Quote:
Originally Posted by meguro
Yes, but I'd also like to get more bums on seats. 
Knowing how to price the product being sold is key. If you can't cover fixed costs, you can't run a business. If you aren't reinvesting in the business by keeping facilities clean and updated, expanding when you've outgrown your location, sharing the wealth with your employees, giving back to the community, then maybe you've lost a little bit of your soul and karate has become just a job. |
There is 2 rules of thumb on pricing be higher than your compitition and never be so cheap that people see you as you price yourself...
Filling the new dojo is difficult yet can be done with lots of hard work, trial and error.
Keep records of how people find out about you this will help you to determined which ads to run and in what media.
Remember 99% of new students do not know much or anything about style etc. EVEN if they have read something or seen .. they still come to you unknowing and open to hear what you say and open to learn about how you train. Do not over sell and degrade other s. Be honest and forthcoming you'll gain more people that way as well respect from those who don't train with you as well. Help others find a place they fit be it you or other dojo is part of your job.
Ethics is huge thing for me, a struggle I fight with daily do to cost over runs, delays and the like. You have the urge to take everyone just to cover the costs, try not to if you can.
Understand this, if you can teach a class for those who wish to train in a good dojo that will educate them as well train them without hard training/fighting that is OK and still Kyokushin.
Kyokushin is Kyokushin no matter if it drop dead training or softer , either way it is kyokushin do not be blinded by thoughts or assumptions of you have to train like a made man from Jukyu forward.
Develop students, not chase them away tiring to make them hard core from day one, that training can and will come, educate them in Karate and then In Kyokushin as they understand the goals and ethics of the style...
Covering fixed cost may not come until 6-18 months after opening the door, be ready for this.
Ads will be your key to drawing in new students until the dojo grows a student base. Keep the ads simple and direct without a lot of boasting or other ...
K.I.S.S. "keep it simple stupid"
Retention is far more important than gaining more students since it cost more to gain a new student than it does to get a new one.
The average turn around on a student is 60% so working on bringing that number down to 10-40% is as strong area you need to control.
50% of the students leave in the first 30 days. and then another 50% of the remanding students quite in the next 3-months.
So it is very important that one has a Very Strong Structured beginner program