The Dojo of Karate

All I can say is WOW!… I can’t believe that I successfully opened my Karate school in Westminster / Broomfield on Monday, August 11th. I had my first official martial arts class at 5:30pm with 6 students… Not bad for having my first school open with so many crazy chain of events that took place.

I had spent my last two weekends working at the school trying to get it cleaned up, open and ready for business on Monday. So talking about being exhausted… Anyways, I scheduled my inspection for Monday the 11th of August. Obviously I passed since I opened on Monday, but it sure wasn’t easy.  Supposedly I needed to have my fire inspection before my final inspection, however there was a snag.  To make a long story short, the inspectors for the building and electrical said I passed given the fire department signed off on my building.  So I went down to City Hall, got my inspection card signed and was allowed to officially open! 

When all of that went through, I called my students letting them know I had passed my inspection and that they could come down to take class for the first time!  I was EXTREMELY excited to say the least.  Class went great.  We simply went over basics, so that the kids know how to perform their techniques.

On Wednesday, my equipment order came in, so I was able to give them uniforms.  I’m glad to see that my school is slowly making it through, and I should have full classes soon.

As for my students… these guys are GREAT!  I feel like these guys will be a great addition to my student body, and I plan on signing up more students this week.  I have two appointments tomorrow, and two on Wednesday.  Than early September should be big.

Lastly, I just want to remind all of you readers that my Grand Opening Day / Open House is August 23rd, 2008 from 11am to 1pm MST.  If you would like to enjoy a FREE 30 minute Karate lesson, some food, and a FREE All-Star Karate Demonstration, please come down and join us.  This event is open to the public and students, and anyone can bring a guest.  I look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday! 

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Get this… So I’m working at the school a couple of weeks ago… probably cleaning, right?  Anyways, a married couple come by the school to look at my flyers, so I stop over to see if they have any questions.  Went over some basic information about The Dojo, discussed our Grand Opening Specials and Family Discounts.  They have 5 kids… That’s a big family!  But it’s awesome too because if everyone in the family do activities together it makes it a bit more economical for them to spend time together as a family — especially doing Karate!  I told them we are offering 15% off for new students, and family discounts starting at 25% off for the 2nd member and 50% off for the third member.  That’s a great price when you have a big family!

Well, I got a call from them a couple of nights ago saying they wanted to get signed up, since my offer is only available to the first 30 students.  I called them right back and setup an appointment for Thursday. Read more…

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Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve last posted on here…  Sorry for the delay, but I’ve had quite a bit on my plate lately.  You can almost say things are getting a bit smoother… but I really don’t wanna jinx myself - as I feel like I already have…

Anyways, this is what has been going on.

• Framing - The framing of my office and bathroom has been finished, and it looks great!  My GC did a good job.
• Bathroom - My plumber added a “side-mount” toilet, instead of cutting the concrete, which didn’t necessarily save me money, but did save on a ton of time.  I’m surprised the city allowed him to do that instead, as they have been quite a pain in my behind.
• Electrical - So all of the rough electrical has already been installed, and looks ready to go!
• Signage - My outdoor siganage is installed and connected with the electrical now.  I also added a banner outside of the school that says “Grand Opening Now Enrolling”.  It definitely has been brining in some traffic because every day/night I’m there, I get someone that stops.  I also put some flyers on the window for people to grab when I’m not there.
• Carpet - I got an estimate last week, and it wasn’t too bad.  Once the dry wall is up, they will come by and do the carpet.

That’s pretty much it…  My inspection is tomorrow… And I’m freakin out!!  I really hope I pass too ’cause I need to open soon.  I’ve been getting quite a bit of calls, emails, and drop-in’s lately, and need to start operating.

Oh yeah, one last note.  Probably one of best good news so far…  So, as you may know, I’m about 1 month behind schedule, which is such a bummer, right.  Well, I tried to get my property manager to talk to the landlord to renegotiate my lease by extending my commencement date by 30 days, since I’m not open yet.  My property manager hasn’t been much help, which is very disappointing…  Anyways, she suggested I contact my broker and see if he can contact the other broker involved in the deal.  Well, I got word from  my broker today that there is a really good chance that they will push my commencement rent date to September - which would be FABULOUS!!!!  :D  This would help me soooo much financially.

Anyways… here’s shooting for an August 1st opening date!!!

Out!

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The Dojo of Karate  was given the opportunity to become a sponsor for a local high school in Broomfield, Colorado.  I received a call from Side Effects, a company that creates professional looking scoreboards for schools all over the country.  Essentially they are selling advertising space on two scoreboards inside the Legacy High School gymnasium.  I would have a 2′ x 4′ signage on the wall displaying The Dojo of Karate information, along with other companies.  In addition The Dojo of Karate would be the only martial arts school in the gym for 3 years.

This is a great opportunity for Legacy High School to gather funds for their Athletic Department and allow my business to be promoted within the community.  In addition, the return on investment is practically priceless. I will be in front of my target market for several events throughout the year, and families that live an active lifestyle.

There will be a Press Release released shortly describing the benefits both The Dojo of Karate and Legacy High will receive in this new sponsorship.

The Dojo of Karate looks forward to being apart of the Broomfield, Colorado community and the Legacy Lighting!

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Honestly! I’m sure I jinxed myself from one of my posts in May - Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down… Things were moving right along. I was getting my sub-contractors lined up, so that when my permit was going to be issued in early June, I’d be right on track. I’m far from that right now.

I finally got my plans reviewed by the City of Westminster, but they did not issue a permit because they are requesting some more clarifications regarding the electrical. I don’t know why either… The changes made to the unit are so minor, that it should had been an easy review because the majority of the stuff is staying/existing. I even talked to my architect about the City’s comments - he was livid! He was even more upset than me because they were questioning his work, when he specifically talked to the city to make sure he was going to meet their regulations. Bob (my architect) thought I was calling to invite him to my Grand Opening… FAR FROM IT… Read more…

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