Stephen Oliver has been the guiding light for the professional revolution in the martial arts industry for more than 15 years, and is now leading the next generation of school owners to levels of professionalism and performance previously thought impossible! There is no shortcut on the road to success, but you certainly can follow the path of those who’ve come before you, and save yourself the time, energy and money by learning from their mistakes.
Stephen Oliver shares the expertise he has gained over years of working in the martial arts industry in his series Running a Martial Arts School: Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22.
When I was young something was planted firmly in my mind – I didn’t even recognize it – are you ready? Bigger equals Richer – More Sophisticated equals More Substantive – More Students equals More Profits – More Staff equals More Results – and, More Revenue equals More Profits.
You know what happened ? I added more and more locations – more and more staff – focused constantly on Getting the Gross Up.
You know what happened? The bigger I got – the harder I worked. I started finding out that you can gross $200,000 in a month – and, guess what – still not make any money after all the staff, landlords, advertisers, and insurance bills are paid. It’s really a bummer to sign that many checks – and, really not have that much left over.
You know what I’ve figured out since? If you have a school running nicely with two full-time people and you add another full time – with no other changes – everyone just does 1/3 less!. If you have a high profit operation running in 3,000 square feet – and you add 3,000 square feet (to keep up with the “big boys”) – with no other changes – you know what happens? That’s right – you just run the same number of students through a LOT MORE EXPENSIVE facility – and, now this is the kicker – everyone assumes that you are A LOT less successful – because the school just doesn’t look very busy anymore!. Sure, everything else being the same – a HIGH gross is way better than a LOW gross – it’s just that revenue doesn’t equal profits and, size does NOT equal success.
Anytime you make a decision to increase your square footage, add a staff member, or upgrade your facilities – make sure you have all the steps in place to make sure that these changes effect not only the “top line” – ie. Revenue but also the “bottom-line” – what’s left over. In fact, if you figure that bigger facility, larger staff, or facilities upgrade will just add enough to your gross to pay for the extra expenses – DON’T DO IT!. Bigger is almost by definition – more complicated, risky, and difficult to manage.
Our industry is replete with well intentioned school owners who – when they had a nice thing going – screwed it up by:
1. Adding a second location;
2. Turning their nice little school into the “Taj Mahal” of karate schools;
3. Hiring everyone who asked for a job;
4. Taking up golf, tennis, or jujutsu – and, leaving the school in the hands of the “employees” expecting the results to stay the same.
To contact Stephen Oliver and his Martial Arts Wealth Mastery visit their listing on the Martial Arts Schools and Businesses Directory by clicking on the image on the left.
