Now it's time to get into specific markets in greater detail, so you know what you're getting into when you decide to specialize in a particular market segment. This information is critical, but be advised that your research should not stop here.

A common mistake new and would-be martial art school owners make is to do only cursory research into their chosen market or markets. Or, they do no research at all, and assume they know everything they need to know about their market.

Avoid making this mistake! Instead, begin researching your chosen market today by looking up demographics for your local area online. This will ensure that there are enough clients in your chosen segment to support a dojo.

And, start researching your market's wants, needs, and secret desires. Read books on your market, as well as magazines that cater to your chosen market segment (hint: magazine headlines are marketing gold). Read academic articles and peer-reviewed research. Learn your market inside and out.

Most school owners won't do this. So, when you do, you'll be light years ahead of your competition. Do the work, and you will succeed.

Let’s start this section by examining a market that is either loved or reviled by martial art school owners and instructors the world over… children’s classes.

Teaching kids is either a love it or hate it thing. There really is no middle ground here, and I advise that you figure out which side of the fence you’re on before you decide to base your entire business plan around teaching children.

I ran two schools that were mostly focused on teaching kids. In each, I started out by offering children’s martial arts classes in the afternoon and early evening hours. And later, I decided to expand my services into offering after-school pick up programs for school age children. 

And, I can tell you, teaching kids is either going to be the most fun you’ll ever have, or the most trying part of your day. It all hinges on how much you like working with kids.

That’s not to say that you can’t run kid’s programs in your dojo if you dislike working with kids. However, you’re going to have to find someone who likes teaching kids, and hire them to run your programs. 

This comes with its own challenges, which I cover in depth in my book on staff and leadership team training. If you don’t care to work with kids but you still want to tap this market, that’s going to be your best option.

Now, let’s look at this market. The first thing you need to understand about the children’s market is that the kids are your students, but their parents are your clients. 

This is an important distinction to make. School owners often mistakenly market their classes to children, targeting their ads to kids. And, their efforts fail miserably.

If you want to fill your classes, you need to convince parents (mostly moms) that your classes will benefit their children. And what are parents looking for?

Knowing this, you can assume that your marketing has to convey all these features and benefits to parents who are shopping for martial arts lessons for their kids.

But in addition to that, you should know that most parents are going to be price sensitive.

In other words, they are looking for the best program at the best price. I’ve said many times that the last thing you want to do as a school owner is to compete on price (read The Profit-Boosting Principles for more on this), but you do need to know how to put together attractive offers to get those budget-conscious parents through your doors.

And here’s the real key to doing well in this market: parents start off looking for the best deal, but what they really want is the best value. So if you can get them through your front door and impress them with the value of your program, and demonstrate how much benefit it will be to their children, parents will pay good money to have happier and healthier children.

This means you have to deliver on your promises. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you merely give lip service to teaching character values but you don’t follow through, parents will feel cheated, and rightfully so. This is why you must walk the talk and have a character education program in place in your school.

Another factor that influences a parent’s decision when choosing a martial arts program for their child is convenience. Specifically, proximity to their home and their children’s school, and the times at which you have classes.

This is why you want to make sure you locate your school near residential areas and schools, and why you need to schedule classes at times that are most convenient for busy parents.

Also, if you have issues at your location like parking shortages, or if it’s difficult to get in and out of your parking lot (due to traffic, etc.) then parents will quickly become frustrated and start looking for another school.

All of these considerations should weigh heavily in your decision when selecting a location for your dojo. I suggest you choose wisely and carefully, because these factors will influence your ability to attract and keep younger students for years to come.

And finally, if you want to keep your youngest students coming back to class week after week and month after month, you need to make sure your classes are fun. Also, you need to end your classes on a high note, every single class.

To a child, the quality of your programs will be dictated on the last experience they had at your dojo. If their last memory was of having a blast doing a fun drill or game, they’re going to want to come back. But if their last memory was being chastised, or doing endless burpees and push-ups, or standing in horse stance for five minutes straight, they aren’t going to want to come back to class.

And while parents are ultimately the decision makers for their children, no parent wants to fight their kid each week to get them to class. For this reason, remember that you want to keep your kids busy and have lots of physical activity for them in each and every class. But also, it has to be fun.

Be creative, include lots of variety in your classes, and end each class on a high note. This, along with understanding what parents want and communicating in your marketing that you offer those benefits, will ensure you have a successful children’s program.