100% true. Being a good martial arts school owner isn't so much about your credentials ( unless you're Mendes Brothers or Marcelo or of that caliber ) . It's about your business skills and like u said , people skills. If you wanna make money in martial arts schools , you gotta teach everybody ( not just killers ). Soccer moms , kids , professional types etc). You wont make your bills with just competition team ). You gotta have contract, preferably with a billing company. . Month to month just won't cut it , crept in rare occurrences . Gotta sell merchandise. Gotta have way to market your school (direct mail , flyers , community events , Facebook , lead boxes at other business ,,good web site .etc ). Gotta know about insurance , accounting , taxes ...thats the good thing about a strip mall McDojo that's part of a national or international organization . They can help you with all this stuff , especially when you're a new owner. You could be a terrible competitor but be s successful school owner if you are good at the above .