I was the most-certified, most-credentialed, most-studied trainer in town.
I almost went broke anyway.
That’s when I realized that I was a 9-out-of-10 trainer and a 1-out-of-10 business owner. I didn’t know how to read a P&L and was too scared to look at my bank account every day. I was posting to a blog, which is why I ranked a 1 instead of a 0.
When we bring gym owners into Two-Brain, they’re usually focused on improving their product. They want to be good coaches, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But many also believe that improved coaching skills alone will cause business growth.
Unfortunately, we all eventually realize that being a good coach is necessary but insufficient for gym growth.
Being a coach is different than being a gym owner. Each role has a very different skill set.
This misguided focus on coaching is so common that it even has a name (“the technician’s curse,” if you want to go that deep).
Everything I’ve just said counters what trainers hear from their certifying bodies, such as CrossFit HQ. But CrossFit and similar companies are in the business of selling more certifications, so they have a heavy incentive to repeat the old myth that “being a better coach will make you more money.”
That just isn’t true.
I had to learn the truth the hard way, and my mission now is to kill myths like this that drive gyms out of business.
The horrible effects of the myth: Most gym owners I meet deliver good service but are starving to death, just a few bad months away from leaving the industry even though they’re changing lives.
Their coaching is an 8 or 9 on a scale of 10, but their business is a 2. They have more 8-out-of-10 coaches on staff, but they personally can’t read a P&L, and they don’t post media regularly or answer their phone. They struggle with rudimentary business skills.
With this imbalance in mind, most gym owners should maintain their level of coaching and pursue business growth, at least for now. They’re already good enough at coaching. They need to get better at business.
Richard Simmons died in mid-July at 76. He made more money from coaching fitness than anyone in history. He did not have a master’s degree, and he wasn’t CrossFit Level 4 certified.
You might not want to be like him, but you can’t just focus on your coaching skill or your gym won’t survive.
Also, it should be noted that you can’t improve both coaching and business skills at the same time—especially if you’re already overwhelmed by daily tasks.
At best, you have one hour to invest in your gym every day. Invest it in tasks that will measurably grow your business, not in earning your Level 3 or getting a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Those credentials will not grow your business or fend off starvation.
When the Time Is Right
So what happens when you finally fix your business—when you’re earning a great income, you’re providing meaningful employment for a coach or two, and your clients are getting great results?
In other words, what do you do when you’re running a 9-out-of-10 business and your coaching is still an 8?
That’s when it’s time to improve your product—not before.
Good news: Doing so is amazing and fun. In this series, I’m going to tell you how to do it.
In the next post, I’ll teach you how to evaluate your product. After that, I’ll explain how you can use four client avatars to tailor your coaching to specific types of members.
Finally, Mike Warkentin will talk to mentor and gym owner Oskar Johed about how he trains his coaches to focus on the basics and deliver amazing service to clients every day.
