In early 2013, I was standing in the parking garage of the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. It was raining, and I was late for my flight. But I was talking to Greg Glassman, and he was offering me a contract to write for CrossFit HQ, and we were almost there. But I had two conditions: 1. I wanted to be “chris@crossfit.com” (I still am), and 2. I didn’t want to sell my gym. Greg said, “Chris, you don’t have to sell your gym. Lots of people at HQ still own their gyms.” He pointed to Jimi Letchford, with whom I’d just had coffee at the original Starbucks. “How do I run my gym and work full-time for HQ?” I asked. “You’re supposed to be the expert,” he said. “Figure it out.” I did. The rest of that story is written down somewhere, including my vision of “retirement” and “wealth”. But I’m writing this piece to answer the question, “Should I sell?” It’s not your standard pros-and-cons article. First I give a reason NOT to sell that many miss. Second, I give one solid reason TO sell your gym to someone else. 1. No. Don’t sell. Your gym is too valuable to sell. “Building a salable asset” is becoming popular rhetoric. But a service business usually isn’t a retirement-grade asset because of the volatile nature of the clients. As Jason Ackerman explained in this podcast, even a prominent gym won’t sell for retirement-level money. MOST gyms are worth far less than their owners believe. To find out for sure, download our free Gym Valuation tool. Ackerman sold his gym for “between half and a million”. I know the real number, but won’t share it. Your gym can be a cash flow asset. It can run without you. In fact, some would argue THIS is the true measure of business success: building an asset that’s worth more when running than when ...
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