Many school owners only use about 10-25% of their facility's time slots. To increase revenue, many owners have opted to change their system to accommodate more people. Such as making their system more friendly and easier to gain rank, such as black belt. They then wonder why some martial artists are calling their school a McDojo.
How a McDojo is Born
First, let’s look at why this happens. When you open a martial arts school, you are only attracting a very small percentage of the local population. Let’s face it, not many people wish to be in the martial arts for various reasons. Even with those that wish to try a martial art, many will not wish to apply themselves to the necessary discipline and physical/mental hardships that most martial arts system require. So what happens is the school owner will change their system to allow more people to join and stay interested. After a time, a McDojo is born.
The Alternative
First, you are a business, so you should have a business plan (if you don’t know what that is, go to a business consultant). If your business is not successful, your dream of owning a school goes down the tubes. Ideally, you want a successful, money making school without compromising your system and principles.
As I stated in the first paragraph. most schools only use about 10-25% of their facility’s time slots. They will have classes from 6pm to 9pm and maybe a couple of noon classes. Ideally, you want to have something going on from 7am to 10pm. Look at some of the successful health clubs out there. They are constantly running some sort of program from open to close. You want to increase the percentage of the local population that you will attract. Being open 7am to 10pm does not mean you should be teaching the martial art of your choice in all those time slots. You want to offer a variety of programs that will attract a diverse group of people.
Programs to Choose from
First, you can not do it all yourself. For the many programs out there, you should find a qualified trainer or instructor to run these programs. You can pay them according to the number of students that sign up, or you can sublease a time slot to them. So how do you find these qualified people? Try posting an ad in the local paper, or just look around and see if there is anyone you know to be already teaching/training people in your area and propose a business relationship.
Anyways, here some ideas for programs to add and fill up your time slots.
Tai Chi for Health - Tai Chi has been proven to improve health. This can be a big draw for senior citizens. Especially if you live in an area where there are a lot of retired people, this can be a big hit. Florida comes to my mind right away. Morning and afternoon classes may be best here. But don’t rule out nights either.
Aerobics - Being you are a martial arts school, you should go with a martial arts theme. Tae Bo™, Kickbox Aerobics, or Karatecize. Doesn’t matter which one, just choose one. You may wish to do this one first thing in the morning, for those that want to work out before work. But as usual, play it by ear. This can also be a big draw for other time slots.
Yoga - This can make you a big hit at a twister parties. Yoga can be a good filler for late mornings and early afternoons. You may want to target stay at home moms. This can also be a draw to some of your martial arts students. Especially those that are having problems with flexibility.
Women’s Self Defense and Rape Awareness - You would do these maybe 2-3 times a year for a certain period of time. If you plan to do this yourself, make sure you do your homework.
After School Programs - This can be from regular martial arts classes to child safety classes. A friend of mine once said to me, "There be gold in them diapers". I know there are many instructors out there that don’t want to teach children. Then don’t, find someone who will.
Masseuse or Chiropractic - Not a program, but I once had a Chiropractor that subleased a small room in a health club. If you have the room in your facility, you can build a small room for them. They pay you monthly to use it. Think about it, all these people exerting themselves with sore muscles and minor injuries. You get the idea.
The Conclusion
The above are just some ideas. As many business people understand, you need to spend money to make money. If you don’t do the proper marketing or demographics studies, the above programs will fizzle. But if you are able to utilize 80% or more of the available time slots, you will not have to compromise your system to make money. Also, don’t close your school on certain days! Your school should be open 7 days a week.
