The 9 Numbers Every Martial Arts School Owner Should Track Monthly

You cannot fix a funnel you cannot see. These nine numbers take about 20 minutes a month to update and will tell you whether your problem is traffic, follow-up, sales, or retention.

Acquisition

• Leads per month: total new inquiries from all sources. Track sources separately.
• Cost per lead: ad spend divided by leads. Healthy is usually under $20.
• Booking rate: booked trials divided by leads. Target 50% or better. Low numbers here mean a follow-up problem, not an ad problem.

Conversion

• Show rate: trials attended divided by trials booked. Target 70% with reminders in place.
• Trial-to-enrollment rate: enrollments divided by trials attended. Target 40% or better.
• Cost per enrolled student: total marketing spend divided by new students. This is the only acquisition number that matters at the end of the month.

Retention and revenue

• Monthly cancellations: keep it under 3% to 5% of active students.
• Average membership length: 12 to 18 months is healthy. Under nine months means the first 90 days need work.
• Monthly recurring revenue: what you actually built. Track net change, not just new sales.

Review it the same way every month

1. 1Pull the numbers on the first business day of the month.
2. 2Compare against the previous three months, not the previous one, so a single odd week does not drive decisions.
3. 3Pick one number to improve. One, not five.
4. 4Write down the change you are making and the result you expect.
5. 5Review it 30 days later before changing anything else.