It's that time of year again. The martial arts trade magazines have told you to turn your martial arts center into a child day care, summer camp, or a three ring circus. Parents of your young students asked how many field trips their kids were going on, and you found out you were competing with the Boys and Girls club for "rock bottom day care pricing."
Where are you going to get the transportation? Should you get a bus or van? What if there is an auto accident? How many of those demanding parents are just waiting to sue you? How can a martial arts studio compete, on price, with a non-profit organization, which gets government grants?
Maybe your state has very strict day care laws and you don't want to be caught in the middle between demanding parents and state agencies. Will your town zone you differently and classify you as a child day care center?
Maybe you have a summer camp right now, and have vowed never to do it again. Which parents are late in paying their tuition? What is your third party billing agency doing about it?
Have you ever noticed the worst paying parents are usually the same ones who want everything for nothing? Are you starting to feel more like you are being taken advantage of? Do parents really see the value in martial arts, or is it "cheap day care" to most of them?
Let's face it, child day care is not why most skilled Black Belt instructors open a martial arts center, but you need another revenue stream to survive the summer.
There is another way to draw a crowd of adults to class on your slowest night of the week. Leave flyers around the waiting area for parents, and try a Yoga workshop. Some of your regular adult students will see a medicinal value in Yoga classes, too. You could even offer a kids Yoga class.
Ten years ago, Cardio Kickboxing was a big draw in the martial arts studios. Then fitness centers got into the act with super cheap prices. Yoga, like martial arts, is not a cheap activity. With fitness centers closing left and right, the fitness industry knows they have cut their own throats, with cheap prices, and little revenue to show for it.
Yoga is here to stay and will make a nice revenue stream in any martial arts studio - even if you make it an adults only program.
© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com
He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
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