Karate clubs cost money to run. It's sad but true, and it's one of the annoying things about being a Sensei. I always used to hate the money side of things, but I was good at it.
To rent our gyms, our current club needs a minimum of six members. To bring in a big instructor three times a year requires all the fees paid by two more members.
That's eight fee payers, paying for a year, just to break even. This doesn't include anything extra, like equipment, ads, tournaments or the like. It also assumes that the club's own instructor is receiving no honorarium.
It also assumes every member is paying for every month. Some miss training, and so of course do not pay during those months. Often there are students unable to pay the full amount. Our club also has a lower family rate. Great for the family, but it means reduced money for the club.
I figure we're OK, but only just. Our club is also charging the lowest fees around. There is a club nearby charging $115 a month. Within our association a few clubs have their monthly fees online. They charge $115, 65, 40, and 50. Our club charges $40. The other club charging the same as us is one of the biggest groups around. They have tons of money at a low rate by having tons of people. We have a low rate, and just enough members.
It can be annoying for club members. There are the monthly fees, that I've been talking about, and a fee each time one tests, and an annual fee to the association.
For a while, as the Fort Saint John instructor, I had the perfect system.
The fees were pretty low, but had within them a buffer. The fees were not monthly, but collected 3 times a year. The students never paid testing fees, or association fees. The club did. We also had tons of members. I even gave the students their next belt when they passed their tests.
People seemed to really like not being nickled and dimed to death.
I am a 68 year old retired teacher living on the west coast of Canada. I spent over 30 years as a student of Karate until my knees stopped liking it. My current passionate activity is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which I've been at for about 13 years.
I also charge $40 per month & as you said there are testing fees & annual dues.
ReplyDeleteHaving said this have you priced any other activity? This fee is quite reasonable & as mentioned you need quite a number of members to even consider paying the chief instructor an honorarium. The chief instructor has expenses by the way for example I just recently figured that with, travelling expenses, accomodation, meals clinic fees, lost wages etc it costs me about $700 every time that I go to a masters seminar. This is not only for my benefit but the benefit of the whole club. It would be nice if the club was large enough for one day to be helping with my expenses. In so saying, I believe that the $40 per month is very reasonable. The students whole year of training fees, testing & annual dues, don`t amount to what I pay for one masters seminar. It is all how you put it in perspective.