The number one reason gym owners don’t hire more staff members?
“I can’t afford them.”
But if you upgrade your staff the right way, it isn’t actually an expense. Here’s the rule you must follow:
Every staff person generates at least 2.25 times the revenue he or she is paid.
Front-line staff (like coaches) must create the revenue that pays them—that covers your bills and leaves the gym profitable.
Back-line staff (like cleaners) must create time for you to upgrade your own sales and marketing skills so you can generate the revenue that pays them.
There are two ways to do this:
1. Hire people. Take the risk. Hope they work out. Micromanage them because you can’t afford mistakes. Pay them even when you’re not being paid. Ruin your relationship while they run you out of business. Get mad that they don’t appreciate the opportunity you’ve given them, and then fire them and say, “I’ll just do this myself!”
2. Follow the 4/9ths Model. Make every staff person an asset instead of an expense. Mentor them, lead them and help them build the careers they want (coaching!) while you do the stuff they don’t (marketing, sales, and accounting).
This is a huge topic that takes up a large area on the Two-Brain Growth ToolKit.
A mentor will guide you through this huge topic step by step. But if you want to try and figure it all out for yourself, here are the resources you’ll need:
- Free Hiring Plans and Job Descriptions—download the guide from our Free Tools page at no charge.
- Intrapreneurialism 101 Guide—you can download it from our Free Tools page, too.
Those guides will tell you how to pay coaches and ascend them to great careers. But here’s how to train and find coaches.
How to Train New Coaches
Often, the best coaches come from within your community.
These people understand your vision and align with your values. It’s easier to hire for attitude and train for skill than vice versa. And now doing so is easier than ever.
In my first books, I wrote about the Advanced Theory Course. This was a program I ran once or twice every year for eight weeks. Coaching prospects would attend classroom sessions on Saturdays, do book reports and presentations for the group, and coach each other. Then I’d “graduate” all of them and cherrypick the best leaders in each class. I’d ask if they wanted to coach and then send them for certification somewhere.
If this sounds appealing to you, it’s all in “Two-Brain Business 2.0″—which you can download from our Free Tools page, too (or buy it on Amazon).
But there’s now a much easier way to develop coaches. And it’s less expensive by far!
Josh Martin and I have built the Two-Brain Coaching Degree programs to teach the Two-Brain approach to coaching: both the technical components and the human care. Instead of sending a potential coach away for a weekend seminar for $500-$1,000 and hoping the person will retain as much as possible, you can now train coaches in stages, starting for $149. And, best of all, they’re insurable through AGuard!
I don’t believe in the “learning through memorization/pass the exam/get a job” approach to career education. Instead, I believe the education should be a balance of practical application and knowledge with feedback. That’s what Two-Brain Coaching is for.
How to Find New Coaches
All right: You don’t have any happy people with extra time at your gym. No problem!
You can still find caring experts in your community who want to work on your amazing platform.
1. Find coaches who are underemployed at other gyms.
Many gym owners started as personal trainers at globo gyms. They want to build a living with no ceiling, but they don’t want to start their own gym and deal with all the pains. So go to their gyms and talk to them.
Some Two-Brain gyms even share coaches between them! Each gym invests in the coaches’ ongoing education, and each provides the coaches with a different audience for their services.
2. Find future coaches at local schools.
You know how I got my first coaching job back in 1996? A program in Illinois called my college and asked, “Got any good seniors who want a job?”
My department said, “No, but I have a junior who’s great with kids.”
They said, “We’re desperate! We’ll take him.” (Or so I imagine.) Anyway, I was living in Illinois by that weekend, building a new fitness program and teaching kids to inline skate.
There are pros and cons to hiring students, of course. But with a clear training process like the Two-Brain Coaching First and Second Degree programs, it’s pretty easy to find a passionate kid who’s a blank slate and train him or her to follow your vision.
3. Find great coaches on the TwoBrainCoaching.com job board. It’s free!
Post your job (or your resume). Browse the first few jobs we have on there. Find coaches who are already steeped in Two-Brain values and education.
To grow your business, you need to buy yourself time. That means replacing yourself in front-line delivery roles—at least for a while. Make sure that person is as good as—or better than—you.
