Before you can open a martial arts business there are certain fundamentals of the business you will need to think about. We will list and discuss the most important aspects of the business to consider before opening a martial arts school.

What Business Aspects to Consider

Location: Where are you going to open your school? 

Location will play a large role in the success or failure of your school so you need to give it proper consideration.

There are two main aspects to location cost and utility.

By cost we mean how much will your preferred location cost you in rent each month.

In general it is usually worth paying a little more to get the right location but don’t over pay for floor space. You don’t want to be paying for more room than you need on the assumption that you are going to be flooded with students. Find an adequate sized space that meets your budget.

The other consideration is utility.

How useful will the location be to your students.

• Is there adequate parking?
• Is it well lit?
• Is it easily visible from the street front?(great for promotion)
• Is it close to the homes of your students?

Target Market: Who are your students going to be?

Of course the simple answer is: People who want to study your martial arts. But you need to be more specific than this and address the following points.

• If you decide you want to focus on kids classes then you are going to want to locate the school in an area near young families and you will want to design your curriculum around it.
• If you are hiring a teacher to work with the children, then you will want someone who is comfortable around kids, and who parents won’t mind leaving their children with i.e. probably not a grizzled, tattooed MMA fighter with half an ear missing.
• If you want an older audience, think of locations with plenty of young employed people or near college campuses.
• If you are going to price your school at the top end of the market, then you also need to consider.

Pricing: How much will you charge?

Pricing can make or break a martial arts business, 9 times out of 10 if a martial arts business is struggling it is because they are not charging enough. If you can’t cover all of your costs, have money to reinvest in the business, pay yourself a liveable wage and draw a profit, then you probably need to raise your prices.

When most martial arts business open, they usually set their prices according to what their competition is charging. This is the wrong approach. You don’t know what their cost structures are or even if they are making any money at it. Undercharging is rampant in the martial arts business and is not a trap you want to fall into to.

You might be wondering how you can charge what you need to? The answer is to make sure that your positioning and marketing support your prices. If you are a premium school that markets effectively on a consistent basis then you will be able to charge more than your competitors.

If price was the only consideration for consumers, everybody would only ever buy Dominos Pizza. Yet people can charge 3 – 5x the price for a gourmet pizza, which is essentially the same product, but experientially very different.

Martial Arts Business Marketing Strategy: How you get your students

There are many different ways for you to market your martial arts school. I would encourage you to look carefully at the many online options that are available. It is cheaper and easier than ever before to market yourself online, and this is the primary way that people now look for a school to study at.

Google Places Google places is a free service that Google offers to local businesses. When you perform a search for something like “Miami Dentist” you will receive a list of local dentists that are located near you. In order to make sure that your school shows up for these local results you need to list yourself with Google places.

The key to success with Google places is to fill in as much detail as possible. Google allows you to include photos, videos and in-depth descriptions, so take advantage of this service. Also encourage your students to leave reviews on Google places.

Online Paid Advertising: For online paid advertising I suggest that you start with the following three advertising platforms:

• Google Adwords
• Yahoo Advertising
• Facebook Ads

All of these paid ads can be targeted by geographical location, which make them perfect for attracting students in your local area. The secret to successful online advertising is to understand Return on Investment (ROI). You must know how much your average student is worth to your over the time that you study at your school. You can then calculate how much you can afford to spend on advertising to acquire them.

List in Local Directories: You also want to make sure that when your open your martial arts business, the school is listed in as many local online directories as possible. Some of the ones I recommend include:

• Bing local
• Craigslist
• Local.com
• Yahoo local
• Yelp
• Yellow pages
• White pages
• Super pages
• Citysearch

Martial Arts Business

There are many business aspects to consider before you open a martial arts business to ensure the right decisions are made. Sound research and business planing will result in the right location, identifying your target market, the correct pricing and the right marketing strategy for your  martial arts business.