BJJ Academy Dreams: Student Growth and Retention
BJJ Academy Dreams: Student Growth and Retention
Welcome to the fifth installment of BJJ Academy Dreams, where I give you valuable insight into what it takes to start and run a successful academy of your own.
For many of you – whether you’ve been training one year or 15 years – you’ve probably already dreamed of potentially making your passion – Brazilian jiu-jitsu – your career. These days, there are many avenues to do so: coaching, competing, starting a jiu-jitsu brand, working in the event industry, or… running an academy. This last has been, and still is, the number one goal for most of the jiu-jitsu “lifers.”
But just as with any business, there are many challenges in 1) making your academy survive those first tumultuous years, then 2) making it a successful and indispensable part of your community.
For more than 16 years, I’ve trained at and visited hundreds of different academies, all over the world. I’ve taken note about what works and what doesn’t. And I’ve decided to share that knowledge in this multi-part series called “BJJ Academy Dreams” to help you and your academy thrive… so you can share your passion for jiu-jitsu to others.
In this episode, we'll be covering how to address strategies for growing your student body, as well as retaining your students and building the jiu-jitsu community of your dreams.
Your Target Student Body
Whether your goal is to build the competitive team of your dreams, or to fill your academy with the full rainbow of colored belts, the fact is that those two groups will not be the ones keeping your doors open. No, especially for freshly established academies – and even for the majority of established academies – the bulk of the student body will be white belts and children. Those are the ones that you should focus your energy and marketing dollars on attracting, and retaining. The others will find you.
As such, you need to consider where and how you might engage with these groups:
- Where: Of course, depending on your location, you may get curious walk-ins. No matter your location, you will need to engage in outreach activities. Maybe you drop flyers in coffee shops, schools and universities, or other locations where there might potentially be interested people. You might consider putting on an exhibition in the park or at a local farmer’s market, so that potential students can meet you, speak to you, and put a familiar face to the person they will see in your academy space.
- How: First, recognize that everyone has a different reason for walking through your doors or trying out a trial class. Have an “elevator speech” ready to quickly and succinctly talk about the benefits of jiu-jitsu and what your academy has to offer, but first: listen. Where did your prospective student hear about jiu-jitsu, why did he/she choose your academy, and what are his/her goals?
Tuition Rates
The fact is: Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a luxury expense. For many of your prospective students – and your existing students – the cost of being there will factor into deciding to join and/or to stay.
As such, you will have to weigh the minute loss in monthly revenue from a discounted tuition rate with the benefits of making it reasonable enough to ensure a long-term student. Depending on your payment processing software, you may be able to tailor this to every student. However, best practice is to have a few well-advertised discounted rates, typically for students, veterans and families.
Whatever your choice for the others, a family rate is indisputably worth it. A family that has multiple members who train typically stay longer. Most importantly, they are your most fervent recruiters. Moms tell other moms, dads tell other dads, kids talk about jiu-jitsu among their friends and classmates. One family will typically attract several other families over the course of their time at your academy.
Student Retention
Attracting new students is one thing, retaining them is another.
Simply put, a student’s decision to stay at an academy is based on whether that academy meets his/her goals and expectations. And that might change over the time of his/her jiu-jitsu career. That’s fine and totally normal. Sometimes you can do everything right, and it won’t be enough for that particular student; in which case he/she just isn’t the right fit for your academy. That’s also fine, and totally normal.
Ultimately, how you design and operate your academy is up to you. However, here are some things to consider that may help you retain students at a higher rate:
- Your curriculum: having a clear, progressive curriculum allows your students to learn, and keep learning, in a way that makes sense. You will also need to incorporate ways to teach to a diverse group of belt levels, so that you can cater both to your upper and lower belts.
- Growth opportunities: the jiu-jitsu belt system is designed to acknowledge and motivate growth within the sport. However, you can also provide other opportunities for growth, such as teaching classes, coaching at competitions, or organizing in-house events and get-togethers.
- Conflict resolution: anytime you put a diverse group of people together, you are bound to have friction. As the academy leader, you need to be prepared for resolving conflicts among your students, in a way that is always fair and reasonable, so that others will know and expect the same if the occasion arises.
- Your academy culture: the culture you develop within your academy is not entirely dependent on you, but it is led by you. You set the tone for your students to follow. A culture that is positive and welcoming will always retain more students than one that is not.
Starting your own academy is a big – and scary – undertaking, but with vision and preparation, it doesn’t have to be impossible.
If you haven’t already, check out the first four installments here: