Full time place - pitfalls

globalkb

Hi lads

My club are currently in the process of negotiating a Lease for a full time martial arts studio (sick of renting halls,hanging bags,putting out mats etc for every class).

It seems a lot of people have done this over the last nubmer of years so I was just wondering would anybody who has done this have any advice for us? what are the pitfalls in starting up a full time place or what would you do differently if you were starting from scratch again?

thanks in advance:)

yomchi

Best of luck with it. Whatever the pitfalls, they are out weighed by the fact you have your own place. The most important thing to try and get is a half decent landlord.

Watch out for rates, make sure you have all your emergency exits and a water proof roof.

Apart from all that - location, location, location

bannermaf

Good for you, I think full-time places, overall, are raising the standard and the profile of martial arts in Ireland.

Rent, Council rates, Water rates, management fees (depending on the location), and VAT are the killers. Just be as aware as you can of what these costs will be and it's best to work out Standing Orders to manage small regular payments rather than being hit with a big annual or quarterly bill.

Be cautious about filling your schedule to much or too quickly, to avoid spreading yourself too thin unnecessarily.

One thing we went backward on over the years was to stop taking credit cards and direct debit payments because the bank fees were astronomical. Keep it simple.

If I can help you with anything else, drop me a message, I'd be happy to help!

globalkb

thanks,

the VAT was a surprise, we'd hoped we could get rent without VAT but unfortunately not!

turfthrower

I've rented full time premises for around 10 years, and would echo what others have said here.

When you're working out what you can afford to pay each month, make sure you're factoring in all the costs outlined here - corporation rates, esb and gas bills, water rates etc - these are all things that someone renting a school hall once or twice a week doesn't have to worry about.

Insurance is another issue - not just sport/art specific personal injury insurance but also public liability.

The quality of your landlord is one thing that can make a huge difference. I've had four landlords in ten years of various types. Some were distinctly shifty individuals and some have been great. The guy I work with now is really good - he's happy to have us there, grateful for the steady income and basically a nice guy.

I'm lucky though - I don't use the dojo for my income, so it only really has to cover costs and contribute to offsetting the costs of my own ongoing training. The place I am now is fantastic - we're very lucky to have it - and the way I got the landlord to drop the rent enough to make it affordable for us was by pointing out to him that we were a recession-proof 'business' - in other words, we only had to cover the rent, not necessarily make a profit or pay anyone's wages.

That's a big difference between a martial arts group and a start up business looking for commerical premises - the risk of them going out of business in six months or a year, and leaving owing rent is much much higher.

One thing to say is that most martial arts groups take fees from students on a class by class basis, but unless you have a huge group, this is a major potential pitfall - at certain times of the year, attendance will drop - Christmas and August and the like. At those times, attendance will drop off, but you'll still be left with a month's rent to pay. For this reason, it's worth considering establishing a monthly payment, and preferably, automating it using paypal or standing orders or the like. Alternatively, make sure you factor paying for those quite months in your figures for the rest of the year.

My experience is that the students at the dojo totally understand why this is necessary, don't resent it and understand that it's the cost of having a dedicated space to train as much as they want. I think a club needs to be at a certain level of maturity for this to work though.

Best of luck with it!

Barry.Oglesby

I'd echo what the guys are saying and just emphasise these points:
Landlord!
Location!
Rates!

All potential killers. It's worth paying a couple of extra bob for a location I think. I've done that this time and this is my 3rd premises. Already seeing the benefits.

Barry.Oglesby

Oh also if you can say to your landlord "I will pay you X all year except for August and December when I will pay you Y" that would be cool too. Landlords are lucky to have you, remember that!

globalkb

Thanks a million for all your insights lads!

We're getting the keys tomorrow,let the hard work begin! :eek:

turfthrower

One last, but important, tip - when you are getting the keys and signing the lease, make sure you have a look around the premises and highlight any damage that's pre-existing.

Depending on the lease, you can actually become responsible for the cost of repair and upkeep of a premises, potentially as far as having to repair damaged roofs or plumbing or the like. It's probably not going to happen, but even so, it's better if you get your landlord to at least verbally acknowledge any defects when you take posession. Kind of like when you hire a car - you just want to be sure you don't end up arguing about it later. You won't really know what your landlord is like until you've been there a while, so better to be prepared.

Getting keys is always exciting, and you'll be inclined to ignore niggly little worries at the time - but when the months roll by and the euphoria has worn off a bit, then you can be left with a problem.

Overall, though, congratulations on pushing things up a gear - this can only mean good things for your training and your dedication to your art, so well done!