Starting a dojo

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Very smart way to go. Congratulations on the new venture and all the best for success!!!

Thanks!

 

[HighKick]

I got lucky with this center. They had classes pre-covid, but the instructor didn't come back after covid, and they still haven't found anyone at this particular place to fill the hole. Other centers do, just not this particular one.

I'm still planning on doing my own marketing outside the center, which I should be able to afford now that I don't have to worry about renting a place, insurance, or equipment.

I also suggest you get with the center and utilize/join their marketing program. Will hopefully cost you less and will make you part of the 'unit'. Which I would not worry about in any sense. It is a Huge financial opportunity to get help you get started. If you outgrow the center, you are certainly doing things right. Of the nine startups I have been financially involved with, three of them started the same way. Truly a win/win. And you need to approach the center as such.
I cannot speak to your class cost structure since I am not familiar with your location, but I would leverage the low overhead you are starting with to keep your fee structure low and grow your student base.
One thing I would try to establish with the center is a family plan with a set, but reduced price for a family unit (actual family only). Not a 'discount' like you mentioned but a preset fee structure. Mine is simple. $x's for two family members, $x's for three or more in the same family. It means more than you may think IMHO and keeps your classes from only turning into a kid's only school.
As an aside, I had one family with eight people (2-parents, 6-kids). All got above 3rd Gup and four got their black belts. Good family.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I also suggest you get with the center and utilize/join their marketing program. Will hopefully cost you less and will make you part of the 'unit'. Which I would not worry about in any sense. It is a Huge financial opportunity to get help you get started. If you outgrow the center, you are certainly doing things right. Of the nine startups I have been financially involved with, three of them started the same way. Truly a win/win. And you need to approach the center as such.
I cannot speak to your class cost structure since I am not familiar with your location, but I would leverage the low overhead you are starting with to keep your fee structure low and grow your student base.
One thing I would try to establish with the center is a family plan with a set, but reduced price for a family unit (actual family only). Not a 'discount' like you mentioned but a preset fee structure. Mine is simple. $x's for two family members, $x's for three or more in the same family. It means more than you may think IMHO and keeps your classes from only turning into a kid's only school.
As an aside, I had one family with eight people (2-parents, 6-kids). All got above 3rd Gup and four got their black belts. Good family.

They seem to be set on, whatever I end up charging, all people get charged the same. From what they implied, I think there's been some history of people gaming the system (charging at a discount officially, to gain more of the main price). It's a shame since family plan and referral plans were two of the main ideas I had for growing. I absolutely intend to charge less than others since I don't have the same expenses, and need to get people involved.

My biggest issue at the moment is finding enough students for a full kids class, since all the direct people I'm in contact with are adults in the area, and those with kids have kids below 7 (if I can only have two classes per day, my thought is 7-14, and 15+).

 

[jks9199]

My wife does freelance graphic design and promotional work for plays in the area, so she's going to give me the husband rate to help me get some fliers, put together a logo and shirt, and spread the word. By cable channel, do you mean the local news channel. or like a pay-for-cable thing? The first would be a very tough sell, the second I don't think they have.

And there's unfortunately no website they have where it'd be appropriate for them to list it. I'm expecting to have to do most of the marketing myself.

Most communities regulate cable, and the contract includes an official channel -- that's one of the things I was referring to, but there also may be an "in house" channel running continuously on their screens that you could be promoted through.

 

[_Simon_]

For those wondering, I just finished today talks with a city community center that was looking for classes. Starting in July, I will be teaching 2 days per week - a kids class followed by an adults class each day.

The way we are doing it, I will be considered a city employee while hosting there, rather than an independent contractor or just renting the space, which means A) that I will be undergoing a background check and drug screening (neither of which are an issue for me), B) any equipment that I decide I need they can requisition for me for the space (students will still have to purchase their own gis, gloves, etc. and that will be direct from me to them), and C) I will be covered under the city's existing liability insurance rather than needing my own (I will still be having everyone sign a liability waiver that I will go over with the program coordinator before classes start.

As an employee, I was given two options for payment, that I'm deciding between (and can change between later), but am most likely going with option 2.
1) get paid as an hourly employee, making the rate appropriate for a rec center instructor (they didn't give me an exact figure but sounds like it'll be 15-20/hour), or
2) get paid per student that attends. I choose the price, and they pay the center, who then takes their cut (35%) and gives me the rest. So if I decide it's $15 per session for instance, they'd get roughly $5 per student and I would get $10. That would be in lieu of any rent that I'd otherwise be paying.

Biggest drawback is that the room they are offering me is set for a max capacity of 40, but I'm not sure any more than 10 would comfortably fit in there. But they do have a bigger room if I show that I need it (and I believe different pricing negotiations for that room). If it eventually gets big enough then I can think about leaving the space and finding my own dojo/splitting with someone else to get a big space, offer additional classes/get assistant instructors/etc.

To me, this method seems very low risk, and will help me get back into teaching and hammer out how I want my curriculum to work. And if for whatever reason it doesn't seem like it's working out, all I'm losing is time and effort.

Fantastic, that's really exciting mate. Good on you, hope it goes well

 

[Simfers]

Keep us posted on your journey, Monkey. Sounds like it's started off on the right foot, that sounds super cool!

 

[Buka]

I'm going to put forth some advise that I have yet to ever hear when this topic comes up.
Does your significant other, share your enthusiasm for the project and will they be able to maintain their own commitment to your success?
This one nugget has gone sideways for me a few times, one ended the relationship and cost me about half my belongings and ultimately closed the dojo.
Business generally start within two general buckets. One being small incremental pull your self up by your boot straps type with little to no capital most often started by people with big ideas and lots of hope but little experience in buisiness. The other bucket is the more professional buisiness route with ample capital with reserves and support funds for the owner to live on, a solid business plan that denotes timeliness with projected earnings and business partnerships to help as buisiness is a team sport.
Martial art schools most often fall under category one, the self starter.
Unless your single with no commitments problems will arise in a relationship when starting.
>Your time away from your partner can cause isolation and resentment.
>Small ventures do not bring sufficient revenue. You could make more money getting a part time job at McDonald's. How long is your partner willing to go without you making a regular income?
>How risk adverse is your partner? Having your own buisiness opens you up to a lot of liability in many different ways.
> Does your partner understand the commitment level needed ? Classes need to be continuous and steady same time everytime without fail. You can't miss or be late because your partner feels you can take the kids or the dog with you and stop by the cleaners to drop of laundry for her..afterall she is working and your not, also don't forget next week is her cousin Jennifer's graduation party. You can skip classes because it's not like you have a real job.
These are real issues and a misalignment between relationship partners is a major contributor to the failure of many businesses and relationships.
Part of a small buisness plan should include how you going to communicate and navigate your relationship.
I will also add from experience that just because she says it's a great idea go for it in the beginning, doesn't mean squat. These things need to be negotiated along the way.

What a great post with great thoughts.

Opening and running a dojo, especially a full time dojo gets more complicated and time consuming with every passing year.

If it’s a small dojo with a minimal number of members, paying the bills is next to impossible. If it’s a large, crowded dojo your time commitment increases at a rapid rate, one that’s hard to keep up with.

And if you’re invested with your students, at some point they’re going to turn to you for a myriad of other things.

If you’re running a dojo alone, what happens if you get injured or come down with the flu?

What happens when a pandemic hits? I often wonder how many good, honest schools ceased to be in existence because of COVID.

And, as has been said, you either have to know how to run a business or depend on someone else who does.

Running a dojo these days can be like owning a boat. A big hole in the water you have to throw money into more than you get to enjoy a pleasant day of fishing.

 

[Prince_Alarming]

Can't offer any advice, in fact any advice I give would be discounted in the light of my being a very bad businessman, but what I can do is pray for your venture to be a success. Maybe in the fullness of time I'll be able to bless your dojo or something, I dunno