The ABCs of the Martial Arts Business: Understanding The Basics Makes All The Difference

I do quite a few business seminars each year not only for martial arts school owners, but also for unrelated industries. The one consistent observation of all my seminars is that if you can make it simple, most people will remember it.This month, I will explain the first part of a simple model I teach in business seminars that works. I call the model "The ABCs of Business." The letter "A" is Attitude. Now that I've participated in the martial arts industry for more than 20 years, I realize that attitude is a deficiency of most instructors. I don't mean that they have a negative attitude, or that martial arts instructors are real jerks (although I have met a few that were); what I mean is that many instructors have the wrong attitude about the business of teaching. When you open a school, you are in the martial arts business, not practicing a martial arts hobby or merely participating in your passion. Unfortunately, too many instructors have the attitude that they can open their schools any hour of the day and operate it any manner. If you have a job and you only work four hours a day, two or three days a week, then you can't expect to be paid for full-time work. You are paid in direct proportion to your hours and effort. Instructors must develop the attitude that they have a job. Even if they sign their own paychecks and feel that they answer to no one, then they still work for someone-their students. A proper attitude is to treat your school like a business. Rushing into your school 10 minutes before classes start in the late afternoon, just in time to do a quick change and yell, "Line up!" demonstrates an attitude that you don't consider yourself a serious businessperson.

  "…many instructors have the wrong attitude about the business of teaching."

Teaching martial arts for a living can spoil you. I remember when I first began my teaching career; I couldn't believe how easy it was compared to a "real job." My attitude reflected a belief that the world was my oyster, and that I just cared about today, without much thought for tomorrow. I could have fun practically all night, which in those days was a fairly common occurrence, and drag myself in the next day just in time to train and teach class. Wow, what a great life for a young, single guy with no bills, and even fewer cares! Eventually I began to mature because I realized I wouldn't be successful unless I adopted a more disciplined attitude. I know of a number of rather successful, reasonably disciplined individuals teaching martial arts part-time, who decide to teach full-time, and slowly return to a part-time attitude, which ultimately leads to failure as a full-time instructor and a return to their previous full-time occupation. Most of their failures occurred because they didn't understand the dynamics of their vocation and acquired an improper attitude about their full-time business goals. I developed a very important attitude during a business trip to Las Vegas. As I sat in the lounge of the hotel where I was staying, I listened to the band that played there six nights a week. I thought to myself what a grind it must be to play the same songs, in the same order, night after night. Then, it occurred to me that teaching martial arts full-time was very similar. When I taught classes each night, I taught the same forms, kicks and punches, again and again. I realized that a Las Vegas band and a professional martial arts instructor are both in the entertainment business. Your students pay to see you perform every night on your workout floor, not physically, but with your knowledge and communication skills. I began to see myself as much an entertainer as an instructor, and when I did, my whole attitude changed, and so did my retention rate and my bank account. Next month I'll present the B of the ABCs: Belief. Rick Bell is a marketing specialist and veteran martial arts school owner, and is considered one of the leading experts on enrollment in the industry today.