The Show Up Fitness Podcast

How to open an Independent Personal Training Facility Canada

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 2 • Episode 196

Share episode

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!

Met Tricialynn IG: epicform_fitness in Canada. Unlock the secrets to successfully launching your own gym with the inspiring story of Tricia Lynn, a determined personal trainer from Ontario. Discover how she transformed her basement training sessions into a flourishing fitness business, all while balancing the demands of being a mom. This episode sheds light on the unique opportunities in the Canadian fitness industry, as Tricia shares her insights and experiences in navigating the challenges of operating independently away from corporate gyms.

Learn how you can create the perfect boutique training gym that stands out in today’s competitive market. We explore strategic decisions in location and design, focusing on providing clients with a personalized and private experience akin to a salon's individual stations. We also discuss the financial considerations that come with running a gym, from managing overhead costs and rental spaces to crafting a business model that attracts both clients and quality trainers.

Finally, we delve into effective strategies for running a thriving gym business. Our discussion spans the importance of selecting the right team that aligns with your brand, understanding legal and insurance requirements, and potentially offering added-value services like nutrition consultations. Tricia’s journey underscores the power of taking action and seizing opportunities, inspiring listeners to plant their own seeds for future growth. Don’t miss this episode packed with actionable insights for anyone ready to take their fitness passion to the next level.

Want to ask us a question? Email email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!

Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showupfitnessinternship/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@showupfitnessinternship
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Personal Trainer Book (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Personal-Trainer-Successful/dp/B08WS992F8
Show Up Fitness Internship & CPT: https://online.showupfitness.com/pages/online-show-up?utm_term=show%20up%20fitness
NASM study guide: ...

Speaker 1:

You may have to turn up the volume. The book is out, that is right. Volume two how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer out now. Check it out on Amazon. You're going to level up your skills as a trainer. If you need to pass a certification, we got you covered. If you want to level up and become the most qualified certified personal trainer our certification, the best out there, top 10 in 2024. Trainer our certification the best out there, top 10 in 2024.

Speaker 1:

We are climbing the ranks, changing the lives, just like Ms Tricia Lynn right now, and this podcast is awesome because we talk about starting your own gym. Only a few years after getting certified, she got her show up in a CPT in the latter end of 2023. She's kicking major booty up in Canada. She's training clients out of her basement and now she's gonna open up her own gym and it's really neat to see and hear about these success stories. Make sure to go over. Give her a follow, because it was her birthday recently. Show some support Epic form.

Speaker 1:

Underscore fitness Tricia Lynn. She's been doing a great job and we had a great conversation about how you can start your own gym, because she wants to open up an independent studio in Canada and we talked about how she can get that ball rolling. Check out the book. Throw that sucker into your story. We're going to have numerous contests, giving away free stuff, swag, show up, athletics seminars, all inclusive meet and greets with the belt buckle trainer myself. We'll have some whiskey. If you don't drink, that's fine. I'll buy you a steak. If you don't eat meat, we can have a salad. But we're going to level up your career and help you become a successful personal trainer.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy everybody. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness Podcast. Today we have Ms Tricia Lynn. Thank you for showing up from canada. How are we doing today? We're doing good. We're doing good. Some ben factoids for you canucks out there that don't know much about canada 12 provinces of which. Where do you live? Ontario, ontario. I had a little mix-up before.

Speaker 1:

I was thinking of toronto. I'm like, how big is that city? But you know how big the population in canada is? Okay, one million, and we are roughly at about 15 to 20 000 personal trainers. And that's what we're going to be talking about today is opportunities for trainers outside of your big box gym. So you get certified oh, it's cam pro. Yeah, yeah, there we go. Yeah, yeah, that's like the.

Speaker 1:

If you were to be a newer trainer, looking at it, they're always going to say make sure to get something through. Can fit pro, just like in the U? S. They're going to say, if you go to any form and you say, how do I become a trainer? And they said you got to get in CCA accredited, which is absolute bullshit, but it's part of know smoke and mirrors. But anyways, you want to go work at a corporate gym. There's some equinoxes there, there's a lifetime there. We plan on being there this year for our seminars in the summer.

Speaker 1:

But you know what happens after. You want to leave the corporate world and you know you're tired of having a boss micromanage me, or maybe you want to try the online route and it didn't work. So then you're like, okay, I want to go back to to try the online route and it didn't work. So then you're like no, I want to go back to training. So the independent route is pretty sexy because you get to make your hours, you don't have to report to anyone, you get to make more potentially. The thing about that is you just have to go find your own clients and for you you got a little entrepreneur in you, so talk about some things that you're thinking about right now.

Speaker 2:

Entrepreneur in you, so talk about some, uh, some things that you're thinking about right now. Yeah Well, um, for me I didn't get to do like a corporate gym right out of my skirt. So, um, being a mom myself, it wasn't something that was on the agenda, so I had to make it work without the corporate side. So I was lucky enough to be training out of my basement. But if I didn't, I had to find a place to train. If I wasn't going to join a gym and being where I am, that's not possible. It's not a place, unless you want to rent a space within a commercial gym. But then you're looking at other complex fees and all that kind of stuff on top of it.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about the whole the rent that you may have to pay. So if you are an independent contractor in the States we have a place called like Work in San Diego. Other big ones are Self Made. That's like in West Hollywood. I know, in West Hollywood at least, there's some really expensive ones where you got to pay $1,500, $2,000 and you get full access. You can train as many clients as you want. That's one option. Another one is you just pay X amount and then you have to pay per client that comes in. So it's a grading scale. So what's going through your mind with potentially opening up your own independent spot?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's always been on my radar but I um, I never really got aggressive with the idea until I had a trainer approach me actually, um, about training space.

Speaker 2:

Uh, cause she's looking to train independently as a contractor herself. And then she was telling me how another place offered her a spot and how much they were costing. And I was like place offered her a spot and how much they were costing. And I was like, hmm, maybe you know, as a independent myself and struggling at first to get clientele and to get the business going, I know how much of a struggle it is. That. What if I provided a space for these trainers to come and they had not so much struggle to, you know, find a place to train? They actually had a place to secure and then they could really glow their clientele and then, you know, have that opportunity for them. So that's where this whole idea has come from, where I want to help other trainers succeed in their business and not fail in their business within the first year or two of them being freshly on their cert.

Speaker 1:

So I was just on Reddit, right before this, looking at some of those famous questions that people like to ask, and the most popular one is how do you get clients? And so, if you have a storefront place, these are the P's of marketing your product, your place, your promotion, your price Is there parking around? These are things that you got to think about, because your clients are going to be paying you to train with you at that spot. And if they can't, you know, get a. If it's super crowded, if it's, you know, not organized very well, then they're not going to want to go there.

Speaker 1:

But the nice thing about this opportunity is you don't have to train out of your garage or your your basement. There's going to be, you know, walking by traffic where people are going to reach out, and I've talked to trainers in the past and there's like a little bit of insecurity. It's like, you know, I have an assessment coming in today and the client's a little freaked out. They don't want to come to my house. I get it, I understand, like it's quote, unquote, not professional, but it's. It's a perfectly viable option to train in a garage or basement. But you had that little itch and you want to start thinking about it.

Speaker 1:

Well, maybe I can open up a spot and not only can I still train my clients here, but I could potentially profit off of people renting space from there as well. So let's talk about the X's and O's and some things that you want to know more about, because I have gyms. I've worked a lot with people who've opened up these types of gyms as well, and I know a lot of trainers who've worked as managers in these locations. So what are some things that are going through your mind?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my first question for you would be what are the key factors in making a trainer focused gym profitable and sustainable?

Speaker 1:

So great question, and we'll start off with it's going to be your place. Where are you going to put it? Where can you get the traffic? Where people are going to be able to see that? Oh, this is a training gym, but also not like Starbucks, for example.

Speaker 1:

Right now store. There's going to be another coffee shop, another coffee shop. There's going to be competition and you want to make sure that you're not right next to another spot. Trainers are super, super jealous, and it's going to be. You're going to get some pugnaciousness from other trainers because you're doing what they don't have the guts to do, which is start your own adventure. There's going to be risk in it. There is skin in the game now for you. But now it's exciting because you get to go out there. You can put ads out there, you can go to gyms, you can hire people to potentially go find trainers.

Speaker 1:

It's really about your vision of what you want it to be like. You want it to be like stations. So it's like here in Santa Monica we have a rack right here, we have a cable in this room and in the other room we have a rack and a cable, so you could have four to five trainers in this small 1100 square foot spot at one time. So as the business you charge, say, a hundred bucks an hour, you pay the trainer 50, that means the gym would be taken $200 per hour. That's profit for the gym. Also, you got to pay rent, all those other things. Keep the lights on all that in the gym. So what is your vision? What's the layout? What are some things that you're thinking about?

Speaker 2:

That's a. That's actually a really good question Cause, like most of my clients that come to me like the privacy of training. They don't. They don't like how busy gyms are and how much there is a chaos there, so I never really thought about doing like stations, but that's actually a really good idea. I was thinking like just an open floor concept and then, you know, having a couple of trainers train at once and then their clientele in there, and then they paying a monthly basis and whatever they make outside their monthly rate would be revenue for them essentially.

Speaker 1:

I would just like. When I started to show up, I remember vividly I wrote out the four names that I wanted people. I wanted to have it and my actual name that I liked was advanced personal trainers and I would survey just random people and feedback and it show up was the most popular one, so I went with that because it was the most attractive. So I would be intrigued from your perspective to go out there and survey, essentially going into independent gyms. Go to Toronto, you know, get a little map and type in you know 10 independent gyms and see the style that they have.

Speaker 1:

Because as a trainer, if I go into a boutique spot and there's like four stations, like oh, that's pretty freaking cool, I get my own rack and I have up to 50. That's where you could charge a little more too, because it's like that is your station and half station, so you get it from 5am to 12 or if you want the full day, that is your station. No one else gets it. Versus open floor, you don't have to deal with it now, but trainers are going to get, you're going to have this alpha dog in there, so you want to take the rack and then all of a sudden you're dealing with emotions and people, so at least, that would take away that portion of confusion.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. I like that idea. I do. I really do because, yeah, I know myself I wouldn't want to be waiting for equipment, because I hate that at a corporate gym myself. So, you know, having their own private stations would be probably a good idea.

Speaker 1:

And the cool thing about that as well is you could have, depending on the layout, you could have like four pieces of unique equipment that are like kind of segmented. So I can hear in this room like, for example, I could have like a skier, or in that room I have a bike. It's like one day, if you want to go use the bike, you know, see, it's open and you can go over there. But it's not like you're constantly seeking. You have your dumbbells, you got your rack, you got your rack, you got your bench. That's what you're paying for. Very similar to you.

Speaker 1:

Go and get your hair done like they have right station, and that's why it works right, yeah, that's a good idea.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you, and then they could just share the cardio equipment because I mean, you wouldn't need doubles of that really essentially. But most of the small little private gyms around here kind of look really basic. They're just like a mini version of the corporate gyms. So they have a turf area, they have, you know, rubber mats everywhere. They have they're like circuit style um layout. That's what most of the gyms around here, like the ymca or the one I go to is basically the same thing. You walk in, it's like cardio machines at the beginning, and then it's like your free weights and and then your squat racks and then the turfs in the middle and they're all basically the same. But yeah, that's a good idea. Actually, I like the open or the stall idea.

Speaker 1:

So let's look at your streams of revenue. So if you open this gym, because when you train you charge X, but then when someone rents your space you charge y, you have an overhead though. So the rent is, say, I'm not quite sure the space you're looking at, you know so right, yeah, so uh, well, that's another question.

Speaker 2:

I was going to ask you what? What do you think a square feet is appropriate for that sort of thing? And then also, is it more like a garage style or should I go more of like a modern building or you know? So that's another thing I was going to ask you. The one place I was looking at it's about eleven hundred or fifteen hundred square feet. It's around that area. I thought that was pretty doable for us, like what I'm offering, and the rent there is about 16, we might as well say 1700 a month because it's 1699. So you might as well say 1700 a month.

Speaker 1:

Add in your electricity, you got your your wifi, say 2000. And so you could have a station. You rent out a station. You know what? Do you want? To charge Seven, 50. You have three people doing that. Well then you know you're making overhead just from the trainers and whatever you make is is profit. That's something you could look at. I think you could easily do four trainers in a 1250 square foot spot. If you go to 15, you could probably get five. But also, as I said earlier, you could rent out blocks so you could have a morning block, you could have a night block, then you could have someone who wants the whole thing. So and that's the part of the fun thing about the business because right now you're on the side of it where it's like you don't want to go to this gym and pay x amount because that's out of your pocket. But now the business hat comes, comes on and you're like oh shit.

Speaker 1:

Well, maybe I can get five racks in here, because if I get another rack then I get another person. That other person could annoy this other person. So it's this constant tug of war, which is fun because you want to squeeze as much as you can from the tree but you actually don't want to dilute it where you're going to get bad reviews and stuff like that Exactly.

Speaker 1:

That's part of the equation, whereas you want that with what we call reputology. My book will be out here soon and you'll be able to read about those 10 R's of getting clients, and reputology is your reviews. Yeah, that's something that you can motivate people there. It's like no, it's going to be a little quote unquote cheaper, but with it being cheaper for your rent, you have these expectations, and so you need to get 10 rebates and you need to get this and you need to get that, and so those are things that you can definitely implement. So what are your other streams of revenue that maybe you're thinking about, or questions about revenue coming?

Speaker 2:

in. Well, I really don't know where to start with, because on top of renting the space, you got to look at wear and tear on the equipment as well. So like there would be expectations, ideally for me with trainers, that you have to clean your equipment, you have to keep your station clean, you have to, you know, make sure things are at par shape, and if they're not, then you need to come tell me we need to fix it, like you can't. So there's going to be like their own, like little homework. I guess you want to say per se, because, like, if, like, I guess it's my business, but they're also renting this space for their business. So they, if they're coming into my domain and I have these expectations, they have to meet my expectations to be in my space, like you know, cause it's not just their business on.

Speaker 2:

I was just looking at the monthly part. I wasn't really looking at other revenues at this point, because for me it's more about helping trainers get their business established and going, versus trying to make money from every nickel and dime I can. So I was just trying to provide, I want to try to provide, a space for longevity for trainers. I don't want to gash them, like other gyms in Pibro or other places.

Speaker 1:

I like that. But I'm thinking about potential for your clients now, because you could potentially start looking into supplements. You could have, protein you could have, I know that. Josh, I think they have at their spot like he's going to do, like a smoothie or something like that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so you could do like a little smoothie bar. Um, though, at the ymca here they have a little cafe and that cafe does amazing, like just on point. But yeah, I haven't really looked at that because then again I would have to look at my square footage and I would have to make sure that I could, um provide that. And if I do provide that, then it comes with, like food safety, all that kind of stuff too. So that's another, you know, another thing. Maybe, maybe it's a good idea down the road, but for me to just get in there and start getting my hands, you know, molded into the business, it's might be a little bit more people's when they start is think of it as like quarterly investments and so the bare minimum and don't.

Speaker 1:

And you know it's. It's fun because in our mind we like we want the best racks, we want all this stuff. And then when you go to the spot you start looking at pricing. You're like, oh screw, that I'm, I want. I don't want the lowest end, but I want to.

Speaker 2:

I want just enough where it's not going to be like crap but I don't want the the elko bar, which is 900, where you can get a normal bar for 100 bucks yeah, yeah, that's another thing I've been looking at too, because, like I literally started my gym with a set of six dumbbells and I've grown it to a squat rack, to a plate loaded cable machine, to barbells, like dumbbells, plates, all that kind of stuff, but like, um, if I could, you know, get the equipment second hand per se in a good tip top shape, that's where I go first.

Speaker 2:

If I can't do it, then I try and support Canadian obviously. So I try to kind of find a Canadian brand that's not going to break my bank and that will work with me and, you know, give me some perks on top of it. But if I can't, then that's when I go outside to like the States and stuff, but then I'm paying almost double because of the currency and stuff. But that's where I would have to look into stuff and then like it's gotta be a good quality too because it's gotta be able to withstand, you know, some some bumping around and stuff like that. Like I don't want to invest in something that's just going to turn around and break on me, because then that's, you know, defeats the purpose a little bit.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, the two most expensive things that people don't realize when you open a gym the flooring very expensive and mirrors. When we were in Charlotte, someone was walking by at the Lifetime and they had this. It was probably, I'd say, 10 feet long mirror and the mirror itself is not that expensive, it's the install, because you have to have the right tools, you have to have the right company who comes in, puts it on the wall the Equinox here in Santa Monica. It was over $100,000 to install all of the mirrors because one of our students, his dad, was the company that did it.

Speaker 2:

Oh true, Do you think mirrors are necessary?

Speaker 1:

If you look at what we have here right across from me, I have a $40 Ikea mirror and I have four of them in this gym because I'm in that stance I don't care about mirrors, but your clients, they kind of like checking stuff out. So I don't have mirrors all around my gym. I don't like that personally. Like when you go to Equinox it's all mirrors.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I train with no mirrors.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, yeah, it's, it's a happy and this is like it's like being a mom. It's a constant struggle and battle where, yeah, you know your little rug rat edison how old is. How old is he? Uh, he's four.

Speaker 1:

So that's like some days, if you have a terrible day and you're, you have a headache you know, maybe it's not the best thing to give my screen, but if you give it to him when he's calm, you know you have to give and take a little bit, right? So, like him, it's kind of the same thing, cause you're going to have people that are going to want this and that and your client's going to want this and that.

Speaker 1:

Oh my God, you should do this and I'm going to just get by and I want to each quarter I'm invest maybe 3% of whatever the profits are and we can add some stuff. So that's how we can continually grow. But you also need to be careful, because when you start giving your people that work there, you give them what they want all the time and they start getting entitled and then they start wanting more. And so it's just again. This is constant battle. It's fun, though.

Speaker 2:

I'm opening to. I open to recommendations, but it doesn't mean that all recommendations are the best ones. But, um, you know, I do want to make sure everybody's comfortable coming through my door, but at the same time this is a business setting. So, like um, I usually like to set the tone right at the beginning and if they're in for it, they're in for it. If they're not, they're not, then you know I'm not. I'm not your trainer, I'm not your person to be doing business with then. But the reason I also wanted to go this route too is because there's a lot of gyms in Peterborough that do not do commission-based. They just do one flat rate and that's it. So if you're coming in with a big clientele list, you're not getting extra points for that. They're benefiting off you, not the other way around.

Speaker 1:

So it's per hour. So it's 15 bucks per hour, and if I train 10 people that day it's 150. But if I train five people it's 75. So, exactly, I like that. You're not trying to pinch everyone, but what are some other main questions you have about opening your own spot?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I got a few actually. So the next one I have is how can I attract and retain high quality trainers who align with my gym's vision?

Speaker 1:

I would find whatever pricing that you're going for Now. Say, right now you're charging 50 bucks per hour. Are you planning on going up in price because you're going to have your own spot or you want to keep it the same? What is your, your price point that you want to get into?

Speaker 2:

I was thinking that at the beginning it would be just something, something affordable at the beginning. But then like if we did quarterly business um evaluations or something like that, where I sit down with the trainers and we do evaluation of the business and and go from there, so like a quarterly investment, business audited, or something like that, and then eventually like if they're making you know well, over what I'm asking per month, or double that, then I do think there should be an increase somewhere, because you know how am I going to be sustainable and make income myself if I'm not? You know not being aggressive with increasing it, but you know expecting an increase somewhere at some point.

Speaker 1:

So I was responding to someone today on my post on Lifetime and they said I can't believe that the gym takes as much as 60%. That's not fair to the trainer. But from the business side I said well, the gym also has $30 million that they invest in that spot and it's a very high end location. That's their right to do that. If you disagree, then do exactly what you're doing is put skin in the game and open your own spot. Now, as the business owner, you have to make those decisions. And what happens if COVID happens? They're not going to support you and pay for rent while the gym shut down. That's your responsibility. So because of that responsibility, you can charge a little bit more.

Speaker 1:

Now the thing is and this is what happens and gets frustrated in the gym industry is you work at a lifetime, say, and this year as the manager, I'm going to get a 25% increase on my comps, pay or whatever I bring in this gym. I get a commission in a year. These are just random numbers, I don't know. So what's annoying is next year it could be 10%, and then the next year it could be 2%, and then the new manager comes in, it's back up to 25%. So it's not consistent, and so then the trainers get frustrated. Comes in, it's back up to 25. So it's not consistent, and so then the trainers get frustrated.

Speaker 1:

I think it's important that you are very stern on the bar that you set and let them know this is long-term and maybe there is some type of vesting interest that you could have, and so if you're here for one year, the profits that you're going to get 1%, and at the end of three years you're going to get 3%.

Speaker 1:

So they can look at it and say, okay, so if I'm here and I'm contributing, I can get some type of profit from that. And so it could be also like a referral from a trainer. If you refer someone in here, I'm going to give you 25% off your first month, whatever it could be, so you can get a lot of the trainers to be working for you and spreading the word in the community. And then I would just encourage you to work out when you have time, to try to go to the gyms and you wear your shirt and people will start talking to you and they're like, oh, you're a trainer, you actually have a gym right over here. Before you know it. People are going to start being more interested about going to your spot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's a that's also like I don't, like I don't know. I that's also like I don't, like I don't know. I don't really want like memberships per se, I just want like clientele trainer base. So I guess that's what's going to make me different than other gyms in the area. I'm not actually a gym gym, I'm just a gym that's providing rental space for independent trainers and clientele.

Speaker 1:

Exactly so. Then when you go to those gyms and you talk to trainers, you start planting seeds in their mind that oh, there's a spot that we could potentially go. I like that, ma I personally don't like the membership one either. So I think that's the way, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And then one of the bigger questions I guess I have is what legal or financial considerations should I be aware of when structuring a trainer-based gym?

Speaker 1:

First off, from a city standpoint, you have to look at zoning, so that's you're going to have to talk to city planner, get all that stuff taken care of, making sure that it's approved. I would use the vocabulary loosely with what you're going to open. You're not a gym, you are a corrective exercise boutique studio. You are some type of studio because gym is a huge red flag for city planners. They hate gyms because they see gym, they think noise, they think parking it's a mess. So you can let them know. My goal is to train my clients in here. I'm a corrective exercise expert. It's real hands-on, soft tissue. It's very quiet. You have to downplay all that stuff because it's really.

Speaker 1:

I talked about that story in Atlanta. It took Josh like six months to. He kept on interviewing places, trying to get in and see the spots, but he told me the gym they wouldn't even let him in. And then I told him you got to change your vocabulary. And then now he's opening up his gym right now, because of the way that he posed the vocabulary, legality ways you have to look at just insurance for the whole entire place. You can even use the one that we have. We have an insurer and that one's. I think you get 20% off of it. It's like for a spot like this size, say 1,500 square feet, you're looking at barely 1,500 bucks a year, not that bad.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah, yeah, and that's another requirement that I would ask is they? They have to have their own insurance coming in. Even though I have my insurance, you still need your own to cover you and your own clients, because my insurance is not going to cover you know all that, so that's also a requirement, and then you have the whole.

Speaker 1:

you feel like I answered that question enough, yeah, so give me down. The next rabbit hole is the interviewing process, because now you're going to start seeing what trainers are like, and I've been doing this for 20 years and I'll tell you right now. When people reach out to me and they want to work at my gyms and NASM, ace or ISSA is on their resume, I throw it away.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Well, that's going to be very limited here, because that's all everybody has here it's like ACE, nasm. There's this new one from the States, the girl that I'm just actually talking with. She told me yesterday it's like some long name, I really don't know. It sounds flashy and nice, but the more I talk with her I'm like hmm.

Speaker 1:

Luca Horsvik has a great analogy. He has a gym up in Seattle and he calls it are your trainers window proof? And he calls it are your trainers window proof? Meaning, if someone walks by your gym and they look in there, are they repping your brand Because your brand?

Speaker 2:

is going to be on that window? And what if you're?

Speaker 1:

not there one day and someone walks by when they're doing a single leg BOSU ball balance their thing, it's not to say that's a bad choice, but you have to really look at what you are representing, and obviously you're not representing my thoughts or what I'm about. You have to look at. Are you okay with a little bit of quote unquote fuckery? They're paying rent. Are you going to oversee their sessions, or is it? They're just coming there and they're doing whatever the hell they want to? I mean, what if you see them doing an exercise that maybe wasn't appropriate or too aggressive, and you go and talk to them and they tell you no, I'm not coming here to get micromanaged, I'm coming here to rent your space. Don't talk to me like that that's.

Speaker 2:

That's a good question because, like, at the same time, um, I'm not a trainer that's going to allow another trainer to hurt somebody. So, um, you know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't tread, probably, the water a little bit lightly, but, coming it to it like, hey, uh, are you open to some trying some different variation to that workout? Or would you be open to, um, a different approach to what your client's asking for that's not going to lead to an injury? Or, you know, there's other ways to challenge your balance, your stability than you know, hanging them upside down on ropes or something you know or?

Speaker 2:

whatever, or the ballsy balls, for example.

Speaker 1:

Another curve ball I have for you is how do you plan on distributing clients that want to work with the training? So let's say I walk by and I go oh my God, this gym is awesome. I just moved to the area, I reach out and I say I want a trainer, I want to train at 8 am and you're like oh crap, I'm full, I can't do that. So you have potential business right there. Yes, are you just going to hand it off and give it away for free?

Speaker 2:

off that? What's your plan on that? Because they're going to happen a lot. Yeah, I think I'm going to do a referral based or clientele based, like walk-in based um program or something like that. But it would come down to me knowing who I have in my gym and what they train specifically in my gym. So, um, for me, I, we, we do the cca pattern. Nobody has really any idea what that is here. So the trainer that I've been talking to has no idea. She just trains. For example, she's training two days a week and she's doing upper body, upper body, upper body and I'm just like, okay, well, whatever, that's how you train that.

Speaker 2:

If you're coming to my gym two days a week, we're going to do full body CCA because that's going to optimize your workout. But it would come down to me knowing who's in my gym, what they do and how they do it, and then I would, you know, obviously sit down with them, do it like a little bit of a questionnaire on the spot, and then that's how I'd figure it out if I couldn't squeeze them in. But ideally I'd probably fill up my schedule first and then go down to my next tier, fill their schedule first, next tier, fill their schedule, etc. Etc. But because, at the end of the day, like the space is still for me and I still want to grow my business and my clientele too. So you know, and that's how I think I would do it, I don't really know if that's the right way to do it or if there's that's fine.

Speaker 1:

The last piece of advice that I have from a business standpoint is most trainers don't capitalize on nutrition consultations and coaching, especially when you have your own spot to an RD. Find a good, qualified one in the area. Once a month they come in and then you can provide that service to all the members at a premium. So it's like either A the trainer can say I'm going to be charging an extra 150 a month because I'm going to be doing more thorough analysis with food logs and not just simple macro calculations. We're really into the weeds of this. But on top of it, you get to meet with an RD once a month. We have a little social hour. You get a place in the area to sponsor it. New food Clients can bring stuff in.

Speaker 1:

So bring that community. I cannot stress enough the importance of community and you can just see that going to the Facebook post today where. Going to the Facebook post today where someone was able to pick up 26 clients I think it was and everyone was just commenting in positive stuff, positive, positive. Everyone loves that stuff, right? So when you're able to bring forth the community, it's just going to be long lasting, and that's what you want. You want this to be there 10 years from now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I wanted to be sustainable as to that when I do ran out to my 10 year goal, that I I've got the basics down and I'm ready to go. My 10 year goal is to open a power lifting gym. So that's where I'm kind of using this as a stepping stone and getting a feeler out there and then, if they want if they're still with me by then they can transition to the gym and be hired underneath me as an actual trainer. If not, then that's fine, that's not going to stop me from my goals, but yeah, so I was just wondering. I have one more question for you, and then that's it.

Speaker 1:

But if you were to launch the gym today, what would be the first three steps to ensure long-term success, long-term success, is going to come from you being able to pay rent, so having those streams of revenue, so making sure that your clients are going to be able to come over there and you're going to be able to pay rent from your clients and then finding the right trainers, because you don't want to constantly be seeking new trainers.

Speaker 1:

Someone comes in for two months, two months and they're constantly just leaving. So you're finding that good team because, ultimately, you want to be able to step away, like, if you don't train for a month, you still want your rent to be paid and you don't have to think about that. And if you create the culture where you have some great trainers to depend on and you can put some pecking order in there, where you know, my goal is to open up a power gym five years from now and powerlifting gym, and so I'm going to open it up across town. Wherever it's going to be, this spot's going to still be here. That's an opportunity for you to move up into a management opportunity where your rent's going to be less and you can start overseeing this, and so it's really just about the team that you bring on and making sure that you have that team to pay for your rent and I would explore those streams of revenue because we saw that with COVID where if?

Speaker 1:

you didn't have those streams, then you're screwed. And that with COVID, where if you didn't have those streams, then you're screwed. And when you have a physical location, you can now start entertaining creative ways to implement programming online, because you can film a bunch of content really sexy, cool content with your own spot. That's yours and you can put that on YouTube, you can put it on Instagram and people are seeing you as the expert with your gym, because trainers don't have the skin in the game to do that. So you are literally a one percenter. So utilize that to your advantage and create a lot of great content helping people, and so then you can have those streams wherever that are going to cover for it.

Speaker 1:

That's the most important thing is, if you think of like the difference, the similarities of going to a big box gym, it's like what are your keys to success? You got to be there, you got to build all this stuff. But what happens if you're sick? What happens if you're gone? You don't get paid. So your number one priority is build up the business. So if you had to step away for a week or two or a month, it's still performing.

Speaker 1:

So everyone in that area needs to know about you and your gym. So coffee shops, boutique spots everyone you're talking to even if you don't want to train them, you can have them come in for one session and say, hey, now if anyone comes in and they're wearing athletic gear, ask them if they are training at my gym. And if someone comes in and signs up with us, I'm going to give you a kickback of 20%. So you just need to really make that community be aware of what you are offering. So get those streams of revenue and let everyone know in that two mile radius that you are a unique gym. Because you're saying there's some other gyms there, you can already assume.

Speaker 2:

We have yeah, we have good life, a fit for less. We have planet fitness. We have some independent trainers that like gyms that are smaller franchises there's quite a few gyms in Peterborough at rather their commercial gyms that are smaller franchises there's quite a few gyms in Peterborough rather they're commercial gyms or like somebody that was a trainer that opened their own gym Like there is quite a few here. So I'm just trying to find how I set myself apart from all the other gyms and all the other smaller gyms and that people see value in what I'm presenting to them is a big thing for me too. And if they want me as a mentor, then sure I'll be a mentor any day of the week. Like I'm not here to take your job or put you out in the first year, I'm here to have watch you have success. So if I'm part of that, then fuck yeah, let's go you know, and so that's going to be.

Speaker 1:

What other trainers don't do is they take it very transactional, so they're just going to try to get as much business as quick as they can. But you have to pay rent, right, but you need to create those relationships.

Speaker 1:

So massage therapist physical therapist, go and work with them and just put a stamp in it right in the beginning.

Speaker 1:

I'm not your typical trainer, I'm not doing some weird CrossFit stuff and hurting clients.

Speaker 1:

You let those therapists know that there's a quality trainer they can refer people to. And as you go month to month to month, you're going to have these streams coming in where you have a constant funnel of clients. And so then, when you have that, there's no worries and no stress. And then you're like, okay, well, I can take a step back and maybe I only train half the amount of time I do now, or maybe I just focus on the business side because I like it so much. At least that's an option that is not on your table right now because you have to train to make ends meet. So at least when you have your own spot you can start kind of dibble, dabble over here and see what you like and get that entrepreneurial spirit. You want to open up more of these and that's the great thing about this Life is short, no-transcript and start planting those seeds and we'll get you back on the podcast in three, six months afterwards and it's going to be a whole different story.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's time to hunker down and do this idea before someone else does it. I want to be the first. I don't want someone to steal my idea and then I'd be salty about it. So you know you got to put action into place. Like things doesn't happen unless you take action. So how about showing up.

Speaker 1:

That's right, you got to show up.