UK: How much monthly fee?

[freeBatjko]

Hi there,

I am currently building up a small, initially informal group in West Sussex and am unsure about the monthly membership fee. What is the average nowadays? 30? 40? 20 pounds?

Many thanks for any input!

-Patrick-

[Paul-M]

My gym (not martial arts, just normal gym) is £40 a month and my kung fu class is £4 for a 2 hour session. Not really sure many martial arts places have monthly fees, most just charge per session.

[freeBatjko]

The thing is, where I come from monthly contracts are standard as they allow easier management and predictability of the income from fees. However, also to enforce certain rules, like general agreements, a cancellation notice or the inclusion of holidays and so on...

Personally I'd just prefer getting a an easy-to-handle monthly amount, that is simple to calculate with. Also if you get paid by the session you are always under pressure to keep an eye on everyone's payments and you have to ask for your money at the end of each session, which I'd hate.
It's better to have some kind of motnthly plan set up, that students can forget about most of the time, concentrating on the training and not wondering each evening if the training was worth the money this time or not.

-free-

[Paul-M]

Fair enough, I think £20-£30 would be reasonable, but it depends what you're going to be doing. For example one club meeting once a week in a community hall could hardly charge as much as a club meeting every day in a dedicated gym. But £20-£30 seems about average I think.

[MAinstructor]

I would say between 25-50 pounds, this depends upon the persons confidence in what they do. If you are professional and go for the personal development and quality martial arts and present what you offer well £50 if not then £25 end.

[freeBatjko]

I eventually went for 25/adult and 20/kid.
Seems to be quite popular scheme.

-free-

[hullpaulg]

i charge a £30 pound sign on fee covering uniform insurance etc etc so you get it for them so u dont wait months for people to get gear and then 30 a month for 2x45 min classes aweek ( real basic class)

[BytomicCoaching]

Pricing

My gym (not martial arts, just normal gym) is £40 a month and my kung fu class is £4 for a 2 hour session. Not really sure many martial arts places have monthly fees, most just charge per session.

We have many thousands of martial arts trade accounts on our data base: full time schools, part time schools, individual instructors, associations; all sorts. Having run schools, been supplying schools for many years and coached and helped school owners over the years I just thought I'd hop on this thread.
Everyone has to start somewhere but you might like to consider where you'll end up before setting price. Probably too late to consider now but have a think for the future.
What's harder to do? Put prices up or bring them down? Easy I know but as your business grows and you provide better sevice, more value and more choice and therefore think you are worth more you will have real problems getting your current students to pay you more.
Of the school owners we work with, they ALL charge monthly. Charging per session is the best way NOT to have a business. You're going to be at the class aren't you? So how are you getting paid for your time if the student doesn't turn up when he pays per session?
In terms of fees, it all depends on the service and value you provide. If you train kids in a grotty little hall with no heating and they all go home with splinters in their feet (umm, think I've trained there!) you can't charge much. But if it's a pleasant hall, warm, safe, you have great classes producing great students and professionally run you can charge more.
The average is £45 per month. The highest fees I've come accross are £149 per month (unlimited training in a full time school) but if you can show the value people will happily pay for what they get, it's all down to what you think you're worth.

Chris
Bytomic Coaching

[Scott Bolinger]

my fee is, if i'm teaching a big class it's $35 per month for a single and $55 a month for a family.

as a personal training I charge $55 for a single and $75 for a family.


for pro-fighters I charge 15% of there earnings.

[Birmingham]

depending on who you're targeting (well-off kids, or rascals from the streets), could try £20/mo or £40/mo

[Scott Bolinger]

Some things I try and do to help with payment, and keep a little interest. I sponsor athletes. When I do that, they might help promote the business by helping out with paper work, hand out some flyers or training certificates, or maybe help with clean up, or if they compete, they'd were the business logal on there gi or shirt. I'd rather spend money on athlete, than risk $80 bucks on advertiseement in a newspaper. Word of mouth, goes a longer waise.

[champion]

hmm interesting

[reedk]

US dollars should be no more than about $30 and $15-$20 for kids. Any more would make it hard for members to stay for a long time. Thats what i've experienced in my memberships over the years.

mma fanatic
HawaiiUFC.com - UFC Gear, UFC Videos, UFC Books, UFC News, and More.

[shaolin-warrior]

Relevence

How much you charge for instruction is like solving for x in an equation. First you have to run some numbers....... figure out what your fixed operations costs are. You need know what it costs to put the key in the door when you show up for class. You need a plan of attack, so to speak, or a business plan with projected growth, you need to know who your competition is and what they are doing, then you need to define yourself, Image is everything. First impressions count. When a perspective customer comes in to your school or place of training, will you be able to get them to come back based solely on what they see. Then you need a menue, what are you selling, Martial Arts are great, top of the list...... Do you have Matts, what kind of equipment, how big a floor space, max capacity per class.... do you have help, do they get paid, how much? Lots of variables.

Martial Art training ......................................45.00 per month

or
Train in a state of the art facility, 6 training days per week.
3 Certified Instructors, full gym membership, showers, lockers,
Air conditioning, Wholesale pro shop for all your gear and supliments.
20%military and police discounts/ 10% student discounts/ multiple student discount of 50%Kids parents get a complimentary gym membership, drop your kids off for karate and stay and work out in the gym........................................100.00 per month

Anyone will pay for something, but first you have to show them the value in it. You also need to get them to like you more than they like their money.Greet them when they come in, know their names, their spouses names, treat them like family. People need to feel like they belong.Running a business is like sparring. Unfortunately, it's not about how good a martial artist you are, it's how well your strategy works. Then, it's how much you can get for what you sell. No one, wants to be the lowest paid for what they do. It's 2009, the days of teaching an art for free are over. Invest 12 years in school and get a phd......invest 12 years in the martial arts and work for peanuts? I don't think so. If your good at what you do, then put a price on it. If someones is offering free dental work or free open heart surgery, be leary. There is a reason.

[reedk]

Very good points. Overall i agree with you. It depends on the facility and also your own goals in life.

mma fanatic
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