Advertise on podcast: The Business of Jiu Jitsu

It’s October. If you’re overdue for a price increase, this is the season. But raising prices isn’t a fix for a gym that’s struggling. This episode covers the prerequisites first: the season, the pipeline, and the math. Then the how: when to tell people, how to tell them, and what to expect for the two weeks after. I’ve done this myself and watched a lot of gyms do it successfully. The ones that do it right don’t have it go bad. Raise prices in a season of high momentum. If the gym feels like a sinking ship, people will use it as a reason to get off.Check your pipeline first: retention, onboarding, trial and sales process, follow-up, lead generationIf your product is okay, your offer better be great. A bad physio offer and what it taught me.Call every trial before they come in. It’s great service and almost nobody does it.More competition is good. Let the bad gyms die. It raises the bar for everyone.Good business doesn’t cost you good jiu jitsu. No belt tests, no board breaks, no selling out.Get reviews. It’s your job.Set your price so you don’t have to raise it again for two or three yearsWhy I don’t love a baked-in 2 to 3% annual increaseBilling on the 1st and 15th to line up with paychecksGive two weeks’ notice. Talk to your five biggest talkers in person first, then call everyone else, then send the email.Don’t grovel. State it and move on.Expect two weeks of pushback. Week one is the worst. Then it goes back to normal.Do the math. Look at your roster, estimate who leaves, and make sure you make the same or more.Tie it to a facility or service improvement when you canCut once, cut deep. A $5 increase riles people up and does nothing.Use it to consolidate memberships. 20 options down to three.Grandfathered rates and families who can’t afford it: your call, handle it one on oneTest the new price on new students first to build your confidenceFix the pipeline before you touch the price. Retention, onboarding, offers, trials, follow-up, leads. If those are dialed, the price increase is an afterthought.Do the math and make it meaningful. Know who’s likely to leave and make sure you still come out ahead. Go big enough that you don’t have to do it again for years.Call people. Talkers in person first, then everyone else, then the email. People are a lot kinder on the phone than in the comments.Want help growing your BJJ academy? Fill out the short form below and we’ll hop on a quick 15-minute check-in call to see where your business is at. 👉 https://bdmlrby8e2s.typeform.com/to/aKsaYCA5 What we coverThree things to take awayWork with me

My guest this week is William Watts, co-owner of East Austin Jiu Jitsu. Two years open, several hundred members, 250+ five-star Google reviews, and voted best gym in Austin by the Austin Chronicle readers in their first year. Not best jiu jitsu gym. Best gym, period. And they haven't spent a cent on ads. William learned the business side before he ever opened. He helped a wellness brand open 165 locations in seven years, then worked in small business lending. Now he's put it all into a book. We get into how they make it fun without making it soft, how their 12-week fundamentals cycle works, actually coaching instead of just demonstrating, and the do's and don'ts of opening and running an academy. Why "fun" wins best gym in a city full of serious fitness peopleFun isn't goofy. Swap in "enjoyable." Solving problems and getting better is enjoyable. Being called stupid is not.Instructors demonstrate. Coaches adjust for the person in front of them. Most gyms don't coach.The 12-week fundamentals cycle, built around submissions and scoring positions, not guardsWhy beginners need an objective: what's the point of the game?Specific warm-ups tied to the day's technique, and telling students who the drill is actually forWhy black belts should partner with a business-minded purple belt instead of doing it all themselvesWhy most owners skip the business side: it's boring, they're tired, and they don't see the valueThe biggest don't when opening: never put anything in writing you're not 100% sure will happenTime blocking. Do one thing at a time. Put the phone out of reach.Ask students what they're working on, and connect members to each otherPaid ads are the last thing you do, not the firstBefore you open: what your gym is, who it's for, and why it needs to exist. One sentence, then one page.Make it fun. Most people want to train 2.3 times a week. Build the gym for them and the hardcore people will still work hard.Coach, don't just demonstrate. Bodies are different. Adjust the technique for the person in front of you.Say what you'll do, then do it. Schedule, opening date, all of it. If it's not certain, don't write it down.East Austin Jiu Jitsu: https://www.eastaustinjiujitsu.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastaustinjiujitsu/The Jiu Jitsu Gym Operations Manual: How to Run the Best Gym in Your City Without Spending a Cent on Ads: https://a.co/d/0dBvuXG3 Want help growing your BJJ academy? Fill out the short form below and we'll hop on a quick 15-minute check-in call to see where your business is at. 👉 https://bdmlrby8e2s.typeform.com/to/aKsaYCA5

Hell of a click bait title I know but there is A LOT of truth in it for most academy and gym owners. Tell me if this sounds familiar... "I post all the time. Why don't I have more students?" Or the other one: "I tried ads once, they didn't work." This episode is my whole philosophy on organic and paid for a jiu jitsu academy. Short version: organic is a vibe check for people who already found you. Paid is how strangers find you. Follow-up is what puts new students on the mat. Organic Don't hire someone to run it. Put that money into ads or retention.Organic is a store window. Do people see regular Joes having fun, or blast doubles and staph?Easiest content: belt promotions and stripes. Photo every time, quick five-question interview on every belt promotion.Also good: what a class is like, basic positions, how to tie your belt.Why your posts don't bring in leads: organic only reaches people already following you.Three posts a week, Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Viral reach doesn't help a local business.Get comfortable on camera. Ads need a face and it should be yours. Wear a rash guard.Attribution isn't worth chasing. Separate forms per lead source, and watch leads, trials, and sign-ups go up.Paid Nobody has ever come to me happy with their agency.Don't run ads until follow-up, a simple sales process, and onboarding are built. Six to eight weeks for most.Budget: about $30 a day, $1,000 a month. Less than that, don't bother.The offer: free class. Put a seasonal wrapper on it (back to school, bullyproof, no wasted winter). The season is the reason.The ad: you, selfie style, in a gi, walking your mat. "This is JP from ABC Jiu Jitsu, come try a free class, book below." That 24-second ad got me $5 leads for years.Three to five of those a week. Use the Edits app. Buy a wireless mic. People tolerate bad video, not bad audio.Why your leads "suck": Google leads were looking for you. Ad leads were on the couch scrolling. They're colder. Call them the minute they come in, or at least 10am and 3pm.The math: you lose about half at every stage. Reply, book, show, buy. That's the game.Agency or DIY? Invest 20 hours and run your own. If you go agency, $1,500 a month tops, by referral, and expect some months to flop.Keep lead nurture in-house. Not staff, not a third party, and not an AI robot.Timing: July and August are bad. Right now is great.Organic builds trust. Paid buys attention. Follow-up gets students on the mat.Your offer is a free class in a seasonal wrapper. Film it yourself, good audio, done.Don't spend on ads until you're willing to play the game. Call leads, book trials, sell, onboard.I've got room for two or three more academies looking for growth. Fill out the short form below and we'll hop on a quick phone call. No pitch, just a conversation. 👉 https://bdmlrby8e2s.typeform.com/to/aKsaYCA5

Onboarding: The 90 Day Process That Turns a New White Belt Into a Long-Term Student Back to school season means new students walking through your door. This episode is about what you do with them once they're there. Onboarding is the piece in the middle. Lead gen and sales get people in the door. Retention is what you do with them week after week. Onboarding is the bridge between the two, and it's the part most academies skip entirely. I walk through the BJJ Retention Pyramid and the 90 day process that sits on top of it: safety and help, clarity and expectations, community and belonging, then the cycle of improvement that turns a member into a super fan. Then I show you how to actually run it, which is three sheets of paper and a couple of reminders in your CRM. Also worth doing this month if you run kids classes: an anti-bullying campaign. Good for enrollment, and it's a genuinely good service. Where onboarding sits between lead generation and retention, and why the middle is where you're losing peopleThe BJJ Retention Pyramid: safety and help, clarity and expectations, community and belongingDays 1 to 30 is safety and help. You're not going to get wrecked, and there are no stupid questions.Days 31 to 90 is a heavy dose of expectation setting plus communityWhy clarity and expectations is the biggest lever of the whole thingLooking at a client's churn report and finding the saveable losses hiding in itInjured students: most of them can keep training, and nobody ever told themThe homework sheet for students who can only watchSetting expectations around slumps and the blue belt blues before they hitScorecards for adults, report cards for kids, on a 90 day cycleWhat comes after 90 days: the cycle of improvement, then super fans who recruit for youThe actual system: three sheets of paper at day 1, day 30, and day 60Keep it to one page front and back, and bring a pen so you can personalize itWhy you need two versions, one for adults and one for parentsPutting a flagship event in every quarter so new students hit one inside their first 90Attendance is the number one predictor of retentionBuild the 30 day welcome sheet first. Five minutes after their first class, sit down and walk them through what the early days look like. It's the easiest win in your business and there's no excuse not to do it.Tell them what's coming before it happens. They can train through most injuries. They're going to hit a slump where they feel like they suck. Say it out loud on day one and you save people who would have quietly disappeared.Put the 60 and 90 day touch points in your CRM. You'll remember the first one. You will not remember the other two.Grab The Unstuck Academy, my free ebook. Quick read, goes deeper on retention and the systems behind it. There's also an episode where I read the whole thing if that's easier. 👉 https://growjitsu.com/free-book/

This episode is about staffing your academy, start to finish. I break it into three parts. First, who to hire when you're still wearing all the hats, and why your first real hire off the floor is an admin, not another coach. Second, how to actually manage staff once you've got them: roles and tasks, SOPs, objective standards, incentives, and quarterly reviews. Third, hiring and firing, how to grow coaches from inside your own room, how to onboard them, and how to know when somebody has to go. The through line: if your staff is underperforming, it's usually because you never made it clear what "performing" looks like. That's on you, not them. Why an admin is your first hire, not a coachThe math on paying somebody $1,500/month and what you have to go generate to justify itHead coach + assistant for every program (two layers of redundancy, always)Roles and tasks vs. SOPs — two different documents, and why you need bothTake a picture of the clean front desk. Seriously. Put it in the SOP.Making everything objectively measurable so reviews aren't "I feel like you're not trying"Bonuses and incentives that get profiles filled out and waivers signedQuarterly reviews as a relationship deposit, and knowing each person's actual motivationReviewing coaches by walking a student's experience through the classHow to give feedback without making somebody cry (learned that one the hard way)Gino Wickman's GWC screen: do they Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity? Run it. You'll find a lot of people in the wrong seat.Farming your own coaches with a paid "how to teach" courseOnboarding staff the same way you onboard students — 30/60/90 with real touch pointsHire slow, fire fast. And a don't-shit-where-you-eat policy.Roles, tasks, and SOPs. If it's not written down, it's not their fault it didn't happen. It's yours.Buy back your time. Read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. Audiobook counts. Just do it.Onboard and review your staff on a cycle. You don't find your best staff members — you make them. Same as your students.Grab The Unstuck Academy, free ebook, quick read, goes deeper on a lot of this. There's also a podcast episode where I read the whole thing to you if that's more your speed. 👉 https://growjitsu.com/free-book/

If your adults program and kids program aren't where they need to be, adding a fitness kickboxing class or a kettlebell program isn't going to fix your revenue problem. It's just going to split your attention. This episode is JP's breakdown of where academy owners actually need to focus to grow monthly recurring revenue and why the answer is almost never "start something new." In this episode: The unfinished wheel analogy and why adding new programs before your core is dialed is a losing moveWhy fitness kickboxing, yoga, and extra class types almost always fizzle out and what to do with that time insteadThe front end offer that works: a paid intro program that charges $500+ upfront and gives new students a clear outcomeWhy confidence in your offer comes from reps and how to get there fastThe full student journey broken down: leads, trials, onboarding, retention and what needs to be in place at every stepWhy the sales conversation isn't scary when you prefame it before class even startsThe 30, 60, and 90-day onboarding handouts that build trust and set realistic expectationsThe student scorecard, a 90-day check-in that coaches your students through their own progressWhat at-risk student follow-up actually looks like when it's documented and done consistentlyWhy word of mouth is a gift, not a strategy and what dependable lead generation actually requiresThe reactivation bucket: what to do with leads who didn't join after their trialWhy most gyms aren't doing any of this consistently and how one Google Drive folder changes thatWant to go deeper on all of this? Download the free Unstuck Academy ebook at -htts://growjitsu.com/free-book or listen to the audiobook version right here on this podcast. Link below. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XrZoaKELM5gSrrsnpcrRo?si=vhJvpSdgQ8uF7sHE6jAXYA

JP's back after a big move from Calgary down to the Coeur d'Alene area and he's got a timely reminder for every academy owner heading into the back half of summer. The jiu-jitsu side of your business is the cart. But without wheels and a track, you're just pushing a heavy ass cart at a snails pace. Now is the time to fix that. In this episode: The minecart analogy, why your coaching ability alone isn't enough to create growthA real gym JP is working with right now: best July on record, no paid marketing, just systems built during the summerWhy you should NOT start paid ads for the first time in June, July, or AugustThe QR code system that answers your most-asked questions so you don't have toHow to build a leave-behind for prospects who say "I need to think about it"The full student journey broken down: lead → trial → onboarding → retention — and what needs to be documented at every stageWhy you make great students, you don't find themWhat onboarding actually looks like — and why one bad roll can lose a white belt foreverThe retention cadence: what you should be doing daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep students engagedWhy following up with your own leads is still the highest-leverage thing you can do (and why nobody else will ever care as much as you)Google reviews: the most underrated free marketing move most gyms are leaving on the tableHow to use AI to format your SOPs without letting it write them for youWant a head start on building the backend of your academy? Download JP's free ebook — The Unstuck Academy — https://growjitsu.com/free-book. It's the starting point for leaning into the business side of your gym and getting those wheels on the cart.

"I can tell almost instantly if an academy is going to be successful or not, and it almost rarely has to do with the aesthetics." — Chris Haueter In this episode I sit down with Chris Haueter one of the original American BJJ black belts and a coach who's taught at academies all over the world, from packed warehouses to hole-in-the-wall strip malls. We get into what actually separates a successful jiu jitsu academy from one that folds: healthy leadership that still rolls and competes, why "location, location, location" only half-applies to a BJJ school, and how a welcoming room quietly absorbs students fleeing toxic, culty academies down the street. Chris breaks down how to give white belts the best shot at surviving the early humps, why one unchecked person can poison a mat, and his rules of engagement for keeping people healthy and coming back. Then we go deep on training for the long game, what jiu jitsu feels like through your 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, and his "relax, frame, flow" and "dance, don't fight" approach to rolling for decades without breaking yourself. Chris is a true pioneer of the art, one of the famed "Dirty Dozen," the first generation of Americans to earn a BJJ black belt, on the mats since the sport's earliest days outside Rio. He's coached black belts who've gone on to build successful academies of their own, and he carries the kind of perspective you only get from 30+ years of doing this and watching schools rise and fall around him. When he talks about what makes a room work, it's worth shutting up and listening. Connect with Chris here: Website: https://combatbase.com/ Instagram Combat Base Club: https://www.instagram.com/combatbaseclub/Combat Base Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/combatbasepodcast/Chris Haueter (main, "Dirty Dozen" account): https://www.instagram.com/chrishaueter96/Chris Haueter (art): https://www.instagram.com/chrishaueterart/Combat Base Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0oEX16lMu5v9AVRUA7d2nt Free resources for BJJ Academy owners:The Unstuck Academy (free book): https://growjitsu.com/free-book/BJJ Business Scorecard (free metrics sheet): https://growjitsu.com/bjj-business-scorecard/

"Opening a jiu jitsu academy is a gamble." Students come, students go, and you never know what's going to happen — at least, that's the story a lot of academy owners tell themselves. But if a skilled operator took over your academy tomorrow, would it still be a coin flip? If they could grow it with 100% certainty, it was never a gamble. It's a skill deficit. In this episode, I break down why "it's a gamble" thinking keeps BJJ academy owners stuck — and lay out an eight-week summer plan to take back control before the July–August slump: metrics, pricing, website and Google reviews, lead follow-up, the trial and sales experience, onboarding and retention, internal marketing, and running your own paid ads. There's no magic bullet — it's a hundred golden BBs. Stack enough things in your favor and you're not gambling anymore. You're the house. Three to four hours a week, working ON the business instead of in it. My name is JP, I'm the founder of Grow Jitsu. I help BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Links mentioned in this episode:The Unstuck Academy (free book): https://growjitsu.com/free-book/BJJ Business Scorecard (free metrics sheet): https://growjitsu.com/bjj-business-scorecard/ Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call/

Movement, Mobility, and Martial Arts: Insights from Ryan Hurst Ryan offers a free guide on mobility and strength for BJJ click here to check it out: https://gmb.io/bjj-mobility/ In this episode, Ryan Hurst of GMB Fitness shares his unique approach to movement training that enhances mobility, strength, and injury prevention—key for martial artists and fitness enthusiasts alike. Discover practical techniques you can incorporate into your routine, whether you're on the mats or in the gym. Key Topics: Ryan's journey from martial arts in Japan to founding GMB Fitness focused on movement independence. The importance of animal movements (bear walk, monkey, frog, crab) for building joint mobility and control. How mobility and movement quality impact martial arts performance and long-term health. Practical advice for warm-ups, emphasizing purposeful movement over traditional calisthenics. Differences in martial arts culture between Japan and the US, including training and teaching philosophies. Specific exercises like shrimp squats for strength and balance, and the significance of single-leg movements. The role of joint integrity and how it supports injury prevention in martial arts. Strategies for gym owners and instructors to foster mutual respect and effective teaching. The impact of cultural behavior changes in Japan post-COVID and how respect influences training environments. Ryan's tips for integrating functional movement practice into busy training schedules. Timestamps: 02:15 - Ryan's background in martial arts and time in Japan 06:00 - The core philosophy of GMB Fitness: movement education 08:30 - Animal movements: bear walk, monkey, frog, crab explained 11:20 - How mobility influences martial arts success 15:00 - Practical warm-up routines for martial artists and trainers 20:30 - Tips for gym owners: efficiency and mutual respect 23:50 - Cultural dynamics of martial arts training in Japan versus the US 29:00 - The role of joint health and injury prevention 33:00 - Ryan's thoughts on traditional warm-ups in BJJ classes 37:00 - Structuring effective martial arts curriculums with movement principles 48:00 - Living in Japan: cultural insights and training culture shifts 56:00 - How to find Ryan online and incorporate his movement practices Learn more about and connect with Ryan here: IG: https://www.instagram.com/gmbfitness/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@gmbfit Interested in working with GrowJitsu? If you're looking to grow your BJJ Academy and are tired of churn and burn marketing agencies. Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

We had technical difficulties on the previous recording so this is a NEW recording and the full episode. Most BJJ academy owners burn out somewhere between year 3 and year 7. Not because the jiu jitsu is hard — because the people part is. The communication, the boundary-setting, losing core members, staying in one piece, knowing who to let through the door. Heads up: this is a shorter episode — we ran into some technical difficulties partway through the recording, but the conversation was too good to shelve. In this episode of The Business of Jiu Jitsu, JP Levesque sits down with his own professor, CJ Hollett, who just crossed the 10-year mark running his BJJ academy. CJ breaks down what actually keeps an academy owner in the game a decade in, how jiu jitsu training methodology has evolved over the past 10 years (and where the "let them work" mentality came from), how to coach white belts and women so they don't quit, and the #1 attribute every great BJJ coach needs. The conversation also gets into the personality side of running an academy — why some people probably shouldn't be coaches at all, why patience and communication matter more than technique when it comes to retention, what CJ would tell himself 10 years ago about losing core members, how to pick your rolls and keep your body in one piece as an owner on the mat every day, and the red flags students should watch for when picking a jiu jitsu academy. If you run a BJJ academy, are thinking about opening one, or want an honest look at what a full decade of academy ownership actually feels like — this one's for you. JP Levesque is the founder of Grow Jitsu. He helps BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: 10 years in the game with CJ Hollett 01:00 – What keeps you going a decade later 02:30 – How jiu jitsu training has evolved 04:30 – The rise of the "let them work" mentality 05:55 – Coaching white belts so they don't quit 08:20 – The #1 attribute of a great coach 10:20 – Why some people shouldn't be coaches at all 11:50 – Proudest moments after 10 years of ownership 12:40 – How to keep your body in one piece as an owner 15:00 – Red flags in an academy 17:20 – Green flags of a good academy 19:00 – What CJ would tell himself 10 years ago 21:30 – Why losing a core member never stops hurting 22:30 – Advice for anyone opening an academy today 25:00 – Who actually sticks with it long-term 28:00 – Belt promotions and how to structure them 34:30 – Teaching structure: curriculum vs. organic 37:00 – Merch, gis, and not forcing students to buy yours 39:00 – How to make a new student feel like part of the team Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

Most BJJ academy owners burn out somewhere between year 3 and year 7. Not because the jiu jitsu is hard — because the people part is. The communication, the boundary-setting, losing core members, staying in one piece, knowing who to let through the door. Heads up: this is a shorter episode — we ran into some technical difficulties partway through the recording, but the conversation was too good to shelve. In this episode of The Business of Jiu Jitsu, JP Levesque sits down with his own professor, CJ Hollett, who just crossed the 10-year mark running his BJJ academy. CJ breaks down what actually keeps an academy owner in the game a decade in, how jiu jitsu training methodology has evolved over the past 10 years (and where the "let them work" mentality came from), how to coach white belts and women so they don't quit, and the #1 attribute every great BJJ coach needs. The conversation also gets into the personality side of running an academy — why some people probably shouldn't be coaches at all, why patience and communication matter more than technique when it comes to retention, what CJ would tell himself 10 years ago about losing core members, how to pick your rolls and keep your body in one piece as an owner on the mat every day, and the red flags students should watch for when picking a jiu jitsu academy. If you run a BJJ academy, are thinking about opening one, or want an honest look at what a full decade of academy ownership actually feels like — this one's for you. JP Levesque is the founder of Grow Jitsu. He helps BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: 10 years in the game with CJ Hollett 01:00 – What keeps you going a decade later 02:30 – How jiu jitsu training has evolved 04:30 – The rise of the "let them work" mentality 05:55 – Coaching white belts so they don't quit 08:20 – The #1 attribute of a great coach 10:20 – Why some people shouldn't be coaches at all 11:50 – Proudest moments after 10 years of ownership 12:40 – How to keep your body in one piece as an owner 15:00 – Red flags in an academy 17:20 – Green flags of a good academy 19:00 – What CJ would tell himself 10 years ago 21:30 – Why losing a core member never stops hurting 22:30 – Advice for anyone opening an academy today 25:00 – Who actually sticks with it long-term 28:00 – Belt promotions and how to structure them 34:30 – Teaching structure: curriculum vs. organic 37:00 – Merch, gis, and not forcing students to buy yours 39:00 – How to make a new student feel like part of the team Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

Most BJJ academy owners think the answer to growth is hiring a marketing agency. They skip straight to paid ads and end up on the agency treadmill — burning thousands a month for leads they can't convert. In this episode of The Business of Jiu Jitsu, JP Levesque breaks down the 7 levels of marketing every academy owner should be running before they spend a dollar on paid ads. Starting with the work nobody talks about — buying into your own business as the CEO — and building out through staff buy-in, student retention, referrals, your physical location, B2B relationships inside a one-mile radius, and a strong local online presence (website, SEO, Google reviews, blogs, AI search). The episode also covers the prerequisite most academies miss: getting churn under 5% before paid ads can ever pay back. Plus the agency treadmill math ($4,000 a month = 23.5 sign-ups just to break even) and why learning to run your own ads beats hiring an agency for almost every BJJ academy. If you're a BJJ academy owner stuck around 80–150 students, this is the foundational episode on academy marketing — what to do, in what order, and what to fix first. About the host:JP Levesque is the founder of Grow Jitsu. He helps BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Timestamps:00:00 – Why most owners skip straight to paid ads02:30 – Level 1: You (your buy-in as the CEO)05:00 – Level 2: Your staff07:00 – Level 3: Your students (5–7x cheaper to keep than acquire)12:00 – Level 4: Referrals14:30 – Level 5: Physical location16:50 – Level 6: B2B19:00 – Level 7: Online presence (website, Google, reviews, blogs, AI search)26:30 – The prerequisite: churn under 5%31:30 – The agency treadmill story ($4K/month math)33:50 – Why running your own ads beats hiring an agency36:00 – How to get help Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

AI for Jiu-Jitsu Academy Owners What's Actually Useful Right Now !!Warning!! I had so many thoughts about AI and business and you did so during this episode. It took me three or four takes to record it. So it's not as streamlined as I would like. I will do an AI update in the future, but I think is a point of reference, it's a good place to start, even if it is a little bit jumbled. AI is moving fast and the noise is loud. This episode cuts through it. JP breaks down the real state of AI, what it can and can't do for you as an academy owner, and exactly where to invest your time right now so you're ahead of the curve, not chasing it. In this episode: Where AI actually is right now, and why most people are still using it like a chatbotWhy domain expertise matters: AI is only as useful as the context you give itWhy you're needed more than ever , and why demand for what you do is only going upThe difference between AI bolt-ons and AI-first tools, and what's coming to gym management softwareWhy human touch points aren't going anywhere, and which ones you should protectThe master prompt concept: going from stranger to context-rich collaborator instantlyHow to build skills inside Claude, email copywriter, ads analyst, social media manager, and why that's the best use of your time right nowThe Cowork feature and what it means to have AI working inside your actual files and foldersWhy blogs are making a comeback, and how AI search makes local SEO more important than everThe marketing foundation stack: good product → good business model → internal marketing → win local search → paid ads. In that order.Why churn under 5% is the real unlock before anything else makes senseWant to know exactly where your academy is stuck and what to fix first? Book a free 45-minute Growth Plan Call. JP will look at your numbers, map out where you're stuck, and tell you exactly what to do next. Link below. https://link.growjitsu.com/widget/bookings/bjj-growth-plan-call

Why Marketing Agencies Don't Work for Jiu-Jitsu Academies Almost every academy owner JP talks to has tried a marketing agency. Most of them got burned. This episode breaks down exactly why, and what you should be doing instead. In this episode: Why "50 students in 50 days" promises are flat-out lies, and why agencies keep making themWhat agencies actually do (hint: it's just top of funnel) and why that's not enoughThe real math: paying $1,500–$2,500/month in retainer plus ad spend when you're doing $10-12K MRR is a losing equationWhy cold Meta traffic is so much harder to convert than referrals or Google leadsThe retention problem that makes agencies pointless, if you're losing 5 students and gaining 5, you're at net zeroWhy the leads problem is real, but the churn problem is biggerWhat a proper onboarding and nurture system actually looks like when you own it yourselfRunning your own Meta ads as a learnable skill, and why it's worth the 15–20 hours to figure it outThe skill gaps and systems gaps that agencies will never fix for youThe big caveat: ads work, agencies are the problemWant to know exactly what systems and skills your academy is missing to see consistent growth? Click thelink below to book a free 30 min growth audit, we'll look at the numbers, find out where you are stuck and make a plan to move you forward - https://link.growjitsu.com/widget/bookings/bjjgrowthengineaudit