Master Stone's Business Advise 101 - 3

[Dave McNeill]

Mutually Exclusive?????

I am often told that good businessmen and good martial artists are more often than not, mutually exclusive. I mean, how can you focus on creating good students and at the same time pay attention to the bottom line? Over and over we have all seen people who are amazing teachers fail at the business of martial arts. WHY??

To start, most people spend years working at the martial arts craft. Countless hours going to class, attending seminars, competing in tournaments and the list can go on for days. Moreover, after they obtain a high level of proficiency, typically it only increases your thirst for more knowledge. They seek it out, they align themselves with like-minded people, and they increase their knowledge continually.

Now what do most martial artists do when they open a school? They take the “if you build it they will come” (from Field of Dreams) approach. Once open, if they are lucky enough to start to build a client base, most never continue the education, train themselves in the business side, and want NO part of billing.

So are they mutually exclusive? Or is there a lack of desire to earn your black belt in business?