Fast Food and the Martial Arts

Last time, I mentioned fast food and consistency. This time I’ll go into a little more depth.

The fast food industry is amazing. In most cases it’s decent food and ultra-simplistic service yet it is huge! Their brand recognition is amazing and they are a $160 billion dollar industry. Most martial arts schools, and especially judo schools, are making barely enough to keep the doors open, just like a lot of the small restaurants.

So, what is the difference between mom-and-pop operations and franchises? At the core, they both perform the same functions. The individual restaurant has recipes, staff, and so forth. If the restaurant has good food, charges accordingly, and manages their expenses correctly, profit comes about. The biggest difference is scale.

With only one location, a restaurant can only profit one time. If a restaurant has two locations, the profit is double. With three, triple and so forth. Of course, this all assumes everything works smoothly and we all know that is an ideal situation. The other aspect of this scale is suppliers and how much less they cost you if you have a stable relationship with them. Credit terms become better and, perhaps, even less expensive.

Let’s recap, a single location that is run well can be just as profitable or more than a franchise operation’s single location but, because of scale, collectively it will be less profitable.

I know what I’ve thought, “Sure, franchise is great, but that only works in retail.” Today I think, “I want to franchise but how?” Simply put, it’s hard work, but if you do it right, profitable. Here’s the way I’m looking to make this work:

The first step for me was actually getting involved with teaching judo. I started at the local recreation center with a very low price-point. Over the past 7 years the price has been steady as has the growth. The biggest issue is student retention, especially through the summer.

My next step is the new storefront location. This will give me full access anytime I want and I’ll have no restrictions for when I can hold classes, clinics, birthday parties, and whatnot. This provides a chance to host classes as many days of the weeks I want and at times I want to have them. I plan to broadly expand my schedule once I have my own location.

The following step comes by stepping back and allowing my assistants to begin being lead instructors. This develops new instructors and helps me to enjoy the programs and develop newer ones to build the growth. It also begins to generate the possible franchisees for the expansion to a second, third, or more locations.

When it’s time to expand, I’ve multiple people, marketing plans, capital, and the next location all lined up. With everything in order, the new location opens, the best lead and a few assistants go there and begin operations. As a wholly owned franchise, I now have two revenue streams for judo flowing to the business. Eventually, following this cycle, the expansion can exponentially expand or by a trickle, whichever is best for the business.

Let me know what you think of this idea, post in the comments below or e-mail! Don’t forget to like the Roswell and New Mexico Military Institute Judo Clubs on Facebook!