get rank.
The quality of your teaching will be one of the big factors in staying open.
People also like to see impressive looking schools, Mirrored walls (looks good but you cant fight anywhere near it), polished floors ( looks good but can be slippey), Tropies all around the place ( go buy some no one ever reads what they say if you have them high enough on walls)
Sell every thing: belt, uniforms, patches, gear, coffee cups, jackets, ETC.

 

[lvwhitebir]

Running a school full time is, of course, the best option IMO. Unfortunately, it's pretty expensive to do. Part time generally sucks because you basically work all the time. I've had my school now for almost 4 years, all part-time. I'm open 6 days a week for about 4-5 hours a night. I also work full-time during the day. So... I've been putting in about 75 hour work weeks for the past 4 years. I really enjoy teaching, but it's not really good if you want a relationship with your spouse.

WhiteBirch

 

[stickarts]

I hear ya.....!
I have been doing the same thing for 10 years now! I don't regret it but it takes its toll!!
thanks for the reply.

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by stickarts
I am curious to hear from other school owners about what you think the pros and cons are of running a school full time vs. part time. by this i mean having no other job but running your school vs. having another full time job. I would especially like to hear from owners that have tried both!

"If I had no bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

I tried to open up my own school part time back in 2000. I lost nearly 10 grand, got lots of calls, but couldn't get people to come in. My area was set in where the homes run form 90's, on up, so the money was there.

Had carpeted area, mats, wave bags, NO TEST FEES, Open 6 days a week. I closed within a year. I tried the Tracy Business Method. Had a web site, YP ad, signs, sent out flyers, cards, decent fees with Private/group classes.

The only thing I did not do WAS NOT TEACH CHILDREN.

To this day, I'll never know what went wrong.

 

[JDenz]

R you should have called. We could have drummed you up a little buisness the old fashion way lol. I think that kids are the way to make the money. Teach the kids test the kids people are alot more willing to spend money on there kids rather then themselves anyways.

 

[Karazenpo]

Well, there's one good thing about running a school or schools part-time and having a full-time job. It is not you main source of income. It doesn't have to put food on your table and pay your bills, etc. Therefore, you do not have to compromise anything for financial gain. My wife Kathy and I run our schools our way and its to produce a quality student. If a parent or student doesn't like this or that........TOUGH! Don't let the door slap you on the butt on your way out! Please don't mistake this for arrogance because it's not and I've had one of my schools since February of 1978. I have to agree with an interview I read on Chuck Merriman of Connecticut. He stated a traditional martial arts school is a benevolent dictatorship. If someone doesn't like how he runs things then go train somewhere else. To paraphrase he said something like' this is my dojo and I run it my way and if you don't like it, leave!'. In a part-time school you can have it this way but if you are trying to make a full time living, you obviously can't. I'm not saying full timers have inferior schools but they do have to compromise some things. I would too if I went full time. Respectfully, Shihan Joe Shuras

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by JDenz
R you should have called. We could have drummed you up a little buisness the old fashion way lol. I think that kids are the way to make the money. Teach the kids test the kids people are alot more willing to spend money on there kids rather then themselves anyways.

Now you tell me. You guys coulda been my life long partners.

Sadly, it seems kids are the way to go. That's what they all continue to tell me.

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by Karazenpo
Well, there's one good thing about running a school or schools part-time and having a full-time job. It is not you main source of income. It doesn't have to put food on your table and pay your bills, etc. Therefore, you do not have to compromise anything for financial gain. My wife Kathy and I run our schools our way and its to produce a quality student. If a parent or student doesn't like this or that........TOUGH! Don't let the door slap you on the butt on your way out! Please don't mistake this for arrogance because it's not and I've had one of my schools since February of 1978. I have to agree with an interview I read on Chuck Merriman of Connecticut. He stated a traditional martial arts school is a benevolent dictatorship. If someone doesn't like how he runs things then go train somewhere else. To paraphrase he said something like' this is my dojo and I run it my way and if you don't like it, leave!'. In a part-time school you can have it this way but if you are trying to make a full time living, you obviously can't. I'm not saying full timers have inferior schools but they do have to compromise some things. I would too if I went full time. Respectfully, Shihan Joe Shuras

I certainly agree with your attitude! It may be one of the last places where people can run things w/o someone else trying to get their way. No arrogance seen here. You're right as can be! Thanks for a great post!:asian:

 

[Elfan]

Teaching in general, if done well, is hard to do "part time." One becomes so involved that "part time" becomes "almost full time" but without the extra pay.

 

[kenpo2dabone]

The school that I originally achieved my Ranks in had been around for about 30 years when I started. The school closed shortly after I got my black after 35 years of being in business. I think that is pretty good for any type of business. The man that started the chain was not only involved in owning and teaching in the school but he also ran a Karate league called the CKL or California Karate League. He received revenue for all the tournaments put on by the league. He also owned a trophy shop so all the tournaments trophies were provided by him not to mention all the other business that the trophy shop generated. So basically he had all the ends covered but he had to run three businesses to do it.


Salute,
Mike Miller UKF

 

[stickarts]

The only thing I did not do WAS NOT TEACH CHILDREN


The children are our biggest market and i suspect that not teaching children was a leading cause of your difficulty.

I rarely TELL anyone to leave but if it gets down to the knitty gritty i do recommend that another school might be better for them! :0)
Thanks for the replies!!

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by stickarts
The only thing I did not do WAS NOT TEACH CHILDREN


The children are our biggest market and i suspect that not teaching children was a leading cause of your difficulty.

I rarely TELL anyone to leave but if it gets down to the knitty gritty i do recommend that another school might be better for them! :0)
Thanks for the replies!!

:wah:

 

[JDenz]

awwww kids who needs emm lol. Ya well it isn't to late R I will hit up a bank and be on my way lol.

 

[7starmantis]

Originally posted by RCastillo
"If I had no bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

I tried to open up my own school part time back in 2000. I lost nearly 10 grand, got lots of calls, but couldn't get people to come in. My area was set in where the homes run form 90's, on up, so the money was there.

Had carpeted area, mats, wave bags, NO TEST FEES, Open 6 days a week. I closed within a year. I tried the Tracy Business Method. Had a web site, YP ad, signs, sent out flyers, cards, decent fees with Private/group classes.

The only thing I did not do WAS NOT TEACH CHILDREN.

To this day, I'll never know what went wrong.

I'm sorry to hear that! However taxing it may be, I do believe that teaching children is a necessary evil for running a successful school. One thing is that children are amazingly consistent. Parents shell out 200 and 300 or 400 dollars for gymnastics, for music lessons, and if explained properly, martial arts lessons. Its a totally different world teaching a child's class. Keeping the children excited, happy, not distracted, etc. It has to be fun, hard, structured, and "kid friendly" all at the same time.
The thing about kids classes is that they bring people into your school. I think one thing also that allows for success is to offer "additional" items. Businesses that offer one item rarely excel. We have a tremendous aerobic kickboxing class that almost every mom attends while their children are in kung fu class. We have a wonderful circuit boxing room that has 14 different bag stations, this is a lot of capital at first, but this room has been a wonderful asset to our schools successfulness.
I by no means think I know much at all about the business aspect of it, but these are just a few things I'm learning from my sifu about how he is successful owning his own full-time school.

7sm

 

[stickarts]

Same for us. we offer 4 different arts to learn. expanding has helped us quite a bit, but we could not survive without the kids program.

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by 7starmantis
I'm sorry to hear that! However taxing it may be, I do believe that teaching children is a necessary evil for running a successful school. One thing is that children are amazingly consistent. Parents shell out 200 and 300 or 400 dollars for gymnastics, for music lessons, and if explained properly, martial arts lessons. Its a totally different world teaching a child's class. Keeping the children excited, happy, not distracted, etc. It has to be fun, hard, structured, and "kid friendly" all at the same time.
The thing about kids classes is that they bring people into your school. I think one thing also that allows for success is to offer "additional" items. Businesses that offer one item rarely excel. We have a tremendous aerobic kickboxing class that almost every mom attends while their children are in kung fu class. We have a wonderful circuit boxing room that has 14 different bag stations, this is a lot of capital at first, but this room has been a wonderful asset to our schools successfulness.
I by no means think I know much at all about the business aspect of it, but these are just a few things I'm learning from my sifu about how he is successful owning his own full-time school.

7sm

You're smarter than I am.

 

[JDenz]

lol

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by JDenz
lol

Let's bring in da mob on this one!