Who Is Your Real Competition? (Hint: Not Other Martial Arts Schools)

I’ve said before how shortsighted it is to treat other martial arts schools as your competition. Let me make the case with some real-world observations — because once you understand who your real competition is, you’ll price, market, and sell completely differently.

Price Is Almost Irrelevant Compared to Other Schools

Starting in 1983, I moved into Denver and grew from zero to 1,500 students in a little over 18 months — while charging 50% to 100% more than the average tuition of other martial arts schools. How? A few reasons:

• I marketed in a vacuum. I created the market and drew prospects to me, rather than competing for the handful of people already shopping for lessons. Almost none of my students came from the phone book or the sign on the building — they came from aggressively reaching people who’d never considered training.
• Few prospects actually shop price. Many ask about price, but anyone even marginally skilled in telephone and sales technique makes that a non-issue quickly.
• Price only matters relative to value. With a service like ours, prospects can’t compute “cost of materials” the way they can with a product. They judge value almost entirely by you, your staff, your facility, and the social proof you provide.

Price Determines the Perception of Quality

Here’s the counterintuitive truth: prospects who do shop schools will often choose the most expensive one, knowing nothing else — because the priciest option must be the “best.” Most of us want the best product or service we can afford, not the cheapest.

Think about how brands train us. Which do you instinctively want — a Porsche or an economy sports car? A luxury watch or a drugstore one? The cheaper option may keep better time or have every feature you need, but emotionally we equate price with quality and “cheap” with lesser. Shopping at a warehouse club doesn’t mean you want junk — it means you want the best branded product at a fair price. Your prospects feel exactly the same about their child’s instruction.

Your Real Competition: Other Uses of Time and Money

So if it’s not the school across town, who is your competition? Every other use of a family’s time and money. At the low end, parents compare you to a fitness center or another youth sport. At the high end, they compare you to a personal trainer, private tutoring, or even a child psychologist. That’s the real competitive set — and against it, martial arts instruction is a remarkable value.

Which means your mission is clear: showcase the incredible benefits of training, charge premium prices so that teaching martial arts for a living is genuinely attractive and lucrative, and position your program as a near-mandatory activity for a child’s development. Stop benchmarking the school down the street, and start competing for a place in your families’ priorities.

Related Reading

• Would You Rather Be the Apple Store or Wal-Mart?
• Positioning Your Martial Arts School: Grow the Market, Don’t Fight for Scraps
• Targeting the Right Market: Why “The Economy” Isn’t Killing Your School
• Focus Your Marketing Dollars on a Specific Target Audience
• Case study: How Krista Wells grew Mercer Island Martial Arts to $1.2M with live events and renewals

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is a martial arts school’s real competition?

Not other schools — it’s every other use of a family’s time and money: fitness centers, youth sports, tutoring, personal trainers, even entertainment. Against that set, premium martial arts instruction is an excellent value.

Can I charge more than nearby schools and still grow?

Yes. Schools routinely thrive charging well above the local average by marketing in a vacuum, selling value rather than price, and providing strong social proof. Many prospects equate higher price with higher quality.

Why do some prospects pick the most expensive school?

Because with an intangible service they can’t judge quality directly, so they use price as a proxy — assuming the priciest option is the best. Most people want the best they can afford, not the cheapest.

Ready to Add 100 Students to Your School?

Win the competition for your families’ time and money: get your free copy of Six Simple Steps to Add 100 New Students to Your School at SimpleSteps.com.

And to deliver value no fitness center can match, 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.”