The Characteristics of Successful Schools

By Lee Mainprize
www.mainstructor.com

Why is it that some schools seem to achieve a lot more success than others?

Why are some schools struggling with only a handful of students while other schools seem to be bursting at the seams with students?

In recent years martial arts has become much more commercialized and this has undoubtedly given rise to the “Mcdojo” or “Belt Factory” as some like to put it.  Putting these aside, there are a lot of schools that are achieving success in all areas including an increase in student success and standards.
This has also given rise to a number of wealthy instructors as a result of running successful schools.

Successful schools have certain things in common; here we identify the core principles of these successful martial arts school.

1. They Attract a Consistent Flow of New Students.
Most businesses close within the first 3 years of operation because of a lack of customers. Martial Arts schools are no different. There are many great instructors without any students to teach. Lots of instructors either do nothing to attract new students or do something only when things aren't looking so good. Successful schools attract new students each month-- even if you have great student retention you will still lose students. Having an organized and well orchestrated marketing campaign will ensure your business thrives.

2. They Keep Their Existing Students
It is not good if your new students are coming in through the front door and then leaving just as fast out the back door. If you are always looking for the next great advert you could be constantly running on the mouse wheel. The key is to build life long relationships with your students founded on trust and respect.
Some schools seem to revel in the fact that they keep students at lower belt ranks and as the underlings of the school. If your students are not engaged in exciting lessons and progressing to new techniques it won't be long before they are looking for a different activity.

3. They Have a Well Designed Curriculum
A Martial Arts curriculum should be like an inverted pyramid; less material for students to learn at the beginning and much more material at the top. However, most schools are the other way around and they often overwhelm beginners with too many different techniques and expect too much from them. Ultimately, this causes a high number of dropouts. On the other hand when a student goes through a curriculum such as this and finally achieves the coveted black belt, they then find out there is nothing more to learn and they sit twiddling their thumbs for 6 months going through one or two new techniques. A good curriculum should motivate your students and not discourage them by its design.

4. They Have Developed a Consistent Way of Doing Things
Are your successful months limited to just a handful? Successful schools achieve consistent results month after month, how? They have found certain ways of doing things and systemizing them so that instead of achieving results based on the way they feel, they achieve results based on what they have found works best time after time. Such methods include telephone, enrolment, marketing and teaching procedures, often written down in standardized manuals which can be referred to in any situation.

5. They Measure Their Schools Results and Progress
If I was given a dollar for every instructor that said "we hardly lose any students," I would now be a millionaire! Let's put it to the test! How many students did you have a year ago? How many students have you enrolled in the last 12 months? How many students do you have now? By doing some quick calculations you can quickly determine how many student you have lost! Are you surprised?
Keeping statistics of your school's performance are essential. Like the dials in a plane’s cockpit, they tell the pilot how much fuel he has, how high he is flying, the wind direction and strength, which direction to go in and so on. How comfortable would you be getting on a plane with a pilot that had none of this information and he flew the plane based on intuition and feeling? I’m sure most of you would catch the next flight. Keeping statistics helps you keep your finger on the pulse of your business and helps identify weaknesses that you can work on and rectify. Best of all, statistics tell you how your business is performing in black and white terms. Statistics never lie.

6. They Set Goals and Put All Their Energy into Achieving Them
Have you ever tried to hit something that's not there to hit? It’s impossible. We know how important it is to help our students set goals and setting goals for your school is no less important. Setting goals gives you direction and a fixed outcome to set your sights on. After setting a goal all that is left to do is to break the goal down into small pieces and get to work. Prioritize! Organize your steps. Whatever is most important and pertinent to your business should be at the top of your list. For example, your goal could be to have 100 students by the end of the year, or to develop a certain number of black belts or achieve a certain level of income. The owners of successful schools have clear cut goals ranging up to 5 years into the future with yearly, monthly and daily income objectives. To achieve a high level of success you must have goals.

7. The Head Instructor is Always Training and Advancing His Knowledge

The head instructor sets the pace of the school. Owners of successful schools are constantly adding to their knowledge base in all areas; martial arts, personal development, and business. They are thirsty for more and recognize that to become more successful they have to know more and be able to think differently. Progressing and learning helps to keep your motivational juices flowing and this affects your energy levels. Your students can easily determine your skill level and your improvements just as easily as you can determine theirs. Successful head instructors are always looking to improve their curriculum and systems and never allow things to slide.