Embrace Chaos

Some things sound like nonsense or impossibility until you see them happen. There is upside inside downside. Our business model intended to take over and purchase the entire building/lot. At the initial launch, four of the full time coaches and two of the part time instructors were growing groups/classes, and needed ample parking, which was THE reason for this location.

However, the owner lied, promising we were displacing a business that dominated the parking. Long story short, our group members had nowhere to park, many driving 15-40 miles to support us, only to find themselves walking from two blocks away in the snow when they arrived in winter. Stressful, disheartening, negativity. I was spending more than every dollar of profit on marketing and promoting the other coaches, handing them every single inquiry/lead: they were still crushed. I couldn’t compel the building owner. Growth turned into stagnancy... into loss. Chaos came. I let people down.

But, I adapted. We changed models. We ceased the over five thousand dollars per month we spent on marketing and promotion. Instead of increasing to 15,000 square feet, we dropped our footprint in half, thus decreasing liability insurance, rent/CAM and utilities. I began taking inquiries, followed up on leads I’d given the other coaches, and every single “bad” lead signed up. Net income doubled.

We didn’t get to fulfill the vision. No empire, as of yet. It would be great to own the building outright by now, have an attached replete athletic training center, Starbucks or other shop in the end space, helping 20-30 coaches build their businesses, etc. But also, that’s a lot of stress AND I wouldn’t have been years ahead of the virtual training curve that everyone is jumping on now.

What at first felt like a failure ended up being a blessing, simplifying my life, reducing hours, and making more money than I could as an exec at a big box gym. From one point of view, we lost six grand per month of top-line revenue, and the potential for hundreds of thousands more. But from another, we streamlined and became more profitable. Chaos comes. No need to run. Embrace it.