How Much Does A Jiu-Jitsu Academy Owner Make? $70K Plus Profit
You’re planning owner pay before the academy has proved its class load, retention, and staffing needs This five-year model uses $70,000 annual owner salary, 98 Year 1 active paid spots, fixed costs of $6,950 per month, payroll, rent, reserves, and EBITDA as pre-tax planning inputs
Owner income$5.8kNet margin55.5%Revenue for target pay$6.9kBusiness difficultyHard
Want the six biggest income drivers?
1
Active Enrollment
98 spots
More active paying students lift monthly tuition and spread rent and staff costs across a bigger base.
2
Tuition Mix
$130-$550
A wider price ladder from kids classes to private training raises revenue per student without the same headcount lift.
3
Retention Rate
45%-90%
Keeping students active longer cuts churn, protects recurring tuition, and lowers the cost of replacing dropouts.
4
Instructor Payroll
$170K
Payroll is the biggest controllable cost block, so extra FTEs can cut take-home fast if classes stay thin.
5
Facility Utilization
22-26d
More billable days turn fixed rent and utilities into more revenue per month, while idle days leave profit on the mat.
6
Add-on Sales
$1.5K
Merchandise adds clean income on top of memberships and can lift owner take-home if inventory stays tight.
Want to test your owner pay?
Owner income calculator
Estimate owner take-home and target-pay gap from revenue, margin, costs, reserves, and target pay.
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Planning note: This is a researched planning estimate only. It is not guaranteed salary, tax advice, or owner distribution advice.
Want to check owner income in the full model view?
A Jiu-Jitsu Academy owner doesn’t have one standard salary; in this model, base owner pay is $70,000 per year, or $5,833 per month, and profit distributions are separate. Use What Is The Most Important Metric To Measure The Growth Of Jiu-Jitsu Academy? to tie owner income to member growth, because EBITDA can fund distributions only after reserves, debt, taxes, and reinvestment.
Owner income math
Base salary: $70,000/year
Monthly salary: $5,833
Year 1 EBITDA: $476,000
Year 3 EBITDA: $4.680 million
Take-home reality
Year 5 EBITDA: $13.375 million
Lean model keeps more short-term cash
Owner-operated work hides unpaid labor
Staffed model lowers near-term take-home
How many students does a jiu-jitsu academy need to make money?
A Jiu-Jitsu Academy does not have one fixed break-even student count; it depends on the mix. In Year 1, 98 paid spots — 30 kids, 40 adult fundamentals, 20 advanced unlimited, and 8 private training spots — produce $19,200 a month, including $1,500 in merchandise, or about $196 per paid spot. Here’s the quick math: owner salary alone needs about 35 more paid spots, while full payroll and fixed-cost coverage points to about 127 paid spots before profit.
Year 1 revenue base
98 paid spots listed
$19,200 monthly revenue
$1,500 merchandise included
About $196 per paid spot
Break-even drivers
Owner salary needs 35 more spots
Full coverage needs about 127 spots
Churn changes the answer fast
Kids, families, and privates shift it
What is a realistic jiu-jitsu academy profit margin?
A realistic Jiu-Jitsu Academy margin, using the numbers you gave, is not a clean positive number yet: 150% variable costs mean gross margin is about -50% before rent and payroll. The same model also shows $476,000 EBITDA and a stated 555% EBITDA margin, but that conflicts with the cost load, so treat it as a model check, not cash you can spend. If you want the setup behind that math, see What Is The Estimated Cost To Open Your Jiu-Jitsu Academy?
Margin terms
Gross margin = revenue minus direct costs.
Operating margin = gross profit minus overhead and payroll.
Owner take-home = profit after reserves.
Use reserves for taxes and slow months.
Cost check
Variable costs total 150% of revenue.
That mix includes merch, gear, marketing, and processing.
Fixed costs are $6,950 per month.
Rent alone is $4,000; payroll hits $170,000 in Year 1.
Key Takeaways
Enrollment sets the revenue ceiling, not followers.
Mix and private training lift average revenue.
Retention protects cash flow and cuts ad pressure.
Payroll and rent decide how much stays.
Compare low, base, and high owner-income scenarios
Owner income scenarios
Income shifts with membership fill, staffing, and pricing. EBITDA climbs from Year 1 to Year 5, but owner take-home still depends on taxes, debt service, reserves, and distributions.
Lean ramp to mature capacity for owner pay planning.
Scenario
Low CaseLean ramp
Base CaseStaffed growth
High CaseMature capacity
Launch model
Owner pay stays at the floor while the academy ramps in Year 1.
Owner pay improves as the school reaches a more staffed, mid-growth run rate in Year 3.
Owner pay has the most upside once the academy reaches a fuller Year 5 operating level.
Typical setup
Year 1 has 98 paid spots, 45.0% occupancy, $19,200 listed monthly package revenue, $170,000 payroll, $6,950 monthly fixed costs, and $476,000 EBITDA.
Year 3 has 171 paid spots, 75.0% occupancy, $38,450 listed monthly package revenue, $202,500 payroll, and $4,680,000 EBITDA.
Year 5 has 249 paid spots, 90.0% occupancy, $61,850 listed monthly package revenue, $272,500 payroll, and $13,375,000 EBITDA.
Cost drivers
membership count
occupancy
payroll load
fixed rent and utilities
merchandise sales
membership mix
pricing
instructor payroll
advertising
payment fees
capacity fill
package revenue
payroll scaling
operating leverage
merch sales
Owner income rangeBefore owner reserves
$70,000 salary floorSalary floor
$70,000 salary plus drawsSalary plus draws
$70,000 salary plus upsideStrong upside
Best fit
Use this if you want a conservative start-up view with the owner mainly paying themself a set salary.
Use this as the planning case for a steady operator with rising class fill and a fuller staff.
Use this to test what happens if the academy fills closer to capacity and payroll scales with demand.
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Planning note: These scenario ranges are researched planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary promises, tax advice, or distributions.
Jiu-Jitsu Academy Core Six Income Drivers
Active Student Enrollment
Active Paid Enrollment
Active paid students set the revenue ceiling. In Year 1, the model has 98 paid spots total: 30 kids, 40 adult fundamentals, 20 advanced unlimited, and 8 private training. By Year 5, that rises to 249 spots, so owner pay gets safer only if those seats stay filled.
Adult fundamentals matter most for recurring cash. Losing one adult at $160 to $200 a month cuts $1,920 to $2,400 a year, and free trials or social followers do not cover rent.
Track Paid Seats by Program
Measure paid enrollment, not leads. The key inputs are paid students, monthly tuition, churn, and trial-to-paid conversion. A simple check is occupancy by class track: kids, adult fundamentals, advanced, and private training. That shows where revenue is capped and where owner draw is at risk.
Track paid seats weekly
Watch adult churn first
Test trial-to-paid conversion
Protect private training capacity
If adult seats slip, cash flow tightens fast; if they grow, distribution capacity gets safer.
Retention And Churn
Retention And Churn
Retention keeps monthly dues steady and protects cash flow. In a Jiu-Jitsu academy, churn means canceled members, so each lost student must be replaced before owner pay improves. In the model, marketing starts at 80% of revenue in Year 1 and falls to 50% by Year 5, so weak retention pushes ads to replace profit instead of grow it.
Protect Retention, Protect Pay
Track new joins, cancels, and 90-day retention by program. The key inputs are member count, average monthly fee, cancel rate, and marketing spend per new student. If beginners feel unsafe, lost, or ignored, churn rises fast and paid ads have to fill the gap. Longer student life supports steadier owner take-home.
Count cancels every month
Review first-90-day retention
Check parent communication quality
Watch beginner safety complaints
Instructor Payroll
Instructor Payroll
Instructor payroll is the biggest controllable scale cost after rent. In Year 1, the model shows $170,000 a year across the owner, assistant instructor, front desk admin, and part-time kids instructor, or about $14.2k per month. By Year 5, payroll reaches $272,500 a year, about $22.7k per month. That extra $102,500 is the main pressure on owner pay if staffing grows faster than class income.
The inputs are coach count, admin coverage, class schedule depth, and private training demand. Owner teaching can boost cash in the short term, but it hides labor cost and can limit growth. Too few paid coaches hurts class quality and retention; too many cuts margin. Right staffing protects both profit and owner time.
Track coach hours against class coverage
Watch monthly payroll, classes covered, and student-to-coach load by program. Here’s the quick math: moving from $170,000 to $272,500 a year lifts payroll 60%, so class growth and tuition must keep pace or owner draw gets squeezed.
Map pay to class blocks.
Protect peak kids and adult slots.
Cap owner teaching hours.
Test part-time before full-time hires.
Review staffing after schedule changes.
What this hides: no-shows, beginner churn, and last-minute makeups. If coverage slips, quality drops fast and cancellations rise. If staffing gets bloated, profit leaks every month and the owner pays for empty mats.
Facility Cost And Utilization
Facility Cost and Utilization
When rent is fixed, the business wins by filling more mats on more billable days. Monthly fixed costs are $6,950, including $4,000 rent, $800 utilities, $800 insurance, $600 cleaning, $200 software, $150 office supplies, and $400 accounting and legal, so unused space cuts owner income fast.
The model’s utilization rises from 450% in Year 1 to 900% in Year 5, and billable days go from 22 to 26. That should improve revenue per square foot, but peak-time mat space can still cap growth if classes fill before demand does.
Fill the mats, protect the margin
Track class fill rate by time block, not just member count. If peak classes hit capacity, add sessions, split levels, or shift staffing before you spend more on marketing, because extra demand does not raise income if the floor is full.
Watch fixed cost per billable day: $6,950 spread across 22 to 26 days. More billable days lower the overhead load per class, which supports margin and leaves more profit for owner pay.
Tuition And Package Mix
Tuition Mix
This driver is the weighted average monthly revenue per student. It moves when the mix shifts across $130 kids, $160 adult fundamentals, $190 advanced unlimited, and $450 private training in Year 1, then $150, $200, $230, and $550 in Year 5. A better mix can lift revenue and profit without adding only more students.
The catch is time. Private training lifts cash fast, but instructor hours cap how far it can scale. Family plans and kids programs can help retention, but they may lower revenue per person. The owner’s pay improves when the mix raises monthly contribution faster than payroll and mat-time pressure rise.
Track mix by tier
Measure students by tier, monthly price, and private-session hours used. That tells you the true weighted average, not just headcount. If the academy adds more kids or family accounts, watch whether the higher retention offsets the lower average ticket. One clean rule: if the mix changes, recast monthly revenue before you hire.
Use price changes and package design to protect margin. Push advanced students into higher-priced unlimited plans only when class capacity, coach time, and retention can support it. Track the share of revenue from private training, because it can boost take-home income but also strain instructor payroll. If tuition rises from $130 to $150 or $450 to $550, update cash flow fast.
Add-On Revenue
Add-On Revenue
Core memberships still pay the rent, but add-on revenue gives the owner extra upside. In this model, merchandise sales rise from $1,500 in Year 1 to $5,500 in Year 5, while private training grows from 8 paid spots × $450 = $3,600/month to 24 spots × $550 = $13,200/month.
This works best as a secondary stream. Seminars, kids camps, belt testing, rash guards, events, and competition team fees can lift cash flow, but inventory and coach time can eat margin fast. The real win is extra profit without replacing recurring dues.
Track Margin Per Add-On
Measure each add-on by gross margin and staff time, not just sales. If a camp or seminar adds revenue but pulls coaches off paid classes, owner take-home can fall even when topline rises. Private training should be priced against instructor hours, since it scales with capacity, not just demand.
Track sales by add-on type.
Track direct labor hours.
Track merch inventory turns.
Pre-sell events before ordering.
Keep a tight forecast on one-off income. Use current paid spots, posted prices, and scheduled events, then test small inventory buys before stocking deep. That keeps cash from getting tied up and helps profit flow to owner pay.
