Fitness Business University Podcast

SPEAKER_00: What's up,
everybody?

Hope all is well.

I am recording this from the car
in the jujitsu parking lot, of

course.

And uh got a good one for you
today.

I uh finished uh a full day of
consulting just about an hour

ago.

And uh it's it's my last one for
the month of January where I've

done so many of these seemingly.

But I it's I again I whenever I
do these full days, uh I love

these full days because I get to
go super deep inside of a

business.

It's kind of like I'm you know,
a mechanic and like we're

opening up the hood of the car
and I'm like taking everything

apart and putting it back
together.

That's kind of what it feels
like when I get to spend a whole

day with a business.

It's really it's powerful, and
you know, I learn so much, and

usually the people that come
they leave with a lot more

clarity, a lot more certainty,
and a lot more feeling of having

control over their business.

And so I really I love these
days.

I you know, people they they
spend a lot of money to do the

these days, but I do feel that
they leave with, you know, well

more than their money's worth.

And you know, obviously they
always get ideas to make more

money and and things like that,
but the the feeling of control

and the feeling of certainty and
the feeling that, you know, and

hope, like it's hard to quantify
that.

It's hard to put put a price tag
on that.

And but I do know that, you
know, many people feel that just

that alone well outweighs the
cost of a of a day.

So uh what I want to do is kind
of shine some light on kind of

what I do inside of some of
these days, and not to tell you

like what the specifics that
happen with this business, but

really just to kind of give you
some insights on the things that

I would focus on.

So basically, if you were to
hire me for a whole day, like

what are the some things I would
do?

I think give you some insights
on this call.

I don't I don't think it's gonna
be the same as me doing it with

you, but I do I do think
there'll be some things that

will will help.

So again, the number one thing
that I go into in these meetings

is usually people are booking
these meetings and they have hit

like a sticking point.

They you know, so some people
the hire me because they're

struggling and they can't get
past a certain point.

Some people are doing really
well and they want the next

level, and they want to know
what's next and they need help,

you know, figuring that out.

But the big thing I I give
people is I get them to see

things more clearly about their
business and what they need to

do to create a breakthrough.

That's really what it's about.

It's creating a breakthrough,
whether it's breaking through

from a sticking point, whether
it's breaking through from an

uncertainty of what's next.

That's kind of what I like to
try to orchestrate and do my

best to try to do that.

And again, if you're listening
to this, you're probably in one

of those camps, right?

You may be either struggling and
not doing as well as you want

and want to create a
breakthrough and you may be in a

sticking point, or you may be
doing well and you want to kind

of figure out like what's next.

I think you know, so some of
these things will help you.

One of the one of the first
things I I like to do is, you

know, one of my mentors, Tom
Plummer, taught me this, and he

taught me that if you uh don't
know what you want, no one can

help you.

And that is like if you don't
know where you're going, it's

really hard because it's like
there's a lot of stress that's

created from that.

There's stress in your own self,
there's stress in the team,

people can feel it.

But and it even says in the
Bible, you know, without a

vision, you know, people perish,
right?

So it's an important thing to
have, and and not a lot of

people have a good way of uh of
uh of of creating a vision,

right?

They you know they maybe create
these you know cheesy vision

statements or whatever, things
like that.

And and honestly, too, a lot of
people don't understand what a

vision really is.

I mean, a vision is just you
know a picture of of where you

want to go.

That's all it is.

It's not a mission statement,
it's uh a vision is a is a

picture of where where you where
you want your business to be.

And it's you know, set somewhere
in the future.

And so one of the things that
you know is important is the

timeline of it.

And you know, we look at usually
creating short-term and

long-term visions, right?

I always say that sometimes
people have a tough time with

creating the long term.

Like, where do you want to be in
five years?

Where do you want to be in ten
years?

Like, who the hell knows, right?

And if you can't get there, it's
good to be able to get there in

five.

And if you can't get there, what
I do is I I it's mandatory for

me to get you to at least
outline a clear picture for

where you want to be in one
year.

Like that's mandatory.

But you gotta be able to do
that.

And the cool thing is like if
you have no idea where you want

to be in ten years, but you do
know where you want to be in

one, and the next year you know
where you want to be in one, and

you string together a bunch of
really good years, you're you're

hopefully gonna end up in a
great place.

So that's why I always try to
do, and I kind of follow a

specific framework and formula
for you know what to do, and it

usually involves, you know, how
much money you want to make, how

much profit of that is, you
know, what are the kind of

measurables that we need in
terms of like how many customers

we need, at what price points,
and things like that.

So it's kind of outline, you
know, there, and then there's

usually some measurable goals
that we'll set uh around those

things.

So that's all, but it's like
very, very granular of where I

want a business to be in one
year and figuring that out.

And then the next piece is more
of the longer term, call it

three years, call it five years,
call it ten years, whatever you

want it to be, but somewhere is
a is a picture of the future,

right?

And I I really love whereas the
one year is very, very, you

know, logical and on paper, and
that's like it's very like

mechanical almost.

The bigger long-term stuff is
more emotional, it's very, you

know, even though it is clear
and hopefully somewhat

measurable, it's more of created
as a story.

So that's like I learned what's
called visioning from Ari

Weinswick, which is a story that
you write about your business

and where you want to be.

It could also be done with your
personal life.

And you basically just sit down
and you sit down with a couple

like guideposts, and guideposts
could be like, you know, what

does the business look like?

What does the staff look like?

What does my time look like?

And you have some guideposts
that, you know, will help you.

But then you you basically just
start writing and you write in

the present tense and you know,
you create this story.

And you know, whenever you
create a story, there's emotion

that comes with it.

And that's really why vision is
so important.

Vision is so important to be
able to communicate it to your

staff.

That's why like a vision is so
important.

It's like it's one thing for you
to help you create the right

growth plan, right?

Then create the right steps to
work towards it.

Uh, you need that, but it's also
like you're not going to do it

alone.

You need people to be on the bus
with you.

And so a vision is something
that you want to be able to

communicate.

And I found that when you create
a story, you know, it's like,

how do you communicate with your
kids?

You know, you read them stories,
right?

That's kind of what you know
happened growing up.

And so the vision story is a
really, really a powerful way to

do it.

So that's kind of one of the
first things that we cover is

what what does the owner, and
typically it's the owner, right?

What does the owner want?

Like what are they looking for?

What are they looking to
accomplish?

And we get clarity around that,
and sometimes we have to word

shop, you know, work workshop it
and create it, but that's it's

always a really powerful thing
when like you can figure out and

and decide where you're going,
man, it's a it's it's a

beautiful thing.

Uh so that's a that's a big
component of it.

The the one of the other things
we do is I always will evaluate

the numbers, like what happened
with the data points, what

happened with the numbers.

And what I usually will have
them do is bring the last 90

days.

Like what what happened with you
know the financials, what was

the profit and loss statements
looking like in the last 90

days, what were the scoreboard
items like, you know, how many

did they hit their lead goal?

Did they hit their new client
goal?

And you know, what was the
attrition like, and what was the

attendance like, and what was
the usage like, and all these

different things.

And what I try to do is look at
the last 90 days, and basically

we do a recap of, hey, how did
the last quarter go?

And that's like it, you know,
the last quarter, and this is an

important point, but the last
quarter is it's a good snapshot

of what's happening, but a lot
of people will take like a month

and be like, oh my God, you
know, last month I lost so many

clients, and it's you know, one
month is not a trend.

So 90 days is a trend.

And so we look at 90 days and we
look at the data points from 90

days, and then we start to
formulate what are the issues,

what are the challenges, what
are the things that we're

facing.

And this is something that I'll
be honest with you, this is

something that for way too long
I've struggled with uh

personally, and I know a lot of
other people do, but like we get

stressed out about problems, and
it's like kind of stupid.

Like it's really stupid to get
really stressed out about

problems because if you come
with the mindset that problems

and solving problems are your
job and it's just part of your

job description, and they are
inevitable, and they are never

you're never gonna have a
business without them, then you

can maybe look at them a little
differently.

It's not the sky is falling
thing that oh, I got this

problem.

What the hell?

It's like, oh, I got this
problem.

That's normal.

Let me solve it.

And we get less emotional about
it.

And again, I this is something
I'm still personally working on,

right?

I have to like catch myself and
be like, okay, I got this and I

got that, and I was like, I'm
stressed out about it.

It's like, wait, wait, why am I
so stressed?

Like, just why don't I just like
settle and just be like, hold

on, wait.

This is a problem, this is
normal, this is my job to solve

this problem.

I if I don't know how to solve
it myself, I use my who not how

mentality I learned from Dan
Sullivan, right?

Or I ask someone on my team, or
like, you know, if I can't

figure it out myself or go to
ChatGPT, like there's so much

help out there now, right?

But it's like we kill ourselves
with like being anxious.

And again, I'm I'm like guilty
of this, right?

But I've been getting bit been
getting better at like catching

myself of like, wait a minute,
okay, this is just this is my

job.

My job is to solve this problem.

You don't get mad, like if your
job is to train sessions, you're

probably not getting mad.

I gotta oh, I gotta trade a
session.

Right.

And if you are, you're probably
like, it's time to retire,

right?

Or you're getting mad that you
have to do this.

It's like, no, it's like that's
the job.

That's what that's what the job
is.

So solving problems is the job,
right?

And so we look at the 90-day
world of like what the what the

data points are because the data
is reality, that's an important

point to to know.

The data is reality.

This is the truth teller of the
business, and it's telling us

what are the things that you
know we need to know.

And so, like, if I do an
off-site and they come in and

it's like, well, we had a 2%
attrition rate.

Beautiful.

We don't need to even talk about
that.

You want to create a new
onboarding system for new

members?

No, you're not gonna do that
because you have a 2% attrition

rate, it ain't getting any
better.

So, buddy, that sales conversion
problem you got, that's where

we're gonna focus.

That trial, that conversion from
trial to new member, yeah, yeah,

yeah.

That's at 55%, and we need to
get it to 70%.

That's the focus.

That's the what we're gonna
focus on.

Right?

And so it kind of guides you,
the data guides you on what

problems you need to solve, on
what goals you need to set, on

what projects need to be worked
on.

The data tells you that.

So this is that's such an
important piece is to evaluate,

you know, the last, you know, 90
days and also making sure that

the you know, the data that
you're tracking on a on a

regular basis is also set to
help you reach your goals,

right?

So, for example, your goals on
your weekly scoreboard in terms

of how many leads or new
customers you're getting need to

reflect where you want your
business to be in a year.

Now that there's some math to
that, and I'm not going to go

through it today, but just know
the numbers on your scoreboard,

the numbers like leads, the
numbers like trials, the numbers

like consultations, the numbers
like new clients, the numbers

like attrition, right?

All of that stuff needs to lead
you down the path of where you

want to be in a year.

And so it's possible that every
90 days you need to look at

those numbers to make sure they
are up to date and on track.

So the numbers is huge.

Like it's like we gotta, we
gotta know the uh these data

points.

And then and then the next piece
is you know, I always focus on

in these days is you know
something called the

organizational chart, right?

And this is basically like think
of it as like uh in football,

it's like a there's the depth
chart or the you know the roster

or the you know the uh the
lineup, right?

It's like all right, who we got?

What are the positions?

And then who are the people in
the positions?

This is huge.

And this is where like a lot of
the stress.

It's like uh my my one of my
great mentors, Mark O'Donnell,

said like eighty percent of
business problems are people

problems, right?

And so a lot of the people
problems can be solved with

being clear on what are the
roles that the company needs,

and then who are the right
people to put in those roles?

And then is there a documented
process for their job and how

they do their job?

And is there success metrics
like you know, specific numbers

that are helping them to tell
them and what what success tell

them if they're being successful
or not?

And all of this can be drawn up
on a board, it's like you know,

these boxes on a board, or like
we're putting, you know, the

head of marketing here and the
head of sales here, and then

this is the person that's doing
that, and this is they own that

result, right?

And so we spend a lot of time on
the on the people putting the

right people in the right seats
and creating the right structure

for the business.

It's a really, really important
exercise.

And I found it it's really hard
to do on your own.

Like I I always was very
grateful to have Mark, you know,

when we did this back in the day
with GFP, Mark O'Donnell, doing

this stuff with me.

And one that not just taught me
how to do it, but you know, is

is way more effective when he
helped us do it herself.

So that's like that's a huge
piece of what what we do.

And a lot of times we'll spend
sometimes two hours just on the

org chart and putting, you know,
the boxes on the board and the

people in the in the seats and
then creating goals from there.

It's like, oh no, this person
needs to take over the head

trainer role.

Okay.

What do we need to do to get
them ready?

We're not just gonna give them
the job, just like, hey, you got

this new title, head trainer, go
get it.

No, there needs to be you know
something put in place for for

you to to to lead them, uh to
teach them what they need to do

and to troubleshoot with them.

We can't just give them a title.

It's gotta be, you know,
something that they're put in,

you know, to the seats.

That's a really, really
important point, you know.

And you know, one of the other
things too is we will look at

how the team that that's coming
to see me, usually they come in

a team, like the uh group today
came where there's a team of

three.

Right.

And we'll look at how those
people are communicating with

each other.

What does that look like?

Are we doing the things that we
need to do from a meeting

structure point, right?

Are they meeting regularly?

Are they meeting on a weekly
basis?

Right?

Do you need to be meeting?

Are you following a good meeting
structure that's really helpful

for you?

So communication becomes you
know super important.

So that's something we will look
at and evaluate, and you know,

and then that and then the next
piece we do is we set some

goals, right?

We look at, you know, the next
90 days and just like, okay,

this is you know what we're
after.

We set our one year where we
want it, where we want the

business to be in a year, and
now it's like, okay, what do we

need to do?

What do we need, what do we want
to accomplish in the next 90

days?

Right?

And we sit down and put a bunch
of stuff on the whiteboard and

troubleshoot, and then they
leave with their what are the

the things they need to
accomplish in the next 90 days,

and they leave with clarity
around that.

So it's a really uh really
important piece.

And the last part is kind of
like going back to the problems

thing, the last part is we solve
the problems in the business.

What are the biggest issues that
they're facing that they need

help solving and they need
outside voice like mine, you

know, to help them, you know,
solve it.

And that's kind of how, you
know, like a rough, a rough

structure of you know what I do
with with a team that comes in,

you know, with me.

But hopefully, like listening to
all of that, I I believe that

there's one piece where of what
I just mentioned, there's one

piece of all of that that could
help you, right?

Maybe you have like no vision
right now, and you have no idea

where you're going, and you have
never even thought about writing

it down, and and you don't so
you could do you could do that.

Maybe you have like your numbers
are just Greek to you, like you

have no idea you know about your
finances, you have no idea about

your data points, you have no
idea about your track, you're

not looking at it on a regular
basis.

Maybe that's the area where you
need to focus.

Maybe you got a bunch of people
issues, right?

Or maybe you have hires that you
need to make that you're not

making, or maybe you need to
fire people because they're not

living your culture, or maybe
you're just overloaded and

you're in every box of the
business, like you're doing

everything.

You own the marketing, you own
the sales, you own the head

trainer role, you own the
finance, you own everything, and

you're getting burned out.

And when you see it on the
board, you're like, holy shit, I

need to get some help here.

And so maybe that's you.

Maybe that maybe you're you're
you need to address the people

issue.

Maybe it's a communication
issue.

Maybe you don't have people that
you can communicate with on a

regular basis.

Maybe the people that you are
communicating with, it's not

happening well.

Maybe you're you know not
meeting regularly and things

like that.

Or and or maybe you're you're
not able to identify what are

the big problems and you need to
work there.

So any the of all the stuff I
talked about, there's probably

one thing that you could pull
and be like, that's an area of

focus for me.

That's a that's a weak point of
mine, and I can buckle down and

I can, you know, either try to
work on my own, or I could get

some help and get coaching and
you know, get a mentor to help

me, you know, work through some
of these things.

So that's kind of it.

So what I tried to do is kind of
give you the framework of what I

would do with someone for a full
day to look at their business

under the hood, but then you
know, give I gave you the

components of it, and it's up to
you.

It's obviously not as good as
coming in for a day with me, but

I gave you the components of
like, all right, which one do

you is your struggle?

Like, what's the struggle area?

And again, I work with only
gyms, right?

But you know, this is true for
any business.

Like any business owner
listening to this could benefit

from you know an exercise like
this.

It's not a gym owner thing, it's
just a business thing in

general.

So hopefully this was helpful
and you got you know at least

one nugget from it.

And I wanna I don't I wanna you
to understand that getting

outside of your business and the
four walls of your gym is so

important.

Like you there are things that
you are not seeing and decisions

you're not making because you're
stuck inside the four walls of

your gym all the time and you're
not seeing things clearly.

And sometimes some of the
biggest breakthroughs happen

when you get outside your four
walls, when you get some time,

when you drive away, when you
get on a plane, or whatever.

And that's one of the reasons
why I do masterminds, right?

And that's why I like you know,
this one coming up in Orlando is

super exciting because it's
going to give people that

opportunity, you know, to get
away, to get outside of their

four walls and get in an
environment where they're around

other people, where they're
They're motivated by people that

are being successful, where
they're getting different ideas,

they're getting different
perspectives, they're talking

about the challenges, and
they're learning new things.

And that's why I like these
events.

It's why I put on these events.

I put on these events because of
that.

And I just think it's it's such
an effective way to get clarity,

to get certainty, and to get
more control over your business.

Because sometimes just staying
and put and hunkering down

inside of your gym, there's
things you don't see.

It's just like even when I just
go for a walk, like it's amazing

what happens when I just go for
a walk.

When I get outside and I go for
a walk, like my mind is just in

a different place versus when
I'm in the office working.

And so sometimes these events
can provide that experience for

you.

So if you're thinking about
coming to the Gym Pranos on

February 27th, 28th, and March
1st, you should come for the

content, right?

You should come because you're
gonna learn a lot of really good

things about finance, but you're
gonna learn a lot of things

about marketing and what's
working well in marketing.

You're gonna learn a lot about
leadership and building a team

and all of that.

You're gonna learn all that
stuff, but you should come to

get outside of your four walls,
to start getting into a part of

your brain where you don't
normally get to, to start

getting ideas from other people
that you don't normally speak

to, to start meeting people that
you could create relationships

with that could become friends
of yours and also industry

colleagues that you could
communicate with on a regular

basis, and then you won't feel
so alone.

Some of you are so alone right
now, and it's causing you so

much stress because there's only
one voice in your conversations,

and that's the voice inside your
head.

And what you need to do is you
need to get other voices.

You need to get people with
outside perspectives, people

that, you know, maybe aren't
emotionally attached to your

business.

Like the business I had today,
like I'm not emotionally

attached to that business by any
means.

Right?

I want them to succeed and want
them to grow, but I'm not

emotionally attached.

So when I tell them to go raise
their prices and he gets all

anxious about it and be like, oh
my God, what would this person

have?

I have zero emotional attachment
to it.

I just know what's best for the
business.

So that's the decision I make.

And so what happens is you get
around people that have that

same perspective.

They care about your business,
they care, but they're not

emotionally attached.

And when you're emotionally
attached, a lot of times you

make bad decisions.

And you are emotionally attached
to your business, just like I am

emotionally attached to mine.

And I have to create
environments and circumstances

that help me get away from that.

So that's why I want you to come
to Jopranos, other other than

you'll see me as Vinny Soprano
getting up there, which will be

amazing and fun, and it's gonna
be a good time.

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

But there's a whole page that's
got all the info.

If you go to jimpranos.com, you
can get the info.

If you go like there's a link in
the show notes, you can click

that link as well in the show
notes.

But it's gonna be a really,
really awesome event.

I'm super excited about it.

But honestly, like these things
are important, right?

These things are, and if you
don't come to mind, go to

someone else's, like, but events
are are good.

And again, even if it's just a
seminar where you're learning

new stuff, the act of going to
it, the being in the hotel and

getting on the plane and getting
in a different place and

different environment is really,
really effective.

And I'm advising you to do it.

I'm advising you to either come
to our event or get to someone

else's, whatever.

I hope you come to ours.

But it's a it's a really, really
way.

And it's one of the things EOS
talks about this is like yeah,

clarity breaks, right?

Having, you know, it's one of
the biggest things a leader can

do is get outside their fur
walls and get a break.

Have a break, take a break, let
your mind heal, and then that'll

help you make some better
decisions.

So I hope this was helpful.

I hope you join us,
gymperanos.com, or click the

link in the show notes, and I
will see you soon.

Peace.