July 2010
2 posts
Train Your Business Goats: Selling
I’ve realized I’m a pretty bad salesman. As in, I’m really bad at it. Good thing is I realized it and I’m working on it. When you come into the CrossFit business side of things you’re kind of told: “It’s not about selling and marketing; it’s about training. If you’re a good trainer people will come to you. If you build it, they will...
10 General CrossFit Box Skills
Anytime I can liken business to CrossFit I’m going to try. So the other day while I was cleaning the floors (which is thing #345642 that will frustrate you to no end) I was thinking about why people should come to my box instead of others. What makes the other boxes in DC better/worse than mine. I came up with what I’m terming the “10 General CrossFit Box Skills:”
...
June 2010
2 posts
Clean your bathroom.
Got to love Greg Glassman presentations.
How many affiliate owners do you think went out and cleaned their bathrooms after watching this?
Probably the same ones who train for Fran.
News flash: They’re missing the point!!!
Getting Married VS. Getting Laid
Inspired by Nicki Violetti, I too have decided to post a new post. Considering I now have internet at the box I’m going to TRY and post more often. Emphasis on try.
Everyone has a friend that can hook up with any member of the opposite sex. It’s almost too easy for them, they can do absolutely nothing yet somehow managed to pull the hottest person there. (Sorry ladies but this...
May 2010
2 posts
Helpful Hints with Rubber Matting
What you should do: Make sure you know EXACTLY how much you’re going to need (then buy a few pieces extra).
What I did: Go off the estimate that your landlord gave you and buy about 11 pieces too many.
What you should do: Drag those bastards whenever possible. Don’t get tough and try to carry them when you don’t have to.
What I did: Got tough and tried to carry them. I have...
Necropost: 3x
If you think something will cost you $2,000… It will cost you $6000
If you think something will get done in a day… It will take 3 days If you think you can open in a month… You will open in 3 months If you think you one person can do a task… It will take 3 people If you think you will only need one of something… You will need 3
Is this cliche? Absolutely, but...
April 2010
1 post
Wear Two Hats
I had a bit of a revelation today which I think relates to a bunch of businesses but very directly to the “Relationship Business” of CrossFit that Greg Glassman refers to in his “At the Chalkboard” series on the CrossFit Journal (which you should absolutely be watching).
As a business owner you have to wear two hats at once: that of a customer and a provider (for lack of...
March 2010
6 posts
Episode VIII: Starting Over
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
Breaking up is no fun for anyone. Losing “The Perfect Spot” cut deep. It was kind of ridiculous how much it felt like a girlfriend breaking up with you. ”We were so perfect for each other.” ”I thought we were...
Epic Win: CrossFit Message Boards
In the “Epic Win” posts I’ll discuss the triumphs I have made while trying to open my box. There will be far less of these than the Epic Fail posts.
Maybe I’m completely making up this problem, but it seems to me that a lot of people don’t realize the TREMENDOUS value of the CrossFit Message Boards. I may be projecting here, but message boards have kinda faded to bolivia (as Mike...
Episode VII: Losing "The Perfect Spot"
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
The minute you start talking a landlord you start to get a handle on how much you really don’t know. All these questions come up that you didn’t even know you had to consider:
How much work needs to be done to get a Use Permit? ...
Episode VI: The Perfect Spot
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
After discovering that there were a plethora of unusable locations in the DC area, I learned one of the fundamental rules of business: if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I had looked around a bunch of areas for the...
1 tag
Episode V: Location, Location, Location
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
CrossFit has always been a bit of a “destination location.” In fitting with the low overhead model, a lot of boxes found the cheapest location around and then just made sure to provide the greatest coaching possible in order to...
Good News/Bad News
Good News: I’ve finally got a lease to negotiate and not just an LOI or an idea.
Bad News: I’ve got to think about all the issues that come along with negotiating a lease.
If you even think you can get this or any business off the ground without help from a lawyer you are kidding yourself. It’s one thing to be able to read a lease and understand what it says (there’s...
February 2010
11 posts
Got Questions? He's Got Answers.
Want your box to look like this?
Yeah… me too. Well lucky for you one of the brains behind Potomac CrossFit is giving an online interactive Q&A session with anyone who wants to sign up.
Thanks to the The Athlete’s Forum Brian Wilson will be presenting “From 30 to 300: How to Grow Your Affiliate” this Wednesday at 8pm. For those of you that don’t know, Brian...
1 tag
Overheard at "The Gym" #2
In the “Overheard” posts I take a quote from a trainer/co-worker and discuss the flawed logic and/or sheer stupidity of their “Expertise.” It is meant to illustrate why I feel compelled to start my own business and escape the tyranny of idiocy. These are real quotes from “real professionals.”
“Turkish Stand Ups”
Trainer: Hey man I read about something in Men’s...
1 tag
Episode IV: Foray into Finding Funding
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
After I had made the decision that starting a box was where I was headed, I came to a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. I needed to find a location and equipment prices so I knew how much start up capital was needed. But I also needed...
1 tag
Episode III: Too Perfect to Fail
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
I remember a lecture Glassman gave once about a guy they called “The Bad Trainer.” He spoke of a trainer near him in Santa Cruz who was just the worst trainer they knew. He was annoying, inattentive and full of himself. Anyway,...
1 tag
Episode II: Starting Simple
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
Coach Glassman stressed it from the beginning and it still rings true today. People come to CrossFit because of the coaching. I’ve seen the kind of coaching that most personal trainers provide at your standard Globo Gym. It’s a...
The Most Unlikely of Critics
Whenever you want to try something new or out of the ordinary there will definitely be critics. Nay-sayers, pessimists and a variety of ill wishers will be there at every turn. Sometimes you’ll find them in the most unlikely of places…
Last night, I had a very strange dream. I was looking at various empty spaces for rent for my business (probably the reason this dream felt so...
1 tag
Episode I: How do you know when you're ready?
In the “Episode” posts I’ll try and recount the steps I took toward opening a Box. Considering I haven’t officially opened yet it’ll be an ongoing process.
Everyone who does CrossFit has had the thought run through their mind. Given the type of personality CrossFit requires (driven, industrious, entrepreneurial) it’s near impossible not to have at least...
1 tag
Epic Win: Cash Flow Spreadsheets
This is the first of the “Epic Win” posts. For these posts I’ll discuss the triumphs I have made while trying to open my box. There will be far less of these than the Epic Fail posts.
It’s hard to know exactly how useful a projection really is. I SERIOUSLY doubt the projections I have made are going to be even remotely accurate. But they are EXTREMELY useful for keeping...
1 tag
Epic Fail: Real Estate Brokers
This is the first of the Epic Fail posts. For these posts I’ll discuss the mistakes I have made while trying to open my box. There will be many of these posts.
One of the first decisions you need to make after you decide you want to open your own box is WHERE you want to open your box. This can be a lot trickier than it seems. For instance, Maryland, Virginia and DC are essentially all...
1 tag
Overheard at "The Gym" #1
This is the inaugural “Overheard at ‘The Gym’” post. In these posts I take a quote from a trainer/co-worker and discuss the flawed logic and/or sheer stupidity of their “Expertise.” It is meant to illustrate why I feel compelled to start my own business and escape the tyranny of idiocy. These are real quotes from “real professionals.”
...
So it begins...
I’m on the long road toward opening a CrossFit box. In the spectrum of businesses to open, CrossFit must be one of the easiest. Very low overhead, very low needs in terms of space, an extremely reputable brand with virtually no franchising fee. So again, I’ve got to imagine opening a CrossFit is far easier than opening most anything else. Easy is relative. And relativity is a...