How to Turbo-Charge Your Results (Hint: Raise Your Prices)

The key components of explosive growth are simple to say and hard to do: know what you want to accomplish, learn the necessary skills, and then violently execute your plan. It amazes me how many owners sit idle and then complain about how hard they’re working. So let’s talk about the single fastest way to turbo-charge your results: raising your prices.

A $98,000 Lesson

After reviewing a coaching client’s numbers, I calculated that if he simply increased his down payment, he’d add $98,000 in revenue with the exact same number of enrollments. I banged on that drum for three months. He added exactly $0.00. Then he finally took the plunge — and here’s the part owners never believe until they see it: his enrollment ratio went up. At a higher price point, a higher percentage of prospects enrolled, and his staff told him the higher price made the enrollment conference easier. He’s far from an isolated case.

What Should You Charge?

It depends on several factors, but the most important is the perception of value — you must present your program as genuinely, deeply valuable. Once that’s established, it’s a matter of “fishing in the right pond”: marketing to families who can comfortably afford your tuition rather than those who can’t.

As a blanket recommendation, your tuition should be at least $397 a month for new enrollments. For an upgrade, bump the tuition a minimum of 50% above the enrollment price point — that’s your Leadership Program tier. Premium pricing isn’t greed; it’s what funds a school good enough to deserve it.

Answering the Two “Doubting Thomases”

“I can’t charge that — my competition charges less.” My concern about your competition is precisely zero. If your prospects are comparing prices, it’s due to one of two fixable problems: either you’re not impressive enough during the intro (fix your grooming, your school’s appearance, and your intro content), or you’re failing to “market in a vacuum” — using the same generic marketing as everyone else so prospects can’t tell you apart. Market in a vacuum and price comparisons largely disappear.

“My students can’t afford it.” That’s almost always a figment of your imagination. Observe your families’ actual spending. Unless you’re in a genuinely poverty-stricken area — in which case you should move — your students routinely spend far more on other things than what I’m suggesting you charge. One family told me they couldn’t afford their renewal… right after spending $12,000 on a Disney World vacation. Two weeks with the Mouse versus a lifetime of martial arts training — that’s the comparison to reframe.

One Caution About Existing Students

Your current students have already been “pre-framed” to value your lessons at what you originally asked them to pay. It’s difficult — not impossible, but difficult — to raise the price for the same training they’re already receiving. So set your new, higher rate for new enrollments first. (There are strategies to raise existing tuitions too, which we’ve used at Mile High Karate many times with big results — a topic for another day.)

Related Reading

• Raise Martial Arts Tuition to Premium: Escape the Commodity Trap
• Stop Charging Too Little: The All-In Value Architecture
• The Premium Price Ladder: How to Raise Martial Arts School Tuition Without Losing Students
• Why You Can Charge Double for Your Martial Arts School Right Now (And Why Price-Shopping Is a Myth)
• Case study: How Krista Wells used premium pricing and renewals to build a $1.2M school

Frequently Asked Questions

Will raising tuition cost me enrollments?

Usually the opposite. When paired with strong value perception, higher prices often increase enrollment ratios, because price signals quality and attracts families who can comfortably pay and stay.

What should a martial arts school charge?

At least $397 a month for new enrollments, with upgrade programs priced a minimum of 50% higher. The exact figure depends on the value you create and marketing to families who can afford it.

How do I handle “your competition charges less”?

Make your intro and presentation impressive and market distinctively so prospects can’t commoditize you. When you stand apart, price comparisons fade and competitors’ pricing becomes irrelevant.

Ready to Add 100 Students to Your School?

Charge what you’re worth and fill your school: get your free copy of Six Simple Steps to Add 100 New Students to Your School at SimpleSteps.com.

And to build the value that justifies premium tuition, study Extraordinary Teaching at ExtraordinaryTeaching.com.

Stephen Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt, the founder of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, and is known industry-wide as “The Millionaire Maker.”