Yamane Championship Mixed Martial Arts (YCMMA), Niall Yamane
YCMMA opened its doors in March 2011, and in 2012 the small business began to generate a profit. Over the past two years since its opening, YCMMA has won numerous state and national championships. YCMMA was also recognized by SCORE as the 2014 Outstanding Small Business Launched by an Encore Entrepreneur.
At the age of six, Niall Yamane began learning karate from his dad. His dad taught him every aspect of the art and helped him develop discipline, character, integrity, endurance, courtesy, and respect, the key fundamentals of karate. Many years later, Niall, a partner at a top litigation firm, moved to Alabama with his wife and decided to pursue his dream of starting his own small business. Having no business experience, Niall turned to SCORE to help make his dream, Yamane Championship Mixed Martial Arts, a reality.
With the help of his mentors, Marvin Wilder and Marion Smith, Niall addressed key components of building a successful business. Niall's mentors assisted him with building a financial and marketing plan that would help with the success of YCMMA.
Niall says Yamane Mixed Martial Arts would have not succeeded without the help of his SCORE mentors. "We would not have succeeded business-wise if we did not have the demographic information of SCORE. Also, both mentors always made themselves available on a weekly basis and provided countless hours of consulting time! I lost count of the hours I met with them."