Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 2

BUSINESS BUZZ
The Top Ten Negative Habits
That Keep You From Achieving
Your Goals, Part 1
by Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur
…and what to do about them.
It might seem like the most successful schools are just lucky,
or in the right location, or were born under the right zodiac sign, or
whatever other excuse you can come up with to keep from looking
at what YOU are doing, or not doing, to build a successful school.
I have the opportunity to coach many schools in all types of demographics,
from small-town, part-time clubs to big-city, full-time
operations with hundreds of active students, and I’ve identified
several key components that the most successful
schools are willing to do that the
unsuccessful schools don’t do. Take a
close look at this list and ask yourself
how you can improve your school by
taking action in each area.
1. You don’t let business happen.
You should make it happen every
day. That means you have to run it like
a real business—by the numbers, not
by emotions. The numbers
you need to be keenly
aware of are: the
number of inquires
per day (10), the
number of appointments
from those
inquires (75%),
the number
of introductory
lessons from
those appointments (50%), the number of enrollments (80%), the
percentage of paid-in-fulls (PIF) from those enrollments (25%), the
number of upgrade nominations made, the number of upgrade
conferences given, the number of upgrades enrolled, and the
number of PIF from those enrollments. There are other numbers
that you need to be aware of, such as your per-day minimum gross
and your daily goals.
2. You think income is owed to you.
If you think income is owed to you, you will fail to fulfill your
responsibilities to your business and earn what you’re worth. You
must create your action steps every day. Plan your marketing efforts
and the income that you’ll ask for from the nine areas of our
business the night before.
3. You don’t have personal income goals.
Decide what you want to earn and make it big enough to
change your lifestyle. The old adage “pay yourself first” means you
have to demand of yourself a wage that will enable you to live the
lifestyle you desire and save for your “old self.” Your goal has to
be motivating enough to get you to do the work necessary to earn
your goal income.
4. You’re way too cool to VIP.
Make it a point to personally invite someone every day to take
classes from you. Just go meet someone! Make them an offer
they can’t refuse: a free month of classes and a free uniform. What
would happen if you only got one person per day to take you up
on your offer and only 50% of them enrolled?
GRANDMASTER LAWRENCE ARTHUR has been a martial artist, specializing
in Karate, Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shotokan, and Goju Ryu, since 1968. He owns 40 Super Kick Karate
locations and is founder of the American Freestyle Karate Association (AFKA). A world champion
and hall of famer, Lawrence also runs the Black Belt Success Systems consulting firm, which trains
martial arts instructors on proper business practices and is used by schools all over the country.
94 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2