“We’re six years in, and we’re doing AWESOME. Except for the money part…”
“We have an amazing community. I wouldn’t change a thing about our box. Except for the money part…”
“I would love to bring my coach on full-time, but I can’t figure out the money part.”
It’s still a VERY common comment on the free calls I do with gym owners.
This week, I got an email about my appearance on the CrossFit Podcast. It went a little like this: “I remember when CrossFit was all about giving to their community. Why doesn’t anyone open a not-for-profit affiliate in Watts or Compton and just help people who can’t afford $150 per month? Why does Cooper tell gym owners that it’s all about the money part?”
And the answer is simple:
There is no “money part”.
It’s ALL THE MONEY PART.
If you’re not changing your clients’ health, you’re failing as a coach.
If you’re not profitable, you’re failing as a business owner.
If you’re not around in five years, you can’t change their life.
If you’re not profitable, you won’t be around in five years.
Your clients deserve a solid business that will make them happy and healthy for the rest of their lives.
Perhaps even more importantly: YOU DESERVE IT.
You deserve to earn a million dollars a year. YOU took the risks. YOU did the work. And you did it to save people! Can you imagine anyone in the world who deserves to be wealthy more than you do? I can’t.
You got in this for all the right reasons, right? You’re in this to help people. And when you’re wealthy, you’ll help MORE people even MORE than you can now.
Let me give you an example: when I was starting out, the parent of a kid I trained asked me to sponsor her son’s team. I was terrified: $150 was a lot of money. They were paying me far more than that for training, so I felt like I had to contribute. I kept “forgetting” to bring it up until after the deadline. It was awkward every time the kid came in. Eventually, I caved and did some free training for the kid; his mom paid the money in my name. Everyone felt bad about the whole scenario. So I changed our policy to “We don’t sponsor anyone.” That was actually better.
In the last six months, my personal donations to kids in sports are over $23,000. I turned down travel to coach them, and gave my time 4 nights per week for the last six months. I paid for hotel rooms for families, and even groceries. That money won’t change my life, but my service could change theirs.
OR I could have given every spare nickel to charity back then, and still be cringing over $150 namers on the back of jerseys.
You can give a few discounted memberships today, and weaken your platform. You can sacrifice your own income and your family’s security to save some teachers or nurses a few bucks. I’m glad if you do, but I hope you don’t. Because when your platform is much larger, I KNOW you’ll do a thousand times more.
Doing a great job is the easy part. I love coaching, and so do you. No one likes going to the dentist; everyone likes going to the gym. Our kids will grow up healthy. We don’t have to answer to a boss. Looked at this way, every gym owner IS a millionaire…
…except for the money part.
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