I have two kinds of clients or students contact me for training.
The first and most common are those with a self-reliant attitude and life style. They are into the prepper movement to varying degrees with some food, water and money set aside for if things go wrong. They also have self-reliant skills; they can change a tire, do not often call a handy man and may be hunters. They see guns and self defense as another set of tools and skills. They will come for a half day to a couple of days training then, feeling comfortable that they have enough of the skill-set down and the tools set up as they like, move on to other things. They will occasionally practice to keep a base level of skill up. While I get some individuals, most come as couples or sometimes groups.
The second type of clients are rarer. They are the self-selected warriors, working at firearms as a martial art. They may have military or law enforcement background with or without real fighting experience, but some do not, as life has taken them down other paths. They may not be the type that work well with government organizations, or were young or old and just started down this path. These men or women (strangely I have met more women out of the military that are into guns and really learn to fight with them) almost all have some hand to hand martial arts background and take as much training from me or others as they can afford. I had one client recently say after a course that he had attended over twenty different firearms courses. I work with them for four or five days, spread over months, or some do several weeks worth of training over a year or two. They usually train in a variety of concepts, not just pistol, but carbine, low light work, etc., and are learning a variety of each type of platform (one with five types of carbines or rifles) and techniques for them. They do their home work as well. I had one client come back after practicing their draw over a thousand times with a huge increase in skill and speed. These clients generally come as individuals, or if in a couple, one is all in and the other is along for the ride.
It is a pleasure to work with both types of clients and there is a degree of overlap between the two, as the one constant about human beings is that they change. I also do not expect one to be the other and with my business model I can tailor the training to where my clients are at now. Repeat business is not only on how well I do my job, but also who the client is and their attitude toward what I teach. Myself, I have been in the self-selected warrior side for over three decades. I take courses in martial arts both hand to hand and with firearms when I can afford the time and money. When I go to other instructors’ courses I see the same two general types of clients.
The common traits shared by both is they have no over large ego and have a willingness to go outside their comfort zone. They understand there are things they do not know and have the humility to expose it to others in order to learn and improve themselves. And as they learn and improve in competence, they grow in confidence. The relationship between competence and confidence is my next subject.