There are only 7 KPIs you need to keep track of in a martial arts school

If everything is important… nothing is.

Martial arts school owners don’t lack data.

They’re overwhelmed by it.

Dashboards. Metrics. Reports.

All competing for your attention.

But when you try to track everything, you miss what actually matters.

Clarity doesn’t come from more information.

It comes from knowing what to ignore.

The most effective leaders focus on a handful of key measurables, the signals that truly drive results.

Everything else?

Noise.

If you have ever found yourself overwhelmed by all of the tasks that seem important, it is a good time to simplify what you are giving your energy to.

In Spark, we have ultimate stats. There are over 50 different metrics you could keep your eye on. And some people love to look at them, compare them, see how they did last year compared to this year. Last quarter compared to this quarter.

It can get overwhelming fast.

Reminds me of looking at all of the instrumentation in the cockpit of a jet. So many things to keep your eyes on. All at once.

However, running a martial arts school is not as complicated as flying a 727 from Miami to LA.

If all you did was look at the seven most important KPIs every day, you could run a highly successful and highly profitable martial arts school.

On a daily basis you could forget all of the other KPIs, and just keep focused on these top seven, ignore the noise, and keep track of only what is important.

Love numbers? Then do an audit of all your KPIs on a quarterly basis, but for now, let’s focus on the top seven that drive the most results in your martial arts school.

The 7 KPIs

The seven KPIs I have found most important are:

• Trials
• New Members
• MRR
• ARM
• Attrition
• Member Happiness
• Owner and Staff Happiness

These seven things, tracked daily, keep your focus where it needs to be, your profits high, and your life easier.

1. How many trials are on the book?

How many prospective students actually try out your classes each month? How many have you already had this month? A Trial could be a free class, a paid trial, or a first time person on the mat, trying your program out for the first time. The more trials, the more students.

2. How many new members have we enrolled this month?

How many new members are you enrolling each month? How does that compare to your goals? How many New Students this month? How close are you to your goal? Most schools enroll about 10 new members every month. Increasing that to 15 will change your business.

3. What is our Monthly Recurring Revenue?

How much money will be coming in from Tuition? If you have 200 students paying ~$200 in tuition, your MRR is ~$40,000. Keeping track of MRR is a way to see GROWTH in your business.

4. ARM

ARM stands for Average Revenue per Member, and is tracked monthly. This is the total amount collected from every member, divided by the number of members paying you. If you grossed $60,000 and had 250 students, your ARM would be $240. If your tuition was $200/month, you made an average of $40 per member more in other ways than tuition. In Thrive Mastermind we teach that there are over 12 ways to raise your ARM. Most school owners only focus on tuition to raise their profits, by adding just a few additional ways to gain revenue, you create a business that creates profit.

5. Attrition, how many students are dropping out each month?

Attrition is the number of students we lose every month. Attrition is the silent killer of business profits. It is why schools feel like they are on a treadmill. Taking two steps forward, and one step back. It is also the reason schools stay stuck for years. If you are at 200 students and have a 5% attrition rate, just to break even you MUST enroll 10 new students every month.

6. How happy are our members with their training?

How happy are your members? What is your score from 1 to 5 stars? Spark has an automation that asks your members to rate their last class from 1 to 5, and they can even do this anonymously. Knowing how happy your members are is a leading indicator of your retention. Keeping this score above a 4.7 is crucial.

7. Owner and Staff Happiness

I know you built this business because you wanted to make an impact, make a difference in other people’s lives. The martial arts business is a passion-driven business. You are passionate about how martial arts can help create transformation. I know you love the martial arts, and I know that you got into this business because the martial arts had a profound impact on your own life.

I also know that building and running a business can at times wear you down, knock you down, try your will to keep going.

Tracking how happy you are is important. I would say it is essential to your long term success.

You can not keep going, day after day being worn out and miserable. You must find a way to enjoy the journey of entrepreneurship. Find and track the wins you see and share them with your team. You have to take time to rest. To have fun.

You must make a business where your team feels like they are living a great martial arts lifestyle.

That they share in the satisfaction of seeing what they do on a daily basis makes a difference in your student’s life. Share the wins, point out the improvements, cheer your team on, train them so they can do their best work.

Why most martial arts schools stay stuck, and what to do about it

Most schools stay at the same plateau for years not realizing that if they have 100 members, a 5% attrition rate, and only enroll 5 new members a month, they will never grow. The same school at 200 members must enroll 10 new members a month just to break even!

We have found if you focus on lowering your attrition rate by 1% and enroll 5 more new members, you will see massive results.

And if you can raise your ARM by $20, you see profits soar.

Focus on one or two metrics above, and improving them 1% daily. Small improvements can grow your business by 37% in a year from compounding.

Ignore the noise, set some goals, raise your ARM, lower your attrition, and live your life by design.