Cover Story: Small School Systems
But I think you can extrapolate that to any
martial art. You want to live a lifestyle where
you are learning, training, and impacting
peoples’ lives. You’re not a slave to a job that
you hate and you don’t want to wake up one
day wondering where the last 30 years have
gone.
This is really why I wrote the book that I
wrote. Because it’s really from the point of
view for the martial arts school owner. It’s
about creating systems, and really it’s why I
think Randy wants me to speak to his group. I
have discovered a unique way of using Google
Drive to be able to create systems that allow you to create a fly wheel. A fly wheel is a
piece of industrial machinery that one it gets
going it doesn’t want to stop. It gets momentum.
I think in any martial arts school, whether it’s
the smallest rural school that has 10 students
who train in a garage or you go to John CasAmazon. Amazon is across the bridge and
Microsoft is in the next community over from sidy’s school in Maryland that has a bunch
me, so it’s a high net worth area. I’ve actually of highly systemized locations, they all have
6 systems. And those 6 systems really drive
seen the place change. We’ve been in the
that program. The only difference between
same location for the last 18 years.
the school that has 10 students and the multiWe have all of these little industries that start- locations that have 1000’s is that one has
ed right in the Kirkland Redmond area. Bill
learned to really execute around those sysGates lives 5 miles away from my school. It’s
tems really well. The better you learn to do
a great location and we are very active in the
that, the easier it is to scale your systems.
community. I don’t like talking numbers, but
Two students is a lot different to teach than
I make what a good attorney or a good phy200; or 2000 I’m sure is a lot different than
sician makes. I’m an entrepreneur in other
teaching 200. So you have to come to the levendeavors as well. I’m a real estate investor
el you feel comfortable with. I would venture
and my wife and I own a rare horse breeding
to say with most schools, if they are strugbusiness.
gling, they are struggling with one of those 6
Aside from the money, it’s about having a
core systems, and if you learn to create those
great quality of life. The last thing on the
core systems you don’t need the biggest softplanet I want to do is wear a suit and do the
ware program.
suit at conventions thing, because it’s really
about a lifestyle. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu they talk As much as our profession has changed in the
last ten, twenty years, I think it’s very similar
about the whole Brazilian Jiu Jitsu lifestyle.
Dojo Nation • March 2015
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