What make a successful TKD school

[terryl965]

You know I have had my school for over 20 year and at no time have I ever had 100 people so my question is simple what makes a good TKD school? How can I enroll alot of people and make some money from my art?

My school has been successful in that people truely learn TKD and compete at a high level, butat this time in my life without being employed any longer it would help to have all that extra cash come in.

I know some of you will tell me it is not about the money but to be honest it is now, I have suffered enough over all these year and looking for full proof ways of bringing in people.

Thanks for understanding my delima.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Well I wont tell you its not about the money. In business it is about the money, you can be as passionate as you like about your business and providing a good service but at the end of the day all good business people know that the bottom line in business is to make money and there are plenty of very reputable martial arts clubs out there making heaps of money. Many people in martial arts attribute making good money with being a below par school and this I disagree with. The club I train at makes a hell of a lot of money and yet has very affordable fees ($50 per month and cheaper family rates), good quality instruction and proffessional equipment etc. We have a demo team who have demo specific training to put together quality demos and try to do demos as often as possible at school fetes, carnivals etc and hand out flyers offering a free first class. Its important to involve younger kids and elderly students in the demos so it doesnt "scare off" potential clientel by just having young, fit guys jumping around smashing timber in all directions. We are also not affiliated with larger orgs and so have our own inter-club championships each year where we get heaps of students show up and all pay a $20 entry fee, which is quite cheap for a full day of competition but would be a good earner for the club. we also have a specialised black belt class each week and students pay $10 to attend if they want some extra training. Club merchandise also makes good money especially if promoted at the right time of year such as christmas where parents buy a club jacket, shirt, sparring gear etc etc as christmas presents. We also advertise reasonably heavily because we know we have a good club with a good atmosphere and quality instruction, so if we get students we generally keep them (in my class alone we have had 8 new white belts in the last month, and we have well over 30 classes just in my area alone). Getting students is the easy part, keeping them is whats difficult and creating a good club atmosphere goes a long way toward this.

 

[terryl965]

We have the opposit problem alot of people have been with us for years but we get very few new ones, I need to grow inthis direction. Bringing in about fifty newbies every thre months would be perfect. Any suggestion on how to do this?

 

[chrispillertkd]

Try running a special where you give people $10 off their monthly tuition for bringing in someone who signs up for classes. It could be $10 off for them per person who signs up so even if you charge, say, $50 a month and someone brings in 5 new people you still get the money from the new students. You could do this promotion during a time like the summer when a lot of students miss a month or two due to vacationing or what have you to try to avoid major dips in income if that's a problem.

Pax,

Chris

 

[ralphmcpherson]

We have the opposit problem alot of people have been with us for years but we get very few new ones, I need to grow inthis direction. Bringing in about fifty newbies every thre months would be perfect. Any suggestion on how to do this?

I believe a lot of our new students are the result of demos. If you do a demo at a highschool it really doesnt take much to impress the kids and they are always up for a new 'craze'. I remember when I was in primary school and a bunch of people showed up and did a yo-yo demo at lunch time and the very next day half the school rolled up with a yo-yo (I think the simpsons even had an episode where this happened). You get a bunch of highschool kids full of testosterone and have a tkd demo team show up and start smashing timber all over the place and have some good full contact sparring demos and some throws and locks and self defence stuff and you will get some very interested onlookers. Letterbox drops have also helped my business (although my business is not MA related).

 

[granfire]

We have the opposit problem alot of people have been with us for years but we get very few new ones, I need to grow inthis direction. Bringing in about fifty newbies every thre months would be perfect. Any suggestion on how to do this?

We used to do a lot of demos, elementary school tho, the young ones were the main target (and the schools around here are weird at times and won't let you come).

If you have a good program, a bit of everything, a bit form, a bit one steps, a bit breaking and maybe a bit of participation....

It was a lot of fun, though we did usually spend a whole morning on the school.

I think the demo at a local trade show (home and garden type thing) did not yield much.

But you have to get your name out there.

Another thing, we had bright pink cards 'for a free lesson' we passed out. I prefer business cards though I can stick in my wallet. Anything with your name and contact info though.

Also, the school did a 7 week trial for a nominal fee, uniform included.

I signed on under the 'parents join free' just pay the uniform. I always said I cost the school a lot of money, because I got grandfathered in on the 2 for 1 deal...


I always wished the school would have a summer day camp deal but the school owner balked at that. But then again, I can understand it, he was open 6 days a week, from somewhere around 3:30 until 9PM week nights, 9AM til about 1 or 2 PM Saturday morning...

 

[bluewaveschool]

I know someone that does parents train free, he claims it has done a lot for his business

 

[granfire]

I like to say it was of limited success...but then again, of the 5 people I know who signed up, 3 stayed on.

The adult crowd is hard to recruit around here.

 

[miguksaram]

You know I have had my school for over 20 year and at no time have I ever had 100 people so my question is simple what makes a good TKD school? How can I enroll alot of people and make some money from my art?

My school has been successful in that people truely learn TKD and compete at a high level, butat this time in my life without being employed any longer it would help to have all that extra cash come in.

I know some of you will tell me it is not about the money but to be honest it is now, I have suffered enough over all these year and looking for full proof ways of bringing in people.

Thanks for understanding my delima.

I have always wondered about the hipocrisy we have in the martial arts when running a business. If I was to say that I truely enjoy building computers no one would blink an eye that I opened up a computer shop to do what I love and make good money at it. However, tell someone that you want to do this as a martial artist and people read you the riot act as if you were satan himself.

First and foremost you have to start with a truthful self examination. Throw the whole "if you are making money you are selling out" mindset out. Start by taking a look at at what you charge for your time. Are you getting paid what you are worth? Don't be humble, be bold. Too many instructors have sold themselves short. You have already proven that you have produced good TKD people. Next examine you overall school prices, are your prices similar, lower or higher, than what is out there? If higher why? What do you offer that ABC Dojang down road doesn't. If lower, then raise it up a bit to be just below similar to what is out there.

Next look at different programs to possibly add on. One of the best things we have done in our school in the past two months is add a Black Belt Club and a Leadership Program. Now before people start jumping on the whole giving out belts speech, let me just say that being a member in our BBC does not mean you get a black belt in specific time frame. It simply means you have made a long term commitment to earning a black belt. With that we have 3 programs: Basic, BBC and Leadership. Our basic is our core curriculum, we can have someone sign up for 3, 6 or 12 months and they can also pay in full for a small discount in price. We still teach what we have always taught. Nothing more, nothing less. Our BBC adds more width to the learning process. This is a 2-year program, with a money down and monthly payments. We tend not to do one time payments on this so you always have an income coming in. Our Leadership Program (invite only for people at 5th kyu/gup or higher) adds more depth to their learning process. This is a 3-year commitment. Same thing as our BBC with down payment and monthly payments. Each class has a couple extra perks than the one before it.

Another thing to consider, if you haven't already, is private lessons. It is cool to spend some extra time with a student here and there, but if it is a thing where you are taking up to 30 minutes of extra time, why not get paid for it?

Finally you must advertise. Do flyer runs, get involved with the chamber of commerce, things of that nature. Do a membership drive contest within the school. Offer cash incentives to people who get other people to join. That vast majority of your business will be word of mouth. So start examinig where you are putting your marketing efforts. This will help cut down on some of the expenses.

I hope this helps a bit. Please let me know if you have any questions on any of this.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

You know I have had my school for over 20 year and at no time have I ever had 100 people so my question is simple what makes a good TKD school? How can I enroll alot of people and make some money from my art?

My school has been successful in that people truely learn TKD and compete at a high level, butat this time in my life without being employed any longer it would help to have all that extra cash come in.

I know some of you will tell me it is not about the money but to be honest it is now, I have suffered enough over all these year and looking for full proof ways of bringing in people.

Thanks for understanding my delima.

Firstly, as soon as organizations that ask for fees, gain IOC recognition and corporate partnerships enter the picture, there is a business/money element.

I think that there is definitely room for both a passion for your art and financial success. Look at Paul Reed Smith, Martin and Taylor guitars. Those companies stay in business in large part because they are passionate about their art (making instruments) and make a quality product that will enable people who are passionate about their music to sound better. Those companies have found success because people who are passionate about their music are attracted to that.

Sales are all about creating need in the customer's mind, learning your customer's needs and desires, and matching your product's features and benefits to your customers' needs and desires.

In order to do that effectively, you need to know what those needs and desires are and then you need to be able to effectively communicate how those features and benefits will meet those needs and desires.

What are people looking for when they walk into a martial arts studio, or when they do a search for martial arts schools on the web? You have been in the biz long enough to probably know the vast majority of reasons.

Just as musicians don't all play the same style of music, all people looking at an MA school don't have the same reasons. You need to identify the reasons that are most applicable to your school and idenitify the types of people that go with those reasons.

Your school has physical benefits: location, size, equipment, etc.
Your school has personel benefits: a knowledgeable and capable staff that knows what they're doing.
Your school has the benefit of a quality product: Taekwondo.

And that last one is where you narrow your field a bit. Who is most interested in taekwondo? What are the reasons that people want to take taekwondo? Since you teach both the art and the sport, you can actually hit the child/athletics crowd and the traditional/SD crowd.

Also, all of the martial arts studios are competing, to some extent, for much of the same pie, mainly because most people don't know the difference between karate, hapkido, aikido, taekwondo, taijutsu and tai chi, let alone the variants within each art.

But people tend to gravitate towards certain arts because the environment meets their needs. Taekwondo tends to have a very broad appeal and a very strong appeal with families, which puts you in a good position. Take a look at what other, successful taekwondo studios in your area are doing with regards to marketing.

Lastly, set very specific goals as to the degree of financial success that you are trying to achieve. Do you want to be the nationwide household name for taekwondo? Or be able to make enough to pay your bills with a little extra? Look at you monthly sales numbers, set sales goals, and make concrete plans to meet those goals.

Chances are, you have a great deal of what customers are looking for and with the economy being in the tank, quality is what sets you apart. Also, if your prices are reasonable and the quality is there, you will be another leg up.

Daniel

 

[Xue Sheng]

Both successful but for very different reasons

#1

#2

Which one do you want to be?

Then look to what they are doing and why they are successful. However, and I hope I am way off here, I am getting the feeling you are looking for success like #2 and although I understand and would not blame you in the least it saddens me to think that. I will also admit it is MUCH easier to gain success ($$$) in TKD these days based on #2. But to be honest I believe you are currently much closer to #1

 

[Earl Weiss]

"
An Ancient Art

You are going to learn an art thousands of years old. This art, combined with many of today's modern sciences, has evolved into one of the best physical and psychological training methods known."

For the knowledgeable this is a turn off. For the naive, possibly an attraction.

Sadly, once/ if you are caught playing with the truth the seeds of doubt are sown.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Sadly, the compettive environment will factor largely in your success. People looking for a school will often choose:
A. The Most convenient - locations and class times.
B. Where their friends are
C. Cheapest

They have no yardstick by which to measure quality. They see a bunch of people dancing in their pajamas, and if they are going to learn an "Ethnic" art and someone of that ethnicity is teaching then they are suitably impressed.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I have found the "Lead Box" idea, succesful. Sadly I did not have the energy to continue it. VBAsicaly it works like this.

You see boxes in stores that say "Fill out card for a chance to win...."

So, your boxes say fill out card to win free martial art classes for yourself & a friend. (I just had the win classes and then realized that I wanted to get people in an some are less intimidated if they do things with someone they know.

So, you place a dozen or so boxes at local merchants, and collect cards monthly. Every card is a winner and you say for example the free classes are the last Mon and Wd. of the month if you send out notices the beginning of the month. Schedule the classes so they fit your schedule and so your regular class starts as these are ending so they can stay and watch. Hopefully after the free class they sign up. If I sent 100 cards I might get 10 people at the classes and a couple would sign up. The energy comes with maintaining the boxes and collecting cards.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If I were Full time kick and Punch and extremely energetic I would take a page from the multileve, marketing gurus and pay a nice referral fee to every student for every referral so long as the referral continued to train, and the referring student continued to train as well.

Example. Current monthly tuition is $100.00 / mo. Keep the same or raise $20.00.
For each student they refer, their tuition is lowered $20.00 / mo so long as the referral trains. Now, wouldn't it be just terrible if you had 10 people training for free who would have been paying $100.00 / mo but now you have 50 paying people they referred?

Whether or not you issue them a check if they exceed the base tuition, which of course is a great motivator or give addittional credits for test fees and equipment is up to you.

Then of course each of the 50 referrals my be incentivised to bring referrals.

The numbers can work well even if each levels bring in 2 referrals 10-20-40-80-160 =310

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I have found the "Lead Box" idea, succesful. Sadly I did not have the energy to continue it. VBAsicaly it works like this.

You see boxes in stores that say "Fill out card for a chance to win...."

So, your boxes say fill out card to win free martial art classes for yourself & a friend. (I just had the win classes and then realized that I wanted to get people in an some are less intimidated if they do things with someone they know.

So, you place a dozen or so boxes at local merchants, and collect cards monthly. Every card is a winner and you say for example the free classes are the last Mon and Wd. of the month if you send out notices the beginning of the month. Schedule the classes so they fit your schedule and so your regular class starts as these are ending so they can stay and watch. Hopefully after the free class they sign up. If I sent 100 cards I might get 10 people at the classes and a couple would sign up. The energy comes with maintaining the boxes and collecting cards.

If you don't mind my asking, where do you get the boxes? Are they rented or available at office supply stores? I think that it is a great idea!

Daniel

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you don't mind my asking, where do you get the boxes? Are they rented or available at office supply stores? I think that it is a great idea!

Daniel

You can use a place like this

http://leadbox.com/

Or make your own with a local printing place making the info cards

 

[Earl Weiss]

Almost forgot!

This is the time of year for Gift Certificates.

Give each existing student a certificate to give to any prospective new student or a free month or whatever.

Explain the value. I.e. if classes are $75.00 / month then your student is able to give a $75.00 gift. Explain that it only has value if they know the recipient will use it.

 

[miguksaram]

If I were Full time kick and Punch and extremely energetic I would take a page from the multileve, marketing gurus and pay a nice referral fee to every student for every referral so long as the referral continued to train, and the referring student continued to train as well.

Example. Current monthly tuition is $100.00 / mo. Keep the same or raise $20.00.
For each student they refer, their tuition is lowered $20.00 / mo so long as the referral trains. Now, wouldn't it be just terrible if you had 10 people training for free who would have been paying $100.00 / mo but now you have 50 paying people they referred?

We did something similar. If you referred someone and they signed up for a 6month of 1 year contract we would give you $50.00. If they signed up for a 3 month....$25.00. This was just a one time payment.

We did a multilevel contest before which went well. It was a 3 month contest. Every month you had the referral contest. For each person you referred you got name placed in the drawing for a free month of lessons. If the person signed up you got the $50.00 and you were entered in for the big prize of a Wii. This would be given out to who ever had the most referrals signed up, but they had to have a minimum of 2 people signed up to be eligible.

We ended up signing up about 8 people if I recall.

 

[terryl965]

Both successful but for very different reasons

#1

#2

Which one do you want to be?

Then look to what they are doing and why they are successful. However, and I hope I am way off here, I am getting the feeling you are looking for success like #2 and although I understand and would not blame you in the least it saddens me to think that. I will also admit it is MUCH easier to gain success ($$$) in TKD these days based on #2. But to be honest I believe you are currently much closer to #1

I want to keep my school they way it is just put more people in the door, so I can make some money. Maybe hirie somebody so I can have an after school program to help make some money.