When you need professional help.

When we want to learn martial arts, if we are clever enough we do our due diligence and find a good coach. We check history, who they’ve successfully coached, qualifications and what kind of person they are. It’s a serious and can be a life altering decision.

When we finally become a coach, running a club means we have to be able to deal with grading and training programmes, coaching qualifications, tournament programmes, property management, accounts, recruitment, managing others, student welfare, social media, AI, our own professional development, governing bodies, health and safety and so on. There’s no doubt that we often need professional help in some if not all of these areas.

It’s best to do our due diligence to find the right help. Finding a good accountant, solicitor, club management system, insurer, governing body or association, can mean the difference between success or failure. Recruiting students is one thing, keeping them is another. In the security world a common quote is that ‘you’re only as strong as your weakest point’ and this is certainly true in operating a martial arts club.

The problem is that just like the arts, there is a plethora of different needs and qualities out there, so you have to be discriminating and determine exactly what your needs are and who can fulfil them at the right price. When you let these advisors in, they become an important part of your life and some are ‘one size fits all’ and that might not be what you need. You don’t want to be working harder to pay them as they can be a big drain on your essential resources. Good business is win/win, both sides need to profit to build a healthy relationship.

Just like the arts, there’s good and bad out there and some that fit your needs and some that don’t. Get the help you need, sometimes it’s just books and google and other times it’s a healthy personal relationship or partnership.

Choose wisely.