Running BJJ in low income communities

asian-glow

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Anyone have experience running BJJ in low income communities?

A friend of mine recently opened up a gym in a low income area. I strongly suspect the surrounding area will not be able to pay him what he is asking, which isn't a lot in BJJ terms but a lot to the local area.

What ways have you brought students in? Is there a nonprofit angle that may work better?
 
Lower the price or close his business. Those are his 2 only choices. You can't run a business that charges shitload of money in the ghetto. That shit ain't gonna happen. If he thinking of charging high prices, then get ready to close his business within a year.
 
I've trained at low-income area gyms, a lot. None of them were ever profitable. One of them had multiple students on the national Judo team, and it wasn't profitable. No one involved cared, it seemed.

I mean, what do you expect when all the shops three buildings to the right and left, and the whole complex across the street has been closed for years.

They all had multiple jobs, worked multiple gigs, teaching gigs, college / community center gigs, regular jobs... On top of it, they would have regular carry-in dinners, bake sales, fish fries, and so on and on to upkeep the place, and the mats still looked like shit.

But they were good at martial arts.

The money can start coming in when you have enough credit to get in at a suburban YMCA and start charging middle-class people 50 bucks every three months for a belt test / pizza party, on top of 80-100 a month for two, one-hour classes a week.

Bonus points for bringing in five-day a week people from your real gym in the low income area who are ten times as good and act like there isn't anything different about what they are doing.

Double word score for not telling your real students at your main gym that there is anything different, so they feel superior and stay motivated to teach for you.

Hustle Hustle Hustle
 
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Anyone have experience running BJJ in low income communities?

A friend of mine recently opened up a gym in a low income area. I strongly suspect the surrounding area will not be able to pay him what he is asking, which isn't a lot in BJJ terms but a lot to the local area.

What ways have you brought students in? Is there a nonprofit angle that may work better?

Not sure what you are asking.

Is your friend doing this as a full-time job?

To start with, when you say open a gym. Is he talking on a commercial lease and mats without any trial run in the specific area.

I mean I always rent space first out of a judo club to test the area first.
 
Lower the price or close his business. Those are his 2 only choices. You can't run a business that charges shitload of money in the ghetto. That shit ain't gonna happen. If he thinking of charging high prices, then get ready to close his business within a year.

You speaking from personal experience?
 
Not sure what you are asking.

Is your friend doing this as a full-time job?

To start with, when you say open a gym. Is he talking on a commercial lease and mats without any trial run in the specific area.

I mean I always rent space first out of a judo club to test the area first.

Yes, he wants to go full-time.

He has already opened up his own location (i.e. taken out a commercial release, put in mats, etc.) rather than renting mat space out of a separate facility.
 
Yes, he wants to go full-time.

He has already opened up his own location (i.e. taken out a commercial release, put in mats, etc.) rather than renting mat space out of a separate facility.

Tough, I know a low income place 6 miles from a somewhat more economically sound neighborhood and the price difference is $50 for 5 days a week (poor area) to $70 unlimited (6 days a week) in the richer area, well, not rich but not ghetto. It’s such a low income place that nobody has that kind of money and the instructors all have two jobs.
 
Yes, he wants to go full-time.

He has already opened up his own location (i.e. taken out a commercial release, put in mats, etc.) rather than renting mat space out of a separate facility.

Oh well.

Most people rents mats space for a while, build a solid client base and them move out to their premises when they can afford it.

Hope your friend did his numbers before signing up that lease and buying mats.

Basically, he has to look at income and expenses.
He should know by now what is his number of students to break even.
Hope for him it is not irrealistic.
Also it takes a long time to establish a presence in your area.

In terms of how to get potential customers through the doors, website has been my main source in the past as well as referral.
Facebook group and page is used to have a presence on FB but also shared info with members and old students that stopped training .
I used FB ads but it was only targeting people that already trained bjj so they likely had their club. So I paid money to show off to people that already their money to another BB. Waste of time.

When I moved to the new site, I used flyers. I might have got 2 walk in out of 100 flyers.
 
Also be flexible in your pricing.

One dad and son: discount.
Students: discount
Police officer: discount.
Serious members that lost their job: free training.

Also he has to decide on pricing strategy:
Put the price on the website or force people to come for a visit and discuss fees.

Lot of gyms that know are over price usually will not divulge the price on the phone or website. They want the chance for the potential customers to come in and see the service.
 
You speaking from personal experience?
Naw, but I've seen a good number of gyms that closed up in the ghetto area because them owners finna try being a dumb fuck dick head, thinking them fools going to make some bank by charging shitload of money while paying lower rent in the ghetto. These knuckleheads think they smart and shit, but it ended up backfiring on their ass and they had to close their shit down.
 
I thought BJJ was one of the cheapest MA schools to open. You dont need much space or equipment. Just mats, and jacket, plus you dont need that much space as you are not moving around on your feet a lot.

You can probably contract out with a different MA school like Karate and TKD or even a boxing gym. There are those in the ghettos and barrios. Maybe some one want to rent you space, or need help with rent.
 
Cheap rent isn't cheap just for no reason; it's cheap because the land owner is trying to attract people to an area that has little or nothing else attractive about it.

If there were good money-making opportunities, well then, he could charge more and people would still come looking anyways... savvy?
 
Search Google maps for BJJ in your city. You'll see how there is nothing in the low income areas and many choices in higher income areas. Poorer people don't have income flexibility to spend on BJJ.
 
BJJ is so expensive, is there a reason for the crazy pricing ? It’s just mats, maybe because it’s the super popular MA right now
 
I think gym always needs kid's classes or even market a groupon for bullshit cardio kickboxing for women.
 
I have heard that Groupon clients suck. Most are looking for temporary activities for their kids at Groupon prices. This month is BJJ. Next is swimming. Then gymnastics. Then painting. Then rock climbing. Better make sure the kids bond and you give them a belt and pizza party so that they are desperate to continue after the Groupon is over.
 
I have heard that Groupon clients suck. Most are looking for temporary activities for their kids at Groupon prices. This month is BJJ. Next is swimming. Then gymnastics. Then painting. Then rock climbing. Better make sure the kids bond and you give them a belt and pizza party so that they are desperate to continue after the Groupon is over.

I don't really see this as a problem. I think it attracts people who would not have otherwise wanted to check out bjj by offering them a low barrier to entry, which is exactly what bjj needs.
 
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