How many sq. ft. should someone rent when starting a dojo?

Question

I would like to rent two large rooms for two different classes (I would add my own mirrors and mats), one bathroom, and one office type of room, with of course a appropriate sized walk in area with uniforms and merch to buy. Thanks! God bless!

Answer 1

I'll keep this simple.  I've owned several dojo over the years, so I'll tell you the reality.

1) have a lawyer look over any contract you might sign.

2) be sure that the local zoning commission will allow you to open with only one bathroom. Many areas require tow bathrooms.

3) rent the smallest space you can get by with. Better to be crowded than to go broke tying to pay the bills.

4) have enough money on hand to pay all the business cost and your own living cost for at least one year.  If not, you will likely go out of business before the business can make a profit.

5) Don't waste space stocking merchandise. It cost you to much to stock it, and you are paying for the space even if it does not sell.  

6) You must locate the school in an upscale area. You need to be close to lots of families that have a high income. The lower income families cant' afford to pay for classes.  To be near the families with disposable income means that you will have to locate in a high rent area.

7) be sure that the location is on a high traffic route, has plenty of parking, and easy access to enter and leave by car.

8) Be sure to have insurance to cover liability before opening.

9) Caution: set your prices about the same as your competition or slightly higher.

NOTE: many have mistakenly set their prices low thinking that they would get more students that way. It is a fatal mistake. It does not work and if you raise the prices later some of the students will drop out.    People are willing to pay for classes and believe that if they are paying more they will be getting more too.

There is a lot more that you need to know, but this space is to small to cover it all.

Answer 2

Honestly, enough space for you to afford entirely on your own for a year or so. Because if you get a place too big for you to afford and don't have enough students to help keep you afloat, you could go into massive debt, and get into some real trouble.

I have known people who lost their houses trying to start up dojos and getting more than what they could sustain.

Again, get a place you could afford if you didn't have a single student for a year. Far better to start off small, build up a good group of people, and then when you have too many people for your dojo (that come regularly) then find a bigger place and move.

The size of the place has little to do with a good school, it is the quality of the teaching. If you teach quality then you will keep and get more students, and can then afford to find a bigger nicer place as your repuation grows and you can legitimately afford it.

A dojo is like any other business, you need to make sure you have enough capital starting up to run it for a while (at least through the lease) in case you don't have as much customers as you project.

You are far better off getting a smaller place, buying better quality equipment (that you can take with you, or sell later), renting a big place is just money down the drain. If you have a good bit of start up money, again far easier to rent a small place, and have smaller energy bills but be able to afford it for a year on your own.

Build up a solid student base first before going for a big large place. I have seen a lot of enthusiasm at the beginning of a dojo as well, someone being able to easily afford the big place, then when students got disinterested, and attendance fell off then people start going down hill. It's hard to predict, but again the size of a place does not denote it's quality.

Just my advice, I have ran and helped run a lot of dojos, and seen a lot of people go into financial ruin with big dojo dreams, and see a lot of people start small and end up with huge dojos the right way.