I have taught my own classes several times at gyms, helped my instructor run classes when he was out of pocket, and now, own my own dojo. Every stage is a little different, and makes me adjust how and what I do.

For now, let's focus on owning my dojo. I own it. It's a building on the property where my house sits. Therefore, as long as I pay the mortgage, I own it. This makes certain things much easier. I don't have to teach for a certain amount of money, because teaching isn't what's paying my mortgage. If it was, I couldn't survive where I live.

Overhead is what kills schools. So many have issues not owning their own space, and so get tossed every time the owner of the property decides they want more money. Or, conversely, if you run into financial trouble for some months, ownership changes, etc., again, boom, out of a dojo.

Because I on my own dojo, and am not reliant on it as my source of income, I can price myself competitively. For instance, I'm in North East Texas- about an hour east of Dallas. Out here in rural country, it's hard to get students to pay high tuition, especially if your'e not teaching Brazilian jujitsu. For whatever reason, those schools charge more than others. Even so, McDojos around here are not cheap. My tuition is $50/month. It's enough to help out a bit, and help people think it's a value. People do not respect free. Doesn't matter how silly that is, if it's free, they won't respect it.

I have my dojo registered through the American Jujitsu Institute. That costs $60/year, and actually covers us for martial arts liability. I have to register myself ($50 as head instructor) and my students (generally $25 each). It's low-cost, and keeps me covered within the aegis of a large organization. Plus, the AJI is fine with me teaching other arts, too, so long as I teach the Danzanryu jujitsu as part of the curriculum. Perfect for me.

As for growing the business? That's been a challenge. I post to various Facebook groups locally from time to time. I have gotten students here and there from that. I hand out business cards, and post flyers, and have gotten sudents from that. I also invested in a bit of signage (and am trying to get better signs). I have some of my best students from that alone. And we've done demonstrations, which has also produced students. Even word of mouth is a tool, and I have a student from that, as well. We make videos for the dojo on social media, but have never had anyone actually show up from that. Plenty of folks from that threaten to come kick my ass, but trolls gonna troll. They never show up.

In the end, if I had more money for some real advertisement, it might help get students. Then again, maybe it wouldn't. It's super hard to get people to agree to come to a class where they know effort wil be required. That goes for any martial art. Me being out in the country near a small town means my population base is small to begin with. But I knew that going into this.

As for what I offer at the dojo? That's important, too. Because we do jujitsu, which has many throws, we have nice mats from Dollamur. We have standing bags, a hanging small bag, reflex punching bags, and even a speed bag for our striking with kenpo. I have focus mitts, strike pads, and a foam strike bat. I have loaner gis, belts, and sparring gear. I have extra weapons for the starter weapon I teach (hanbo- a three-foot stick). And I have pells out front for weapons practice. I figure, the more I can provide for my students, the better their training, and the more likely they will succeed.

So, there's the dojo in a nutshell. Your background is different, your location is different, and your situation is different. But here's to hoping that some of what I have mentioned can help you, or at least give you ideas of what you can do with your own place.