TIMA Road Map #8: How to Take Your Martial Arts School from Part-Time to Full-Time

Phil:In this video, we're gonna be talking about how to go from part-time to full-time. Well, you know what? There's a ton of people out there who are just doing that part-time thing, and that's all that they wanna do, and well done, guys. If you have a passionate career and you're just living your dream on the side, then that's fantastic. But if you are wanting to go from part-time martial arts school owner to full-time, well, there's a few things you need to consider. One is the gap, the gap. What is the gap? And how do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? What does it look like? And the thing is, if you don't even know what it takes to run a full-time school, you need to find somebody who's doing it so you can ask them all those tricky questions. Because I tell you right now, running a part-time to a full-time is a big, big, different gig, so that's something you've got to remember. The second thing is the fear. There's so much fear surrounding making this big step, this leap of faith. And there's gonna be so many things inside your head, the negative beliefs, the limiting thoughts, what people say to you, "No, you can't do it" or "You shouldn't do it now" or "It's the wrong time of year" or whatever it may be, "The sun is not aligned." It doesn't really matter. There's gonna be so many times when people say, "You can't, you shouldn't, you won't." So the thing is knowing where you are and where you wanna be and then overcoming the fear to actually just do it. Graham: Look, it's really great that Phil's talking about that mindset and really getting your head straight, but you've also got to consider the risks and the rewards. And this is important, because if you can see the rewards and understand that there are risks involved in this, well, then nothing's going to stand in your way. But if you just focus on the risks and the what-ifs and the oh-my-goodnesses, you'll never take action. Look, you've got to consider the fact that, hey, it's a financial investment. If you don't take the relevant steps and prepare properly, you may find that your investment soon evaporates or you don't quite get the ROI, return on investment, that you're looking for. So there is really that planning phase that's really, really, really important. It's not just a whim. You can't just go wake up one day and go, "Hey, I'm going to start a Dojo and go from that part-time to that full-time location." You really do need that preparation, which I'm sure you guys can appreciate. The reward, though, is, well, geez, you've got a blank slate and you can write your destiny and your future the way you'd like to see it. It's creating that dream and just doing it as you want. I know myself and Phil speak often onstage about creating your vision. We wanna be the lifestyle that you wanna live, and moving into that full-time premises and that space will give you the opportunity, that pen in the hand to start you out on that journey. So the reward, personally I can say, outweighs any risk, but you need to understand the risks before any silly activity, like bungee jumping and skydiving. There's a risk, but once you've done it, you look back and think, "Wow, that was amazing." Phil: The only thing I'd just like to add to that is that the things that you need to think about is "What if" or "What is this situation? What do I need to consider being like? Do I have to get a heap of money to start up? Or can my partner or wife or husband support me while I'm doing this and we're pushing at it?" So how much money in the bank do you have to support you? How long will that take you? How many students do you need? What dollar value will they be on? All these things in planning on going from the part-time school, where you might have 30 or 50 members, maybe even 100 in a part-time location. But what money or what backing do I need to go to that full-time? There's leases involved. There's all sorts of stuff. You owe your bills. There's a lot of things to consider. And hopefully I'm not scaring anyone off because, as Graham said, the rewards are amazing. You get to live day in, day out at your passion. Not too many people get to wear pajamas to work and don't wear shoes, so we love doing that. But what I'm trying to get at is, what is the worst thing that can happen? Either you succeed or you fail, but as long as you know that the failing is only failing if you don't learn from it. So you've got to be able to reframe it and just give it a go, the leap of faith. And I know with all my heart that when your back is against the wall, you'll do whatever it takes to make sure that that succeeds. And if all else fails and it doesn't work, well, you know what? Who cares? Just get back on the horse, realign your values, your passion, and purpose, and maybe try again. Go back to part-time or try a different location. There's so many things you can think about. But my suggestion is just do it like the Nike ad. Graham: Guys, there's always going to be that "When's the right time to do this?" You do need to understand that, throughout the calendar year, there's gonna be holidays. There's gonna be times which are down time. People get focused on the economy. Geez, at Christmastime, they're spending in different areas. So just planning and understanding the cycles, the ebbs and flows, and really, that's sometimes a great way to look at things. So I know myself and Phil have always been ready to pull the trigger whenever it comes down to it. And it really comes down to planning, understanding what you need, so that if the situation arises, you're ready to go. Look, I know we've got a personal story for ourselves and our third location. Myself and Phil weren't ready just yet to create that third dojo, but we had it in the back of our mind. Yes, we had procedures and systems. We kind of knew what was going on. There was an opportunity that presented, and instead of being a six-month journey or six months away from doing it, it was a one-week decision. And Phil made the phone call and said, "Mate, we need to make an offer on these premises. Otherwise, we're gonna lose it." And we're happy to say that, now, we're looking at having over 300 students in that location in about 18 months, which is phenomenal. But you need to be ready. You need to have that plan in place. Phil: And what we're talking about with plan, it's business plan, marketing plan, your budgets. You've got to know where it's all at. And if you're unsure where to get all that information, if you're a member at TIMA, we have all that in our membership level where we just love to give all our members all sorts of juicy stuff so that they can best get the goals and the successes that they need. An awesome quote that I'll leave you guys with from Tony Robbins is "Your destiny is shaped in the moment of decision." So when you have that decision to either do it or not, that's gonna to be the moment that your destiny is shaped. You're either gonna do it and experience success or maybe you'll learn from it, or you won't and you'll always be thinking or wondering what it would be like if I did it. So guys, don't sit on the fence. If you're thinking about wanting to do a full-time school, go from part-time to full-time, if you're thinking about going from your everyday normal job and opening up a martial arts school, just do it. If you love it if it's your passion, and you want to change people's lives, do it, guys. I strongly suggest. Graham: Hey, don't forget. Check us out on all the social media channels. You guys know the ones. We're on pretty much everything. We've got the vlogs, which you guys are watching. Don't forget podcasts. And if you happen to check us out, and you're not viewing these via our website, go to TIMA.com.au. It's the housing place for all that stuff, plus there's a ton of goodies in there that are really gonna give you that confidence to be able to take that leap. And don't forget, team, you don't have to do this by yourself. You're not the lone soldier. Look around you. Surround yourself with good people. Storyboard and soundboard off as many people as you can in this sort of space. And hey, team, if you've got any questions, we're both here to serve you guys, so don't forget to drop us a line. We'd love to help. Phil: Well, that's Graham and Phil, signing out. Go get 'em.