Why Are There Suddenly So Many Martial Arts Business Consultants?
Is it just me, or are martial arts business consultants now a dime a dozen?
Hold that thought, because I’m going to get back to it in a minute.
Earlier this week a marketing consultant posted the quote below, characterizing the sudden influx of coaches and consultants in his industry:
“Most of them fail at ______ and then make their money teaching newbies how to ______.”
When I read that line I laughed, then I commented, “Welcome to the world of information marketing.”
His response?
“Sadly, correct.”
The Sudden Influx of Martial Arts Business Consultants
Then yesterday I had a similar discussion with Bill Jones, who is currently the only black belt besides myself who provides Small Dojo Big Profits coaching through my consulting service, MA Biz U.
Bill and I were talking about how the barrier to entry for business coaches is extremely low. If someone wants to hold themselves out to be a coach, all they have to do is slap up a website and start running ads to unsuspecting school owners.
“There’s only a few consultants who are O.G.’s in the industry, and you’re one of them,” Bill said.
Many of the Johnny-Come-Lately business coaches and consultants have experienced success in their own studios. Yet, some of them have never started, owned, or even managed a martial arts studio.
I’m not kidding. Some of the coaches I’ve seen entering the industry over the last few years have zero experience in managing martial arts studios.
Yet, these people are charging a lot of money for their coaching services. And of those coaches who have some experience in running dojos (often with a minimal or short-lived track record of success), few of them know how to coach others.
Skill In Doing Does Not Equal Skill In Coaching
It’s kind of like when a fighter retires and starts coaching other fighters. Good fighters don’t always make good coaches. That’s because fighting skill does not necessarily equate to teaching or coaching skill.
In other words, just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you can teach others how to do it.
Sadly, there’s nothing to stop inexperienced and unqualified coaches from hanging their shingle out and advertising their consulting services.
And every day, these wannabe business coaches sucker unsuspecting school owners into paying them large sums of money for coaching services that may or may not get results.
How Many Martial Arts Business Consultants Stand the Test of Time?
Honestly, how many martial arts business consultants stand the test of time?
The answer is, “Not many.” I’ve seen them come and go. Most last a few years, then they realize it’s not so easy to get results for studio owners.
Yet, since 2000 I’ve been coaching instructors on my proven processes and systems for starting, growing, and running a profitable martial arts school.
And I’ve been doing it professionally since 2003 when I wrote and released Small Dojo Big Profits.
Back when I started, there simply weren’t any independent martial arts business consultants. It was unheard of back then, because nobody outside the big billing companies and industry organizations (which were really just large consulting companies) was teaching instructors how to grow their studios.
When I started writing books on the business of teaching martial arts, I caught a lot of flack.
Why? People in the industry didn’t like my message.
They didn’t like that I was telling instructors to save money, bootstrap, and minimize their footprint, so they could maximize their profits.
They didn’t like that I was telling school owners they could make 80% of the profits for 20% of the work.
They didn’t like me telling school owners to do their own billing (which changed the industry and marked the beginning of the end for billing companies that charged 7-10% for electronic billing services).
My Secret?
I was the lone voice in the wilderness, and I’m still here over two decades later. That’s because what I teach simply works.
It’s not flashy. It’s not complicated. And it’s not based on trends.
Yet, it is a time-tested, proven approach that has worked for hundreds of my own coaching clients and thousands of customers who have purchased my books and courses.
Skill Doesn’t Lie
So why are there suddenly so many martial arts business consultants?
Because anyone can say they’re a coach these days.
But just because someone wraps a black belt around their waist, it doesn’t make it so.
You can look the part and talk the talk, but skill doesn’t lie.
The proof is in the pudding, and I can teach other people how to do what I’ve done.
I can show any decent martial arts instructor or black belt how to go from zero to 200 students, without taking out bank loans, without racking up credit card debt, and without burning through their 401(k) to do it.
And, I can show instructors how to build a six-figure career teaching group classes, with just 200 students or less.
It may sound crazy, but I can even show you how to do it with just 24 students—if you’re humble enough to empty your cup and listen to my advice.
If this sounds like the path you want to take, reach out to me and I’ll tell you how to get started.
~Mike Massie
