Went shopping for school locations

[JusticeZero]

Went with my teacher to look at a studio he'd been offered. After discovering that it shared a wall with a busy recording studio, we went walking looking for a site that would actually be usable. Do any people who've owned a successful school have any observations on what sort of location, etc. we should be looking at? We might end up with our present space if the price is right and we can cope with being forbidden from using the room between 9a-6p for noise reasons.

[OdderMensch]

if you can't use the space for 40-56 hours a week? this had better be a great deal. or just a prime location.

http://www.angryflower.com/fungsh.gif

always be very careful in chossing a location.

[HuangKaiVun]

Did you meet the landlord yet?

I don't know about Portland, but I'd imagine that sound ordinances are in place for recording studios and such. Wouldn't such a wall already be well insulated from both sides?

It's bad business on the landlord's part to NOT have that kind of sonic protection in place.

The landlord might be willing to put up some sonic insulation free of charge. If he is, make sure that he puts it in the LEASE before you sign.

I suggest that you find somebody you know that really knows about leasing commercial real estate and go WITH that person to the locations you look at.

That's what I did with my student (whose help I pay for), and she SAVED MY BUTT on many an occasion.

[Royal Dragon]

You want a GOOD location?? Fnd a strip mall with a MCdonalds, Burger King or any fast food with in close eye site or preferably in the same parking lot as your studio. try to find one with a High school or colledge close by, preferably right down the street so the students will always be in the fast food place looking at your Kung Fu sign wile staring out the window as they shovel burgers down their gullets.

Be close or in the same mall area as big name Mall or Grocery stores like Sears, Jc Penny, target Walmart etc... Jewle Eagle Dominicks

Oh, get in good with the local coppers, give them discounts. for every cop you have in your school, you can recurite 10 students a year (I'm told) People trust cops, and it's a sign of quality to have them in your school. Always mention that to prospects.

Lets recap
1 open in the same strip mall as 1-3 big name fast food joints
2 make sure a high school or college is down the street from you and the students hang out in YOUR fast food joints.
3 Get cops into your school, even if you teach them for free. They are to good of a marketing tool to pass up.
4 be near a big name mall & Grocery stores like Sears Target JC Pennys, Jewle etc..

[JusticeZero]

In regards to the reduced use of the present location, the lease is reportedly very cheap. It's the same studio that my teacher has been using for years, just with an actual lease.
As far as noise: Yes, there was soundproofing. And yes, they could deal with people jumping around and such. But my teacher busted out singing a ladainha by himself, and even with his sore throat it carried well enough that the lyrics could be made out in the recording studio. Add musical instruments and a crowd of people singing the chorus and it would put the studio out of business. Had it been a law firm or an art gallery or similar it wouldn't be an issue, but a recording studio was a different matter.
With the present location, it's a chinese medicine place next door, and they are unusually sensitive to noise due to the image considerations.

To recap: We need a space that doesn't lie next to anywhere very noise sensitive unless we can make it up. And we're not exactly posessing of a "fighting skills" image, more a 'dancers and cardio alternative culture' image.

[HuangKaiVun]

I try not to pay too much for storefronts, but the reality is that one has to spend money to make money.