If you donโt want your school to die a slow, painful death, listen up.
Six months ago, I was on the phone with a school owner who was struggling financially. She was venting:
๐ โThe leads are so flaky these days.โ
๐ โParents let their kids quit too easily.โ
๐ โMy instructors just canโt do it like I do.โ
I could hear the pent-up frustration in her voice. She had been running a school for over a dozen years but was still stuck in the day-to-day grind.
โI just want the school to do better so I can retire... I donโt want to be there anymore.โ
I asked her how long she had felt this way.
Her answer? Years.
โ ๏ธ Iโm not superstitious, Iโm not religious, I donโt believe in ghostsโฆ but thereโs one thing I know for sure:
Energy is more contagious than COVID on an airplane. (Is that not a thing anymore? Whatever, you get the point.)
This is the same reason people spend thousands to see Tony Robbins. Energy is infectious. It sparks change. It motivates people to act.
Which brings me to thisโฆ
๐ The silent killer of martial arts schools isnโt bad leads. Itโs not retention. Itโs not unreliable instructors.
The silent killer is unmotivated owners.
If you donโt want to be at your school, but you have to be, that energy will poison your team. You canโt fake it. It will leak through the cracks, infect your staff, and eventually, kill your school.
Harsh? Yes. But nothing kills morale faster than working for someone who clearly doesnโt want to be there.
๐น Ever been to the DMV with an employee who doesnโt care about their job? Itโs painful.
If youโre feeling stuck and just โdonโt want to be there,โ you have some real introspection to do.
The schoolโs failure wonโt be because of bad leads or lazy instructors, it will be because of you.
Thatโs called extreme ownership (shoutout to Jocko Willink).
How Do You Fix This?
Iโll break it down for you in next weekโs Team Building Edition of the Black Belt Business Newsletter.
But for now, start with this: Get honest with yourself.
๐ญ Are you showing up as a leader, or just as someone going through the motions?
Because your energy will determine whether your school thrivesโฆ or dies.
โ
๐ Want a team that runs your school like it's their own? I help martial arts school owners scale without new student acquisition rely completely on them. ๐ https://calendar.app.google/4iebpmfcm547p5Bu6
P.S. Donโt keep the Black Belt Business Newsletter a secret! Share it with your martial arts friends by sending them this link: โก๏ธ https://www.doubleyourdojo.com/newsletters/3-min-black-belt-business-newsletter/subscribe
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