Starting a New Club in a New Town

[thanson02]

This last July, I officially stepped down from being the Head Instructor of the Martial Arts Club that I had been running for some years and my whole family moved to a new town because of jobs and career. I still have an advisory position with the leadership with the old club, but they are getting to the point where they are getting the hang of things and I do not need to be involved as much. So I am now setting my sights on my new place of residence. This is a new opportunity for me and I am looking forward to it, but I am not sure where to start. The last place I ran was a college club and my main goal is to start a community club up that I can grow into a full academy. So far I have the following:

1. A place to train
2. One student, two if you count my wife (tricky, I know)
3. A baby sitter for the kid (First one, 10 months old)
4. Guidance from my Instructors on how elements are supposed to be in regards to advertising and infrastructure.

However there are a lot of elements that are new to me and I thought I would throw my feelers out and get input from people who have done the same (or similar) things. I have 15 years experience in my system, I have competed locally and at our World Tournaments and have done well, I feel I know what students need to do to excel in our system and I have had a fair amount of success as an instructor over the last several years. I am also new to town, I do not know many people other then the folks I work with, and I feel we have some really interesting and fun programs that people will get into. Everything I have seen in town so far are basically kid Karate Classes and MMA Gyms.

So how do you get this thing off the ground? What did people do to let the community know you were out there and not some "weirdo" working out of some corner of a gym? What "Martial Art Life Hacks" did people discover that helped simplify the situation?

Looking for input more then anything........

 

[marques]

Just to push the thread up. It is not an original one, but I am interested. I put that question to myself many towns ago.

For now I have a good club to train myself (which is a bit better than managing a club). But sometimes I feel I could offer better training than the existing options... Or at least a different option. But marketing and sales are far from my best skills. So I never started any club far from my home town...

 

[hoshin1600]

i have a few questions, ..
what type of martial art are we talking about? the type or style will be a factor on how you market yourself. you say you have a location, you also mentioned about a gym. Are you going to be located in a local fitness gym? Do they have a dedicated room or are you literally in the corner? are you renting the location? the financial agreement for the location is important, in so far as your ability to cover costs and sustain the club. do you need to have liability insurance? who is your target demographic?

the answers to these questions will help us in this conversation.

 

[thanson02]

i have a few questions, ..
what type of martial art are we talking about? the type or style will be a factor on how you market yourself. you say you have a location, you also mentioned about a gym. Are you going to be located in a local fitness gym? Do they have a dedicated room or are you literally in the corner? are you renting the location? the financial agreement for the location is important, in so far as your ability to cover costs and sustain the club. do you need to have liability insurance? who is your target demographic?

the answers to these questions will help us in this conversation.

We are a hybrid system which has ground fighting, stand up sparring (full round or point, depending on their age and level), and weapons sparring. One of our main focuses however is leadership development and my strength is weapons and leadership. It is also a more traditional system (Korean) so we do a lot of bowing and there is quite a bit elements of Korean culture (language and food specifically).

As for the location, we have a specific room that we are renting from a local fitness center that works with one of the local high schools. I do want to get us to the point where we can have our own location, but I need a bigger student base first.

Liability insurance is covered and I want to grow a community. I would love to have families involved since character development is a major factor in what we do.

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This last July, I officially stepped down from being the Head Instructor of the Martial Arts Club that I had been running for some years and my whole family moved to a new town because of jobs and career. I still have an advisory position with the leadership with the old club, but they are getting to the point where they are getting the hang of things and I do not need to be involved as much. So I am now setting my sights on my new place of residence. This is a new opportunity for me and I am looking forward to it, but I am not sure where to start. The last place I ran was a college club and my main goal is to start a community club up that I can grow into a full academy. So far I have the following:

1. A place to train
2. One student, two if you count my wife (tricky, I know)
3. A baby sitter for the kid (First one, 10 months old)
4. Guidance from my Instructors on how elements are supposed to be in regards to advertising and infrastructure.

However there are a lot of elements that are new to me and I thought I would throw my feelers out and get input from people who have done the same (or similar) things. I have 15 years experience in my system, I have competed locally and at our World Tournaments and have done well, I feel I know what students need to do to excel in our system and I have had a fair amount of success as an instructor over the last several years. I am also new to town, I do not know many people other then the folks I work with, and I feel we have some really interesting and fun programs that people will get into. Everything I have seen in town so far are basically kid Karate Classes and MMA Gyms.

So how do you get this thing off the ground? What did people do to let the community know you were out there and not some "weirdo" working out of some corner of a gym? What "Martial Art Life Hacks" did people discover that helped simplify the situation?

Looking for input more then anything........

My program started with a series of self-defense seminars at a local YMCA. My first 6 students were all a result of that. 3 were participants in that seminar set (3 weeks, 2 hours each week), and the other 3 were folks they brought in. Doing the seminar someplace like that adds credibility. I also let the YMCA keep the proceeds (I required folks pay for the seminars so they'd actually show up), so I made a friend and had some help later from them.

 

[hoshin1600]

my first thought and comment/advise is from my own experience. serve your community, do not serve yourself. what i mean is provide the community what they need and want. often in business the owner tries to create his dream job. this usually doesnt work. what i like and how i dream about a dojo may be very different from what others are willing to pay for. i may want to open a Japanese cultural center and teach ancient samurai arts but my community probably wont care and wont sign up. while the mcdojo down the street is new, hip and plays techno music while hitting the punching bags and they may be filled to capacity.

 

[thanson02]

My program started with a series of self-defense seminars at a local YMCA. My first 6 students were all a result of that. 3 were participants in that seminar set (3 weeks, 2 hours each week), and the other 3 were folks they brought in. Doing the seminar someplace like that adds credibility. I also let the YMCA keep the proceeds (I required folks pay for the seminars so they'd actually show up), so I made a friend and had some help later from them.

I was thinking of hitting up the YMCA here in town to do the came thing. I am glad to hear that it worked to get things started for you. Since I am also renting a space at one of the local high schools, I thought starting a short term after school program might be a good idea as well. I do have some experience working with kids (I am an Eagle Scout) so utilizing that I thought would be an option as well.

 

[thanson02]

my first thought and comment/advise is from my own experience. serve your community, do not serve yourself. what i mean is provide the community what they need and want. often in business the owner tries to create his dream job. this usually doesnt work. what i like and how i dream about a dojo may be very different from what others are willing to pay for. i may want to open a Japanese cultural center and teach ancient samurai arts but my community probably wont care and wont sign up. while the mcdojo down the street is new, hip and plays techno music while hitting the punching bags and they may be filled to capacity.

Yea, the "Martial Art themed Fitness Gym" is popular, that much is obvious and depending on the system, it can either work well or not. Community service is one of the three pillars I am focusing on with my business model though so my hope is that it draws the type of people I am looking for. But to your point, yes, serve the community first.....

 

[thanson02]

Just to push the thread up. It is not an original one, but I am interested. I put that question to myself many towns ago.

For now I have a good club to train myself (which is a bit better than managing a club). But sometimes I feel I could offer better training than the existing options... Or at least a different option. But marketing and sales are far from my best skills. So I never started any club far from my home town...

That is legit. We certainly offer different options then others in town. I am hoping that ends up being something that will attract people to us. And I know this is not a new topic. I am reading the older post to get a s much info as I can.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I was thinking of hitting up the YMCA here in town to do the came thing. I am glad to hear that it worked to get things started for you. Since I am also renting a space at one of the local high schools, I thought starting a short term after school program might be a good idea as well. I do have some experience working with kids (I am an Eagle Scout) so utilizing that I thought would be an option as well.

If you're going to be at a school, I'd definitely leverage that convenience. I'd consider starting with something short-term, with the intention to make it a permanent thing. Make it as convenient as any other activity at the school, and you're likely to pick up some students. Heck, you might pick some up who'd rather not take the bus. If they participate in your classes, their parents can pick them up right after work, perhaps.

Use everything you've got to make the program a success, just like you'd do when you're fighting.

 

[WaterGal]

I think there are a few things to think about.

1) Your curriculum. Whether or not you make it available to your students, you should write up a formal curriculum, with exactly what techniques, drills, poomsae, types of sparring, etc you expect students to learn at each rank.

2) Your processes. You need to think about the "how" for everything that happens at the school, from the moment your prospective student decides to contact you to the day they leave. How do people contact you? How do they sign up for classes? When they first come to your club to take a class, what is the experience like? How do you keep track of them and collect their fee? How do they progress in rank? How do you deal with students who are having problems? If your student wants to quit, or they stop being able to pay for classes, what do you do? Having this stuff straight in your mind will help you to manage things.

3) Your marketing. Set up a website, and probably a Facebook page. You can get a simple 1-3 page template-based website for a small monthly fee through a number of sites, such as Wix or GoDaddy. Just insert some text and photos, and voila, you have a site. A Facebook page is free, and will let you post news and things that might be of interest to your students and potential students. If you're at a gym, they'll probably let you put some flyers up or advertise you on their website. Other community spaces around town may also let you put up some flyers. If your town/neighborhood has a community Facebook group, you may be able to post up specials or events occaisionally to promote yourself. You may want to get a banner made up (with your school name, website, what you teach etc) or some brochures - Vistaprint has a ton of DIY templates and they have sales every 3 seconds, so you can get some stuff made pretty cheap.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

This last July, I officially stepped down from being the Head Instructor of the Martial Arts Club that I had been running for some years and my whole family moved to a new town because of jobs and career. I still have an advisory position with the leadership with the old club, but they are getting to the point where they are getting the hang of things and I do not need to be involved as much. So I am now setting my sights on my new place of residence. This is a new opportunity for me and I am looking forward to it, but I am not sure where to start. The last place I ran was a college club and my main goal is to start a community club up that I can grow into a full academy. So far I have the following:

1. A place to train
2. One student, two if you count my wife (tricky, I know)
3. A baby sitter for the kid (First one, 10 months old)
4. Guidance from my Instructors on how elements are supposed to be in regards to advertising and infrastructure.

However there are a lot of elements that are new to me and I thought I would throw my feelers out and get input from people who have done the same (or similar) things. I have 15 years experience in my system, I have competed locally and at our World Tournaments and have done well, I feel I know what students need to do to excel in our system and I have had a fair amount of success as an instructor over the last several years. I am also new to town, I do not know many people other then the folks I work with, and I feel we have some really interesting and fun programs that people will get into. Everything I have seen in town so far are basically kid Karate Classes and MMA Gyms.

So how do you get this thing off the ground? What did people do to let the community know you were out there and not some "weirdo" working out of some corner of a gym? What "Martial Art Life Hacks" did people discover that helped simplify the situation?

Looking for input more then anything........

Check out the book linked in this thread (Teaching the Martial Arts), teaching the martial arts. I have never ran a school, however much of what he says makes sense, and it would be a good way to get some ideas, while also making sure that you are not missing any vital steps.

I wrote an indepth review on the book on another thread (Teaching the Martial Arts Review) if you want to check it out. It's only $3 if you get it online.

 

[thanson02]

I think there are a few things to think about.

1) Your curriculum. Whether or not you make it available to your students, you should write up a formal curriculum, with exactly what techniques, drills, poomsae, types of sparring, etc you expect students to learn at each rank.

2) Your processes. You need to think about the "how" for everything that happens at the school, from the moment your prospective student decides to contact you to the day they leave. How do people contact you? How do they sign up for classes? When they first come to your club to take a class, what is the experience like? How do you keep track of them and collect their fee? How do they progress in rank? How do you deal with students who are having problems? If your student wants to quit, or they stop being able to pay for classes, what do you do? Having this stuff straight in your mind will help you to manage things.

3) Your marketing. Set up a website, and probably a Facebook page. You can get a simple 1-3 page template-based website for a small monthly fee through a number of sites, such as Wix or GoDaddy. Just insert some text and photos, and voila, you have a site. A Facebook page is free, and will let you post news and things that might be of interest to your students and potential students. If you're at a gym, they'll probably let you put some flyers up or advertise you on their website. Other community spaces around town may also let you put up some flyers. If your town/neighborhood has a community Facebook group, you may be able to post up specials or events occaisionally to promote yourself. You may want to get a banner made up (with your school name, website, what you teach etc) or some brochures - Vistaprint has a ton of DIY templates and they have sales every 3 seconds, so you can get some stuff made pretty cheap.

These are all really good points to keep in mind. The last club I ran, I did what I called "systemized" everything that I wanted to be consistent between everyone and put it into an instructor's booklet. Before I stepped down, I was in the process of setting up a detailed lesson plan to make sure the students were focusing on what they needed to in regards to their application. Based on what you put here, it looks like I was on the right track, I just need to keep working on what I was developing and gear it towards my new environment.

Also, good points on the marketing. I didn't think of a couple of those things. Thank you!!

 

[thanson02]

Check out the book linked in this thread (Teaching the Martial Arts), teaching the martial arts. I have never ran a school, however much of what he says makes sense, and it would be a good way to get some ideas, while also making sure that you are not missing any vital steps.

I wrote an indepth review on the book on another thread (Teaching the Martial Arts Review) if you want to check it out. It's only $3 if you get it online.

I have seen this book. Thanks for the review, it gave me an idea of what to expect.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

These are all really good points to keep in mind. The last club I ran, I did what I called "systemized" everything that I wanted to be consistent between everyone and put it into an instructor's booklet. Before I stepped down, I was in the process of setting up a detailed lesson plan to make sure the students were focusing on what they needed to in regards to their application. Based on what you put here, it looks like I was on the right track, I just need to keep working on what I was developing and gear it towards my new environment.

Also, good points on the marketing. I didn't think of a couple of those things. Thank you!!

I've been slowly working on the same thing. This is helpful for an instructor for a lot of reasons. It breeds more consistency in what is delivered to the students, makes the "business" side less onerous, and makes it easier to prepare new instructors.

 

[marques]

I think there are a few things to think about.

1) Your curriculum. Whether or not you make it available to your students, you should write up a formal curriculum, with exactly what techniques, drills, poomsae, types of sparring, etc you expect students to learn at each rank.

2) Your processes. You need to think about the "how" for everything that happens at the school, from the moment your prospective student decides to contact you to the day they leave. How do people contact you? How do they sign up for classes? When they first come to your club to take a class, what is the experience like? How do you keep track of them and collect their fee? How do they progress in rank? How do you deal with students who are having problems? If your student wants to quit, or they stop being able to pay for classes, what do you do? Having this stuff straight in your mind will help you to manage things.

3) Your marketing. Set up a website, and probably a Facebook page. You can get a simple 1-3 page template-based website for a small monthly fee through a number of sites, such as Wix or GoDaddy. Just insert some text and photos, and voila, you have a site. A Facebook page is free, and will let you post news and things that might be of interest to your students and potential students. If you're at a gym, they'll probably let you put some flyers up or advertise you on their website. Other community spaces around town may also let you put up some flyers. If your town/neighborhood has a community Facebook group, you may be able to post up specials or events occaisionally to promote yourself. You may want to get a banner made up (with your school name, website, what you teach etc) or some brochures - Vistaprint has a ton of DIY templates and they have sales every 3 seconds, so you can get some stuff made pretty cheap.

My concept:

1) Curriculum: Open. Not to cover everything and doing it all wrong. But to meet group skill level and interests. Of course, we would not go beyond what I (or some other student/participant) master. And I have a clear idea of what would be the core or not. And a clear idea about the objectives. (A curriculum could be done for training support, rather than training guidance.)

2) Process. Well, very informal. No ranks (on paper). Perhaps a certificate of training hours (as a souvenir for the future ). Paid-as-you-go, as it is usual in the UK.

3) Marketing. FB page? Google Maps. And then?

It would work well as a complement of regular formal training (which can give belts and rankings and...), but not this personized (and informal) approach. Mainly drills, experiments and sparring(s). Suitable for a small group of intermediate+ people. Almost a personal training. Would you give a chance to something like it?

I already experienced something similar. Just the instructor (or someone else) was not even leading the class most of the time!! And I liked it because I could lead my own training (the best for maintenance in little hours per week) and helped the transition of some boxer to kickboxing and throwings... It was a good time. Also had a training group. And no regular training replaces that experiences...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I've been slowly working on the same thing. This is helpful for an instructor for a lot of reasons. It breeds more consistency in what is delivered to the students, makes the "business" side less onerous, and makes it easier to prepare new instructors.

I would imagine that it also forces you to slow down and think more about what you are teaching, in terms of your own understanding of the material.

 

[thanson02]

I would imagine that it also forces you to slow down and think more about what you are teaching, in terms of your own understanding of the material.

Absolutely! It also blatantly points out the gaps in your understanding of your material. That was one of the first things I noticed when I started the process of codifying the lesson plans with our core kickboxing program. It took a couple years, but I finally got that lesson plan where I want it. I am now focusing more on the ground fighting and it keeps coming up again and again.