| Friend,
If there's one thing that frustrates many a dojo owner, it's the task of CONSISTENTLY getting new students...
Most martial art school owners can get students during seasonal surges. I mean, who can't get students during the back-to-school season?
However, when it comes to getting a steady stream of eager students all year long, the majority of school owners are toast.
Interestingly, I read some statistics the other day that said something like 20 percent of new business owners end up perpetually broke, 60 percent will always struggle but survive, 15 percent will make a good living, 4 percent will do exceptionally well and become wealthy...
...and the top one percent of business owners will make millions.
An interesting bit of data, to be sure - I don't know how scientific it is, but based on my own observations I'd say it's fairly accurate.
Regardless of whether or not the numbers are spot on, the point the author was trying to make was this - we need to look at the top 5% and emulate them if we want to duplicate their success.
The #2 Thing That Will Skyrocket Your Profits In Your Dojo...
And what do these folks in the top 5% of all small business owners have in common?
Here it is...
They've mastered the art and science of direct response marketing.
Now, I know for some marketing is a dirty word. But it's undeniable that if you're running a small business, you need to attract new clients and customers on a regular basis.
(And you're not going to attract them with your belt rank, your trophies, or your charm, that's for sure.)
Besides that, no customer sticks around forever, and few even stick around more than a year or two in our industry (and if you doubt this, go look at your advanced class and calculate what percentage of your overall enrollment they represent).
Here's an undeniable fact: - If you want to be in the top 5 percent of schools, then you need to attract new students on a regular, year-round basis.
But how many leads is enough to put your school in the top five or ten percent of profitable, thriving dojos?
Benchmarks For Leads And Enrollments...
Well, let's look at some benchmarks.
Based on my own experience in running three schools of different sizes and in different markets over the last few decades, and in working with hundreds of school owners over the last ten-plus years, I've determined that: - A strong Small Dojo Big Profits-style school needs to have 150-200 students year-round (remember, we're talking about a school that's set up to have low overhead and high profit-margins, so you make just as much profit as a bigger school, but with fewer students and headaches) -
- To maintain those numbers, the school owner needs to maintain an attrition rate of under 5%, and preferably closer to 3% attrition per month -
- And, they need to enroll at least 10 new students a month (15 is the benchmark for rapid growth, though) -
- To do that they need to attract at least 25-30 good solid leads each month, and -
- They need to enroll 50% of their leads on regular long-term memberships.
150-200 active, paying students, year-round. And that all starts with generating 25-30 leads (or more) a month.
(The flipside of this is that you also need to track your metrics. If you don't measure it, you can't improve it - more on this later in the week...)
So until you get your marketing systems in place and cranking out fresh new leads, day-after-day, week-after-week, and month after month, you're always going to struggle in your dojo.
Sure, you'll get an influx of new students during the usual seasonal rushes, but then those students will fade out, move away, have kids, get new jobs, lose interest, or whatever - and you'll be back in the same boat all over again.
Are You Starving Your Dojo?
Not only that, but I'd also like to point out that getting new students also results in an immediate cash influx to your business.
Businesses small and large run on cash like your body runs on oxygen, water, and calories. Without it, your business will starve and die.
Remember the survival rule of threes I talked about a few emails back? Three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food, and you'll die.
Well, think of your short-term cash (initial payments from new enrollments, pro shop sales, private lesson sales, the odd student who pays in full, etc.) as being like oxygen for your business.
And, think about your monthly tuition collections as being like food and water for your business.
One keeps your business healthy and happy in the moment...
...while the other keeps it humming along on a full stomach.
Add them both together, and they equal all the revenue streams in your business. You need both to have a healthy, thriving business.
Every Dojo Needs More...
But what's the common denominator between both? That's right - students! Students are the source of all those revenue streams.
And if students = revenue, and marketing = students, then it's readily apparent that we need to focus on marketing to generate revenue in order to have a healthy, thriving school.
So, study marketing! And, especially become a student of direct response marketing, because it's the one type of marketing that is most relevant and useful to us as small business owners.
Stay tuned, because in tomorrow's email I'll reveal the next item on my list of The Top Five Things You Need To Focus On To Have A Highly Profitable Martial Arts School...
Keep an eye out for it.
Until next time,
Mike Massie MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
P.S. - Remember that part about copying what successful people have already done? Unfortunately, I see a lot of martial art school owners doing the exact opposite - they go online to a free-access forum or email list and ask for help from random strangers...
...and they get it - scads of it. The only problem is, the people who are giving out that free info are in the same boat as the person who is asking for help!
P.S.S. - Don't make that mistake... if you want to know what successful martial art school owners do to get 25-30 leads a month or more, click this link. |
