Opening a BJJ Academy #1

[BJJJoe]

Like most of you that train, I have dreams of opening up my own academy. So whenever I travel I like to talk to successful gym owners and find out what keeps their doors open. So instead of keeping that information to myself I've decided to start recording these conversations and sharing with everyone.

My first interview is with Bill Odom who owns Norfolk Karate Academy. Bill is a Black Belt in Tang Soo Do and a Brown Belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Bill has approximately 150 students and a paid staff of 8 instructors. His academy is 8,000 square feet divided into 5,000 sq ft of training space and 3,000 sq ft admin space. The training space consists of two training areas and a small room for private lessons. He also has an outdoor training area in the back of the Academy which is surrounded by a bamboo garden and water feature. Bill is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and opened Norfolk Karate Academy (NKA) when he retired. He continues to work for the U.S. Government and is a "part-time" gym owner. Bill has been a gym owner for 14 years and also owns Hampton Roads Karate in Chesapeake, VA.

The Lessons: My big takeaways from Bill were to own the gym. Bill owns his academy and doesn't lease. The great thing about owning your gym is building equity. It's like owning your own home. Also he pays his instructors and gets them certified to teach. Most gyms don't pay their instructors. It's usually a teach to train exchange. I think it's important to pay your instructors, it helps them financially and money is a great motivator.

I'll be doing a series of these interviews and will try to keep them shorter. This was my first one and will hopefully get better. If there is something you'd like me to ask or feel I should cover, feel free to comment and let me know.

 

[DatCutman]

I'm curious for most gym owners; are you able to live off of the gym alone? Or is it a side-hustle? I know everyone talks about the keys to wealth being numerous streams of income that make you money while you're not working on them, but I don't think I could open a gym without wanting to be in it 24/7.

 

[BJJJoe]

I'm curious for most gym owners; are you able to live off of the gym alone? Or is it a side-hustle? I know everyone talks about the keys to wealth being numerous streams of income that make you money while you're not working on them, but I don't think I could open a gym without wanting to be in it 24/7.

Bill, the guy in the interview, has about 150 students and charges $185/person. He makes enough money to pay 8 instructors. He makes more than enough to go full time, just doesn't want too.

 

[DanaWhitesButler]

Good luck to you (seriously). Some people are great at it and make a lot of money and expand or turn it into a franchise and it works well for them. For many, it seems to be a ton of work to break even or even lose money.

As the owner of a consulting business, I would recommend the book The E Myth Revisited. It's a great little book about how to think of your business like a system that can function and grow without your constant care and feeding. That's a different perspective than most have. Most rely on their technical expertise (in this case BJJ knowledge) which the author argues is the wrong view for scaling a successful business. The book was helpful to me.

 

[EGDM]

as the owner of a consulting business

Fellow owner/operator consultant here. I have not read that book, but skimming the summary indicates I should have done it years ago. I've got a unique technical niche solving high-dollar problems for clients, but unfortunately experience has revealed that having a great product is simply not sufficient on its face to make a business successful. The more theoretically-inclined you are, the harder and more painful that lesson can be.

 

[BJJJoe]

Good luck to you (seriously). Some people are great at it and make a lot of money and expand or turn it into a franchise and it works well for them. For many, it seems to be a ton of work to break even or even lose money.

As the owner of a consulting business, I would recommend the book The E Myth Revisited. It's a great little book about how to think of your business like a system that can function and grow without your constant care and feeding. That's a different perspective than most have. Most rely on their technical expertise (in this case BJJ knowledge) which the author argues is the wrong view for scaling a successful business. The book was helpful to me.

Thanks, I'll check it out!

 

[DatCutman]

Bill, the guy in the interview, has about 150 students and charges $185/person. He makes enough money to pay 8 instructors. He makes more than enough to go full time, just doesn't want too.

Cool. I have this saved to listen to on the drive home (forgot to bring my earbuds to work), but that is just his gross, right? I guess I'm curious about what his "net" is; if it's addressed in the video, I'll try to be patient for another 3 hours.

 

[BJJJoe]

Cool. I have this saved to listen to on the drive home (forgot to bring my earbuds to work), but that is just his gross, right? I guess I'm curious about what his "net" is; if it's addressed in the video, I'll try to be patient for another 3 hours.

Bill breaks down his financials but I don't recall what it was. I probably should put it all to paper for FYI purposes.

 

[rmongler]

Some men fail because of bad fortune. Some men fail because of incompetence. But no man succeeded who was not both competent and fortunate.

 

[georgegreece]

Some men fail because of bad fortune. Some men fail because of incompetence. But no man succeeded who was not both competent and fortunate.

I know a lot of incompetent rich people.

 

[Dirty Holt]

I know a lot of incompetent rich people.

Being rich doesnt mean being successful

 

[georgegreece]

Being rich doesnt mean being successful

A successful gym would be the one that makes money and keeps going.

 

[Dirty Holt]

A successful gym would be the one that makes money and keeps going.

And you know a lot of incompetent people who are rich from running a successful gym?

 

[georgegreece]

And you know a lot of incompetent people who are rich from running a successful gym?

I know that money is a measure of success and many incompetent people have a lot of money.

 

[lechien]

And you know a lot of incompetent people who are rich from running a successful gym?

I do.

Instructor that run a cult.

Instructor that is a fake BB.

Instructor that only knowledge came for an affiliation bb that visit twice a year.

They all are MC dojo and there lot of people that happily pay them for their lifestyle.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

And you know a lot of incompetent people who are rich from running a successful gym?

Yes. Both incompetent in business and incompetent in jiujitsu. Sometimes people are just lucky

 

[Balto]

They all are MC dojo and there lot of people that happily pay them for their lifestyle.

BS martial arts sell better than real martial arts.

There is more money to be made teaching people medieval Japan LARP nonsense than anything practical.

 

[lechien]

BS martial arts sell better than real martial arts.

There is more money to be made teaching people medieval Japan LARP nonsense than anything practical.

Sadly, it is also happening in BJJ.

 

[lechien]

Yes. Both incompetent in business and incompetent in jiujitsu. Sometimes people are just lucky

Or have the right race or name indeed.

 

[Evenflow80]

Its so weird, but I never understand why its so hard to make a ton of money in BJJ gyms. For example, my gym has upwards of 60+ students paying $150 each, thats $9000 a month. Rent for our modest gym is what? $4000 at a most? if even that? That place cant be anymore than 1000 sq ft.

What other expenses are there besides taxes that could erode the remaining $5K?