Posts tagged Plan
Not having a business plan is deadly!
Jun 23rd
One of the most important things that a business owner can do is to have a business plan. We’re always told that when we enter business, but somehow, most of the martial arts business owners I’ve talked to don’t have one.
It’s always something that they’ll do later. The excuse I always get is that they’re growing without one, so why bother? Or they don’t know how. Or they made one, but then lost the napkin that it was on!
This post shows proof why that’s a bad thing.
Palo Alto Software makes Business Plan Pro (and a couple of other software suites for business owners), and I don’t personally use their software (nor do I get paid if you buy it from them). My business plans have always been way more informal than what they handle, but I bought into a franchise so they helped me with my business plan.
They asked thousands of their users a few questions about if they have planned and if they have put the plan into practice. Almost 3000 of the people that had, at one time, planned to make a plan, responded.
Basically, those who actually finished their plans were almost two times as likely to grow their business and receive funding for their business!
This is important because if you plan your business, every aspect of your business, then you will be two times likelier to grow it.
If you have been in business for a while and don’t have a plan but you’re doing well, great! Could you do better if you knew where you were headed?
If you haven’t started your martial arts business yet, you need to have a plan before you ever think about leasing a location. There are a lot of things to think about.
And yes, I have made a business plan for this website and my business advising services!
Making a Game Manual
Jun 17th
In a kids-based martial arts school, having a game manual is very important. This is a binder that you keep track of every game and every fun thing that you can do with your kids classes. This includes games like dodgeball and capture the flag, but also fun things like grappling and sparring.
What are your summer plans? Part 5
Mar 14th
Finally, we get to designing ads for whatever you choose to do as your summer program. I have found that Ryan Wheaton has talked about 10 Irresistable Offers and information on your Calls to Action. This is all great information for the construction of your ads and I highly recommend his site.
He says most of what I wanted to say, but I have some other tips, in no particular order: Continue reading “What are your summer plans? Part 5” »
What are your summer plans? Part 4
Mar 9th
In the last post, I talked about which advertising vehicles you can look at to advertise your summer programs. This time, I’ll talk about how I actually go about planning a summer advertising program. Next post will be about the design of the ads and the basics of ad design. Continue reading “What are your summer plans? Part 4” »
What are your summer plans? Part 3
Mar 8th
The next part in our series on summer plans is Advertising. Go read part 1 and part 2 before this to catch up.
Advertising is a tricky topic and there’s a lot to say about advertising. For this post, I’ll stick to advertising solely for summer programs. First thing’s first: if this is your first true summer for your business, then you will need to try a lot more media (places that allow you to advertise) than if you have been around a long time. If I tell you that local parenting magazines really work well in my area, they may not work well in your area, no matter how great your ad is. Speaking of which, local parenting magazines in my area don’t work, but I know other business owners that swear by them because they work so well! Continue reading “What are your summer plans? Part 3” »
What are your summer plans? Part 2
Mar 4th
The first letter in WARF, W, stands for What. What is happening that you have to promote? What will you be doing that you want students to get involved with? This could be as “simple” as a field trip or Parent’s Night Out, or it could be as complicated as a Summer Program with many moving parts that need to be thought out. Continue reading “What are your summer plans? Part 2” »
What are your summer plans? Part 1
Mar 3rd
So what are your summer plans? Does your area even support large summer enrollments or do all the kids leave? Or is your base all adults so you don’t change much about the summer? Continue reading “What are your summer plans? Part 1” »
How do you define success?
Feb 24th
How do you define success? When have you succeeded? When have you “made it”?
Some of you may have a vague idea, but I want you to dream big! Don’t just dream of having enough money to live on, or having the next belt, or whatever!
Some martial arts business owners will define success in purely economic terms: have enough money to travel, have 300 students monthly, make $30,000 every month, etc.
Others define success in terms of their students: have X number of black belts without compromising my system, make sure my students can defend themselves in the least amount of time, etc.
The problem appears when compromises are made to reach that success. The business that wants to make $30,000 per month may have a ton of students that aren’t learning “correctly” or the business that has students that could do anything in the martial arts system but the owner has three jobs to make ends meet.
Whatever plans and goals you make, always keep in mind your other goals as well! Don’t let there be a disconnect that you aren’t comfortable with. When you define success for yourself, define it using money (the business side) and using skills (the school side). Define it so that you can live with yourself (or so that you can live period!)
Once you achieve your success, that doesn’t mean you have to stop. Just redefine your next level of success.
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