An old judo friend who is now residing in Europe told me he wants to start a BJJ/judo club, and asked me for some best practices. I told him I could share with him best practices for KL Judo, but that they might not be applicable in a different situation and context. It's not one-size fits all. What works for us might not work for other clubs. With that caveat conveyed, I shared with him the following:

1. We charge for trial sessions. Almost every other judo or BJJ club I know offer free trial sessions. We did that at first and what we go for it was a bunch of people coming for free trials and not signing up. The sign up rate when it was free was maybe 1 in 10 people. A yoga studio owner advised me to charge for trials. She said if someone is not willing to pay RM40 for a 2-hour session, they are not the kind of members you want. When we give someone a trial session, we have to loan them a judogi (which needs to be washed). We have to dedicated resources to teaching them the basics. We should charge for that. So we do. And now our sign up rate is easy 1 in 2. That mans if two people try out, there's a good chance 1 of them will sign up. That's way better than the previous trend of 1 in 10. And it's because we charge for trial sessions. This acts as a natural filter, to remove the non-serious ones.

2. We charge quarterly fees. Perhaps BJJ clubs do this but no other judo club in this country does this. Chasing after fees is a hassle. Imagine having to do this every single month. It will drive you crazy. And it used to drive me crazy. I would dread the end of the month because it meant I had to take of my coaching cap and put on my bill collector's hat. I hated that. One day, one of our previous members from France, who had moved abroad told me we should charge at least quarterly if not yearly. Yearly might be a bit hard for many to accept so we went with quarterly. There were a few grumbles but eventually everyone accepted it. Now, it means I have to be a bill collector only 4 times a year as compared to 12.

3. We don't have drop-in rates for locals. Most clubs will have drop in rates. We do offer it for out-of-state visitors. So if you are visiting from another state or another country, and you are in KL for a few days, we will allow you to pay a drop in fee, so you can train with us. But if you live in KL, and want to train with us, you have to become a member. And that means paying quarterly fees. We have had some people request drop in rates because they can't come too often. We want member who come regularly for training. Members who come once or twice a month will not stick with the club. They don't understand the club culture because they are not immersed in it. They have no bonds with other members because they are rarely there. And they won't be very good at judo because they train so little. Nothing about this makes them a good member. We don't want that. We want members who are committed, and the minimum commitment we require is at least three months.

4. We rent our own place. When we started out, we sub-rented space in a gym and also a yoga studio. The problem with sharing space with others is that all the prime time slots are taken. Everybody wants the 7-9pm slot. Also, when you sub-rent, you don't have the flexibility to use the dojo when you want it. Even worse is that the landlord usually wants a revenue share. You pay a nominal rent (not very high) but you have to give up something like 20% of your revenue. Every new member you get, 20% goes out the window straight away. The landlord doesn't lift a finger to get you any new members. You do all the work and give them 20%. Not a good idea. It's better to just rent out a place of your own. You don't revenue share with anybody and you can use the dojo whenever you like it. You have maximum flexibility when it comes to using the dojo for your own programs.

5. Set the culture and weed out bad apples. As the dojo owner, you set the tone for the club. The club culture and ethos of the club should be a reflection of your values. You want members who appreciate the club culture, not go against it. If a new member joins and is clearly at odds with your club culture or exhibits bad behaviour, you have to confront them straight away. Don't pussyfoot and beat around the bush. Tell them their behavior is unacceptable and that if that there is no second warning. If they persist with their unacceptable behavior they have to leave the club. You have to protect the club culture otherwise the cancer will spread and infect other members.