Lessons Learned in the Fitness Business from a Life on the Road
Thomas Plummer, 217 pages, 2009
The best way to start — or save — your fitness business is to get yourself to a Thomas Plummer workshop. I know this from personal experience, from our initial 1994 meeting with Thom, Dave and I the proud owners of a beautiful but failing gym. But since few people will actually take this advice upfront, Thom’s book, Naked Woman at My Door, is a quick and fun introduction to his work, simultaneously gentle yet harsh.
Thom Plummer, Naked Woman at My Door
After 15 years working a struggling gym, I figure my first duty is to talk an enthusiastic daydreamer out of opening a gym. Failing that, I insist on a Thom Plummer workshop. Insist, literally, because in today’s world, there’s little chance of pulling off a financially successful training facility without some guidance, and Thom’s the best there is. He’s seen everything that can go right or wrong in this business, and can help an owner hit mostly rights, assuming plenty of effort and willingness to learn.
It’s true you can build a dungeon-like gym on a shoestring, some tenant improvement money and an equipment lease. But you can’t make it run on that, and the reality will become real, real clear about three months after opening day. The joy of building and opening the gym will fade as you discover the rent’s due, the checkbook’s short, and all those guys from the foofoo gym who said they’d be over on Day One are still back at 24/7 waiting either for the rest of their eighteen-month membership to run out, or for you to find the money for the bumper plates you promised.
When’s that reverse hyper going to be delivered, anyway? Oh, right. You borrowed enough money from your home mortgage payment for the equipment, but still don’t have enough to cover the freight.
And you know what? That’s exactly how it’s going to go for most enthusiastic independent gym owners. Here’s what happens: We have great passion for our gyms, and we know – just know – we can run ours better than the gym where we currently train. A few training buds get together, jabbering about a bunch of great-sounding ideas, and they’re off, cruising the town looking for an empty warehouse to hold a huge pile of iron.
None of the chatterers have a lick of business experience; no one even knows which permits need to be purchased, let alone what city, county or state department issues said permits. This isn’t uncommon, this enthusiasm coupled with a lack of business acumen, but in our industry it’s rampant. Add in lack of free capital and we’re hearing a death rattle; it’s a killer.
Thomas Plummer books
If you find yourself reflected in the above paragraphs, opening a gym is likely to wipe out your retirement savings — assuming you have any, big assumption in today’s economy – or it’ll ruin your friendships and possibly your marriage. You simply *have* to learn the business side in order to keep this dream from becoming a nightmare, and it’s not just any business numbers — the gym business is very specific. You need to learn from a gym business expert; the most popular business books, while fascinating, won’t do a lick of good at teaching you how to run your gym numbers.
Covering his top 30 lessons and 29 other lessons folded into stories from his life on the road, Thom will whet your appetite for more specific learning, because as he’ll repeatedly tell you, the gym business is like no other. This read is a few-hour investment that will influence your time in the fitness industry, and your success or failure on the way out.
If you’re a struggling gym owner or a want-to-be gym owner, I’m pretty sure you’ll be motivated to get Thom’s other books on the business side of fitness, so if they have any of his other books in a discount bundle with this one, go for it. Get the books, joint his NFBA professional group, and get yourself to his introductory workshop.
I have not read the book, nor do I want to own a gym, but in defense of the book and from a small business owner of 20 years, I wish someone had written a book like this when I opened my garage. It’s not about desire, enthusiasm, or weightlifting skills, its about cash flow, a cheap but informed lawyer, a relationship with a bank, paying customer list, and not too many friends looking for discounts. cash flow and what you have in your pocket at the end off the day, the week and the month is whats important. The average guy spends his whatever fee for the month and thats it, no more until next month. thats a killer, you need aerobic classes, Pilates, uggggh, t shirt sales, juice bar, you need the daily influx of sales that come with the membership not just the once monthly membership. Read the book.