Why it Pays to Think Small When It Comes to Growing a Fitness Business
Remember where you came from.
It’s something that you hear almost all self made success stories recite – and it’s something you need to embrace if you want to build a truly successful fitness business.
When we initially started our business, Nick and I had another business partner. He was a nice guy, but he wanted to act big while we were just beginning. He wanted fancy fitness business cards, cool stationery and a bunch of other stuff that had little if any bearing on our success.
Nick and I resisted it and we started the business on a shoestring…less than $2000 and that included the purchase of a computer to handle our billing.
Within a year we had a business that was churning out $30,000 a month and were opening our second business, a health club.
About this time Nick and I bought a house that we shared. Holly, Tyler and I lived in the basement and Nick got a roommate and lived upstairs so we could save money and reinvest it in our growing businesses.
At the same time our partner was building a brand new house even though we hadn’t opened our club and were on the hook for some pretty hefty expenses.
This kind of mentality…the ‘spend beyond your means’ mindset…almost brought that business down in the beginning. Our partner was the Manager of the club and his belief was that the best way to grow was to add staff and spend money on expensive media marketing.
As embarrassing as it is to admit – Nick and I got sloppy and didn’t stay on top of this location like we should have and before long it was buried in debt. We had gotten focused on a couple other opportunities and took our eye off the ball…and it almost bankrupted that location.
We bought out that partner, got that business back on track with our bootstrapping approach and before long it was right back where it needed to be.
Every business that we’ve started or acquired ownership in since then was founded with that same mentality:
Decide whether something is a want or a need. If it’s a need, we find a way to make it happen. If it’s a want, it goes under the microscope.
That mentality is easy when you don’t have any money. You can only afford needs – if you can even afford those.
Once you start generating a little income it becomes more about discipline.
We’ve grown quite a bit over the past year. Tripling our staff. Doubling the size of our office. But we didn’t do any of that until we determined that it was necessary.
Not just a want.
In fact, every month Nick reviews our expenses to determine if there are things we need to trim. We look for ROI on marketing expenses. We look for better ways to compensate people based on productivity. He asks me if I’m still using the membership sites that we belong to or any of the other subscriptions we have.
At this point we invest tens of thousands each year in education. Maybe even $100,000 a year. But there’s no sense in continuing to spend on something we don’t need.
Now before you take this the wrong way – don’t think I’m telling you to eat Ramen noodles and bury all your money in a coffee can in the back yard. Nick and I both live in beautiful homes, own other investment properties and really don’t want for much if anything – but we paid some dues, like I mentioned earlier.
This isn’t about not spending money on yourself. Being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor is a big part of why you do this.
No – it’s about treating your fitness business like it’s small…even when you’re not small anymore.
It’s about continuing to do what works instead of thinking you need to spend more money to market or grow.
It’s about viewing each potential purchase as an investment and deciding if you’re going to get a solid return.
It’s about never forgetting that each client is critical and treating them like family instead of losing that personal touch.
It’s about understanding the difference between wants and needs.
Maybe you can build a successful fitness business a different way. We’re not interested in trying to. We’ve worked with a few people in the past – including that former partner – that all wanted to act big while they were still small businesses and that’s as far as any of them ever got. Some of them have even gone under or jumped back to being an employee.
All the while we were while quietly building a multiple seven-figure organization by acting small.
I’d be interested in what you think below…
Dedicated to your success,
Pat
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Great post Pat, too many trainers get caught up in all flash, no substance!
Great stuff Pat, makes an interesting read and provides priceless information for anyone in any business to learn from your experiences.
I’m currently going through this business building process at the moment and have had to learn much of this the hard (and more expensive!) way. This post has certainly inspired me to make reviewing expenses a top priority and I hope it helps many others achieve the success their efforts deserve.
Excellent advice. Thanks and keep up the inspiring work.
great info, good solid advise for newbies to established owners.
Pat,
Great stuff and not just for newbie. I just expanded my business and I’m in that state of mind where I know I have to tighten up my business matrix so that I can run leaner. Exp. Are currently too high and it’s because of the thinking you mentioned in the post about thinking too big before you arrive or need to. Thanks for sharing as always positive content.
Rahz NY
Pat, Great post to read this morning. Since Kathy is leaving her job (giving notice tomorrow) to help us grow, we realise we have to embrace even more the idea of “Acting small to grow our fitness business BIG” Thanks & Peace-
Matt
Great post Pat! Thanks for the reminder and the great advice. Stick to the basics and the solid things that work. Once you finally start making a little headway and things start to grow, other people want you to spend more money with them and advise you to spend more. If it’s not something necessary to spend, then you have to stick to your guns and thinking small to keep growing big is a great mentality.
Mike
Great stuff, Pat. You’ve got to be willing to spend money to make money, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used judiciously.
Great stuff Pat! You are so right on and people that want to get their own businesses going should take heed. The flash and glitz is more about the trainer/owner than the customer. I always need my wife and co-owner to help me categorize the wants vs. Needs so we can truly know what is going to help our business grow. We started with nothing, have never gotten a loan from a bank, paid for everything straight up and have no real overhead. We own our own home and cars, have a place in Hawaii and put away a nice nest egg for our son. Worrying about if we got six, seven or eight figures coming in doesn’t excite us, but we love building a world class fitness company with our bare hands, brains and heart.
Feel like your talking directly to me – right on Pat! This is how I will get everything moving in the direction I desire – small steps, one at a time – they add up, and they get DONE – thanks for all your help and advice!
Great advice, I felt you were talking about me! Come see my training facility and you get a feel as if it has been around for years. Old school style business with an at home feel. No gimmics and gadgets just great service and results. We create champion athletes on a shoe string budget. A little success goes a long ways. I’m in it for the long haul.
Coach Adam
Was the 3rd person Labadie? Is that why there is no more Pat Nick and Jim blog?
Haha.
Great post Pat,
The more I apply this the more I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. It takes discipline but in the end it is well worth it. Thanks
Mike Hanley
Great point. More valuable when you give it more thought. The “shiny things” have a great way of distracting. I know this, but still have had to learn it on /be reminded of it on a smaller scale. I could be so much further ahead but that’s fine. If you learn from your mistakes and other’s mistakes (the better way to learn) you’ll make progress.
Posts like this are great because they keep the reality check factor in place. Business is a mixture of “what is” and “what can be”. Thank you for the point made…very helpful. When I’m able to I’d love to attend one your events. I’ve been following you, Jim, and Ryan for a while…since 2005. Some of my success is definetly from soaking up a lot of your guy’s blogs/info products I was able to purchase. I am now poised well now for my well deserved success. It’s been a long hard, struggle but we all walk different paths. Now is my time.
Sorry for 5 page essay (laughing). I just wanted to express something that’s been on my mind for awhile. Thanks again!
I just realized I made a bunch of typo’s in my previous post. Oh well, you got the point I was making.
Great post! This is how we have managed to grow 2 successful businesses. Our Personal Training studio and our Online scheduling, billing and member management software – Volo. I remember when we first started our training studio and the I wanted an overdraft and the bank looked at the numbers from our first year and said ” I can’t believe you are still in business” Well 10 1/2 years later with 15 trainers we have proved them wrong and changed the lives of 1,00s of people!
Thanks,Pat,for a great post. The trouble with these kind of things is that you don’t know until you try. And also, I think you have to communicate Success in everything you have / do in the business…. it is all Perception, you know ! For example: business car – what is the limit here ? You need to make a decent impression on potential clients. We want them to think and see that many people like them are using our services successfully (Social Proof ).
Does that make sense to you ???
Great post..I think I heard Phil K one time “never stop cutting your cabbage” and it meant to never stop doing what got you there..I just signed the lease on my new stand alone bootcamp facility..but I’m not closing any of the outdoor bootcamps I have..we still do them in parks and they still work..so we will keep them
Thanks Pat
What a super post! It was like it was meant to be read by me.
Thank you.