.
.

Craig Jones: “Running a BJJ Gym is Horrible, Dealing with New People is Fu*king Horrible”

Craig Jones: “Running a BJJ Gym is Horrible, Dealing with New People is Fu*king Horrible”

So you’ve been training BJJ for a couple of years already. You’re one of the best Jiujiteiros in your team and you’ve gained some experience in teaching others… What’s more, you came to like coaching so much so that you’re now thinking about opening your very own academy!
That’s a great goal. However, before you take the leap, take these 6 points into serious consideration first.

 

1. DO YOU WANT TO RUN A BUSINESS OR TO JUST TEACH?

Alright, you might like teaching others and watching them become better in Jiu Jitsu. But you could continue or start doing this in the academy you’re already a part of and training at – so why do you want to open up a new one?

If you don’t possess at least a tiny amount of love for business as well… Then you might be better off just being a coach in an academy, not an academy owner. But if you’re intrigued about the idea of owning a business, then be ready to take on full responsibility!

Rules for training at B-Team by Craig Jones

If you’re the instructor, you want to hear the reality of being a full time BJJ instructor.

B Team’s Craig Jones recently shared a few ways to make a lot of money from BJJ. In a B team video he explains:

“Running a gym is horrible, dealing with new people is fu*king horrible. Sometimes it might be better to take a pay cut and just teach classes. Less stress involved, but again – you will never make any real money if you’re doing that. If you’re a nobody purple belt, you might make $50 a private. And you might have to give 25% back to the gym owner to pay overheads.” Jones said.

 

2. ARE YOU READY TO TAKE ON FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE NEW ACADEMY?

When you’re a BJJ academy owner, you can’t just coach your students and then be done with the day. No, no, no – it doesn’t work like that.
You’ll need to think about dealing with the finances, the legal stuff, the marketing, the work-induced stress… BJJ isn’t just a fun activity anymore, where you’re able to forget about everything else; it’s now a job!

You and only you are responsible for the academy’s success. Are you ready for that?

 

3. DO YOU HAVE THE MONEY?

Do you have the necessary startup capital, which you’ll invest into the academy? Do you have savings or will you need to take on a loan from the bank? If it’s the loan, how will you return it; especially considering the fact you most likely won’t be profitable at first?
You need to figure out how much money is necessary for running the business. But that’s not all…

 

4. DO YOU HAVE A PLAN?

You will also need to develop a plan on how you’ll run the academy. It’s not as simple as just „getting it going“ and then seeing it succeed; you’ll need to write down a business plan on how you’ll grow, that stretches a few years into the future.
But, then again, it’s not enough to write it down – you need to follow it as well. Are you capable of doing that?

 

5. AND WHAT ABOUT A MARKETING AND A SALES PLAN?

How will the new students hear about you in the first place? You need to lay down a marketing plan as well; figure out how to reach prospective students and how much you need (and are willing) to spend on marketing tools.
And then, once they do come to their first class, how will you keep them on board? As you know, a lot of people start training and then give up early on. You need to figure out ways to sell them in, so that they become long-time, dedicated paying members of your academy.

 

6. ARE YOU READY TO LIVE FRUGALLY FOR A WHILE?

As in the case of any other startup business, you’ll need to invest the majority of what you earn and have into keeping stuff going in the beginning. As a result, you’ll need to live a bit more frugally than it was the case before.
If you’re not ready to sweat for a while, as you’re thinking about whether you’ll make it to the next month… Then opening up a new academy may not be for you.