entrepreneurship – Tony Gentilcore

3 Secrets From MBSC Thrive

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of MBSC Thrive coach, Sean De Wispelaere. When it comes to fitness entrepreneurship – NOTE: commercial gyms trainers this still applies to you – everyone’s always looking for that one “trick” or slight “edge” that will help separate themselves from the masses and serve as the tipping point towards success.

Below are a few things that Sean has noticed from some of the of the top performing coaches have in common within the Thrive program/system.

1). Do You

Gary Vaynerchuck, a well-respected entrepreneur and social medial savage, spoke at the USC Entrepreneur Talk a few years back. He had 60 minutes on the clock, walked in, and told the class that the only piece of advice that matters is that they have to identify what they are good at and go all in on that.

He then asked if there were any questions. Savage

Relating that back to the coaching or training, you have to find out who you are as a coach and be really good at making sure your clients see that authentic you. If not, you will always be missing “something” and it will affect your ability to succeed at the level that you want in this industry.

It looks like all of our teachers, parents, and Dr-freaking-Seuss were right. I typically don’t trust anyone wearing a striped hat and bow tie…unless they advocate eggs (or even green eggs)…if Dr. Seuess had a rhyme-y coffee and deadlift book he’d be a triple threat.

Anyway, the majority of coaches or trainers who I have seen fail are the ones who fail to be their authentic self.

The clients are being 100.01% authentic when they buy your services.

That means that they need your help, that they cannot do this on their own, and believe that you’re the one who can help them.

So, when you’re not authentic they will sniff it out over time and as a result they will end their time with you. They usually say that they “can’t afford it anymore,” or “they have a new job that messes up their schedule,” or “King Leonidus power-kicked them into a deep dark hole.

…Regardless of their reason, it comes down to this harsh truth, in my opinion: They don’t trust you. You’re supposed to be the person that helps them succeed with something very challenging and when “something just doesn’t feel right,” you’re done.

Your clients should know some of your quirks, your interests, and why you do what you do.

Warning: there’s a line.

If one of your quirks is that you like to go to Comic-Con, cool. But they shouldn’t know that you went to Comic-Con last week, got hammered, and made 1-5 bad decisions with a Pikachu.

There is no cookie-cutter way of doing this. I’ve seen badass coaches who are the pump-up/hype coach, coaches who are quiet but remember EVERYTHING about their people, coaches who are uber-nerds and give their clients superhero personas, coaches who send a weekly newsletter to their clients just to let them know what is upcoming this week and highlight some clients.

Do you.

You have to be the person that you truly are and not the version that sounds good when you meet someone at the next fitness conference.

Outside of all of the things that can make you, you, here are the things that you have to be able to say ‘yes’ to:

Do you believe in your clients?
Do you lead by example and eat, train, and live the life that you’re advising?
Do you like people?

If your answers to the above aren’t an unequivocal “YES,” then find a way to make them a part of who you are. If you are unable to do that, then you might have to consider a different path. Sorry, but it’s true and might save you a lot of headache down the road.

2) Develop A Firm Philosophy

Your philosophy should be one that your clients can understand.

Keep it simple.

It will go a long way when they are telling their friends about you and WHY your workouts are different than the other programs in your area. On that note, spend the time educating your clients (not all at once…drip it out over time, Turbo). Develop an army of people spreading your good word and impacting your overall culture.

You can’t just be another “get sweaty as F%$k” workout in 2017. There is WAY too much of that and you won’t stand out.

A few tips to develop, re-work, strengthen, or badass-ify your philosophy:

Simplicity is king
It has to be one that you believe in so that your enthusiasm about it is contagious
Let it marinate…
- When you hear a new idea or see a super sweet new piece of equipment don’t become immediately turned on (whoa, whoa…outta the gutter, Nasty) or turned off by it. Let it marinate to see if it actually fits into your philosophy and then make the call.
“Don’t be afraid to neglect certain ideas that oppose your message But you’re just as proud of what our products don’t do as are of what they do.” – Jason Fried, ReWork
- Too many coaches and trainers think that they have to know everything about everything and include all of the things into their philosophy. I am not saying that you shouldn’t strive to be diverse, but it is ok to take some pressure off of yourself. It wasn’t until I read the above quote that I had a simple way of telling people why we don’t do that one flashy exercise that their friend on Instagram does.The quote is now my gift to you and I hope it helps you say “no” and have that be a positive thing more often.

You are the professional and that is why they hired you. If you let the clients dictate the workout, then why would they keep paying you? Also, remember to have fun (seriously, it’s ok.)

3) The Dirtiest Word in the Industry: Sales

via GIPHY

Disclaimer 1: I am well aware it is not about the money. There are 100 other reasons as to why this is the best industry in the entire world, but most coaches are not in a place where they can do it for free.

I have seen aspiring coaches who deeply wanted fitness as their profession, but couldn’t make it financially so they got a job that they didn’t love because it paid the bills. So, though it isn’t all about the money, it is a business and if you want to have the financial means to make it a profession that you are fulfilled in then below are some good business thing-things to keep in mind.

Disclaimer 2: If you have a product, people will buy it. Yes, it really is that simple. They will buy it and tell their friends about. Cool. That is all good and fine, but too many coaches and trainers wait for that to happen. If you want to expedite the process, here are a few ideas to consider.

Referrals

How many referrals per month are you getting? If you have 20 clients and got 4 referrals that is 20%.

How much can you increase that % by each month?

How to increase:

Ask!

Why can’t you have a special group session each month with all of your clients? One that is on-the-house and at the end you let them know that the biggest compliment that they can give you is to bring in a friend to experience what they have. Hand out some “bring a friend” workout cards and let them know how much you appreciate them.

Voila.

New Leads

Outside of marketing via social media (that is a 1,000.5 page article on it’s own)…

Look, I get it. Asking people to workout with you can be a tricky task. Whether you’re in a big box gym or a studio setting this is always a hot/awkward topic. If you’re the type that is able to just walk down the street and grab five leads for a workout…awesome, you don’t need any help and enjoy that cool horn, you’re a unicorn.

But, if you’re like the rest of us…

Drawing up leads:

Have a weekly or monthly 15-minute KB workshop -or- 2 secrets of fat-loss nutrition tips -or- back pain reducing warm up, etc
Promote it by telling everyone when they check-into the gym
Get promo cards made up and pass them out
Get it on the Group Fitness Schedule

If you’re not getting New Leads

Outside of marketing via social media (that is a 1,000.5 page article on it’s own)...

…in a big box gym, then all of the above topics work well for corporate in-services. Most companies in your area would LOVE to have a health professional come in and talk to their staff. Be audacious enough to reach out to the right people to make that happen.

Conversion

If you give 10 people an introductory workout and ask them to continue training with you, how many say “yes?” 30% is acceptable and upwards of 80% is REALISTIC if you’re damn good.

How to increase it you ask? Well, let’s go to school.

How good is the initial workout or assessment that you give just before you ask for the sale?
Do people understand why your services are unparalleled?
Have you asked your clients why signed up with you and leveraged those reasons into that initial workout with future leads?

Do you consider yourself a student of sales or just blow off that idea as if it is insulting? If you have a product that you are truly proud of and one that can help people live a better life, then why aren’t you proud to influence as many people as possible with that?

When was the last time you read a sales book and had a good mindset about it? Are they relatively corny? Yes, but, there just might be a few valuable tools in them to help you grow your venture.

“Time-the-heck-OUT! Sean, you didn’t give any advice in the above conversion topic at all.”

Or did I? Figured I go out with a Mr. Miyagi moment, Danielson.

* Special moment: To say that writing with Tony Gentilcore, the first fitness blog that I read AND respected, is an honor just doesn’t seem like a strong enough word. Dreams come true.

Thanks for reading and Kaizen on, Beast.

About the Author

Who am I?

Sean De Wispelaere. I have been with MBSC Thrive since the developmental years in 2010 and have contributed to many areas within the company. Mainly in program quality, coach development, and making sure that all of our locations have the support that they need to reach their wildest dreams. Featured in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Runner’s World, Vitamin Shoppe, Bicycling, and Seandthrive.com.

MBSC Thrive licenses facilities across the world with the Mike Boyle Strength And Conditioning program and branding while fueling it with proven business systems.

July 10, 2017 Tony

business fitness business

3 Steps to Fail-Proof Your Gym

A few weeks ago I received a text from my good friend (and former business partner) Pete Dupuis. He and I are both obsessed with Jason Bourne, so the first part of the message contained some sort of arbitrary reference to David Webb. We’re cool like that. The second part, though, asked if I’d interested in him writing a blog post on why me leaving Cressey Sports Performance and opening CORE was a good idea.

Apparently it was a topic that popped into his head during a 3AM, sleep-deprived haze as he was attending to his newborn son. Creative juices can strike at any moment I guess. This is good news given my wife and I are expecting at the end of January.

Anyways, I said “of course,” and what follows is, well, pretty freakin awesome. I’ve always said that gym ownership is NOT for everyone and that industry peeps need to erase the notion from their mind that the only way to “make it” is to sign a lease.

I fought the idea of gym ownership for as long as I could, until I couldn’t any longer. Until it made sense.

Enjoy.

Opening a Gym? Do These 3 Things First

Just over a year ago Tony Gentilcore made the difficult decision to walk away from Cressey Sports Performance. After more than 8 years of coaching, learning, and business development, it was time to step out from behind the CSP curtain and let the Gentilcore brand loose on the local fitness community.

Tony made the right move; I’m proud of him.

Here we are just a year later, and he’s flipped his world upside down…in a good way. In the past 12 months, he’s presented on multiple continents, recorded a fitness product alongside Dean Somerset, conceived his first child[footnote]Note from TG: BOM CHICKA BOM BOM[/footnote], and gone from independent contractor to full-blown fitness facility owner.

I want to show you why Tony’s decision to open his own gym (one that thousands of people fail at each year) is extremely likely to succeed. Here are three important things he did in advance of pulling the trigger on this venture to ensure that he see a return on his investment:

1) Tony Accrued TONS of Career Capital

In a field where the barrier to entry is essentially the internet access you need to secure an online fitness certification, Tony has taken an increasingly rare route to “expert” status; he actually set foot on a gym floor for thousands of hours and earned the title.

Coming out of college, he worked split shifts in a corporate fitness setting and would eventually transition to a commercial gym personal training role for multiple years before helping to launch Cressey Sports Performance (CSP).

Tony then proceeded to accumulate more than 10,000 hours of time functioning as a strength coach here at CSP (actually closer to 12,000 – I did the math). When you add up the time spent coaching in all three settings, it is safe to say that he piled up something in the vicinity of 20,000 hours on “a” gym floor prior to announcing the birth of “CORE” to the fitness world. That’s more than 830 entire days of lessons learned, people.

In more than a decade of build up to CORE, Tony experienced multiple training models, learned to sell effectively in each, and identified his ideal business model and coaching format. He’s also been an employee, an employer, and an influencer in the development of a recognizable fitness brand.

Now I want you to stop and think about all of the gyms you are aware of. Can you name a single founder of one of these businesses with more relevant experience than Tony going in to the launch?

Don’t waste too much time trying to identify someone; this person doesn’t exist.

2) He Accumulated Good Will from Industry Influencers

Gyms that could be fantastic fail every day because of extensive competition. It’s nearly impossible to find a desirable location for your gym that is not already overflowing with competitive exercise alternatives. The unique advantage that Tony possessed coming in to this process wasn’t his funny blogs or his ability to instruct the perfect Turkish getup – it was his network.

On the day that he formally announced his departure from CSP on his Facebook page, Tony accumulated 644 “likes” and more than 100 comments wishing him luck and positively reinforcing the move. If you work your way through the comment section, you’ll quickly realize that it reads like the “who’s who” of our little fitness bubble.

The good will didn’t stop there; he went on to record more than a half dozen podcasts discussing his next step and ultimately saw his message reach the far ends of the online fitness community. People were talking. Everyone was talking. Leads started rolling in in the form of emails, and messages on Facebook and Twitter. He wasn’t opening the doors to his business at the same starting line as his competition. Tony was working with a stacked deck.

The lesson here isn’t that you need to spend your time and energy attempting to convince people to share your message on the internet. Instead, it is that you should spend more time making friends than you do accumulating enemies. You’ll be hard-pressed to find somebody who dislikes Tony in this field.

You can’t just ask for a spot on a popular podcast like The Fitcast simply because you need to announce your new business venture. Instead, focus on earning that trust and fostering relationships over time so that when the moment comes for you to take a professional jump the way that Tony did, the most influential people in our field are lining up to ask how they can help.

3) He Didn’t Overreach

Aspiring gym owners aren’t always effective at separating the difference between wants and needs. Sure, you want a 10,000 square foot gym outfitted with $100K in Keiser equipment, but do you need it to be profitable and happy?

Instead of dreaming up his perfect space and building accordingly, Tony started by outlining his perfect lifestyle and began constructing a business model and gym that allowed him to maintain it.

While most are asking themselves how many power racks and platforms they can cram in to a unit, Tony was wondering how much square footage he’d need to be able to coach clients 20-ish hours per week while leaving enough time to publish 100+ blogs annually and also be a present father in the very near future.

Being a new gym owner doesn’t mean that you have to work 7-days per week in year one. Tony assumed responsibility for an 800 square foot space, negotiated a tenant-friendly lease agreement, and identified a pair of likeminded coaches who were willing to pay their share of the rent in an independent contracting format. He was hardly stretching himself thin.

Tony “took the leap,” but in doing so, manipulated the risk to maximize an efficient journey to the inevitable success he set himself up for leading up to his move.

About the Author

Pete Dupuis is the Vice President and business director of Cressey Sports Performance, one of the premier training facilities in North America. He also learned how to deadlift from Tony Gentilcore back in 2006. True story.

He writes a very successful website targeting the “fitness business” crowd HERE and you can also follow his shenanigans on Twitter HERE.

October 12, 2016 Tony

business Motivational

Unexpected Entrepreneurial Shenanigans

“Unexpected entrepreneurial shenanigans.”

Those were the three words I wrote in the blank space describing my reason for having to cancel a Skype call with a marketing group recently.

Copyright: olegdudko / 123RF Stock Photo

I happily picked a time to reschedule and no more than an hour later received an email from one of the gentlemen I was supposed to meet up with more or less giving me kudos for coming up with the best “line” for canceling a meeting he had ever heard.[footnote]I was gonna go with “I’m Batman,” but felt it would have been overkill.[/footnote]

I didn’t like cancelling, and I felt like a dick, but I was being honest.

Being an entrepreneur, is, in many cases, organized chaos. Emphasis on the chaos part.

Since leaving Cressey Sports Performance coming up on a year now, and embarking on some opportunities here in Boston, I wanted to share some quick tidbits, lessons learned, advice, and holy-shit-don’t-do-that-again moments I’ve learned as a newly minted “entrepreneur.”

I’m An Entrepreneur, I Guess.

To be clear, I don’t necessarily walk around referring to myself as an entrepreneur. As in: “Oh, hello, my name is Tony Gentilcore, entrepreneur.[footnote]Also, for the record, I hate spelling this word. I never get it on the first try.[/footnote] Maybe if my name was Elon Musk I could pull that off. But until I start sending rockets to Mars I’ll keep my mouth shut.

However, I’d be remiss not to point out that, since 2006 (when I first started writing) I’ve been busy building a “brand” that has become fairly recognizable within fitness/health circles. Despite having not officially become a “gym owner” since this year, in many ways I’ve worn the entrepreneurial hat for about a decade. And, honestly, if you’re in this industry as a personal trainer or coach, and even if you work in a commercial gym setting, all that follows still applies.

On to the pontification.

1) Books Are Cool. But They’re Books, Not Real Life.

I’m a firm believer that if you’re a fitness professional your reading or continuing education should be divided 50/48/2.

50% = Training, program design, assessment, exercise science, nutrition, or anything related to the fitness industry specifically.

48% = Business or personal development

2% = LOLCats

Admittedly, I didn’t hop on the business/personal development train until I met Eric Cressey, but ever since, I’ve been a staunch behavioral economics nerd. I devour books by the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Ariely, Chip & Dan Heath, Charles Duhigg, and the Freakonomics badasses.

It also helps I’m married to a psychologist. So getting into “lets communicate and talk about our feelings mode” isn’t uncharted territory for me.[footnote]Even though, often, I’d rather throw an ax into my face.[/footnote]

I feel it behooves any fitness professional to take the initiative and divide their reading material.

There’s only so much about squat mechanics you can digest that will have a carry over to your business success. If you have no idea what the term “overhead” means, how the Self-Determination Theory steers a lot of what we do as coaches, whether or not you should apply for an LLC, or have any idea how to create lead generation, you need to expand your horizons outside of Supertraining.

But take all of those business books with a grain of salt.

I’ll note, and this is something Mark Fisher brought up last weekend, most of the books you find on the New York Times Best Seller list are aimed at Fortune 500 companies. The authors write them in the hopes of getting hired by said companies as an consultant. As a result many of the “systems” and protocols they discuss in their books have little weight with a fitness facility of 1-10 employees.

Still read them. Just understand that what’s written on paper won’t always apply to real life if your company isn’t named Apple or GE.

2) Get an Accountant

Waaay back in the day, circa 2007, when we first opened CSP, I learned a hard lesson in money management.

Up until that point I had always been “employed” in the sense that I had taxes taken out of my pay check and then received a W2 at the end of each tax season.

Neither scenario happened back in 2007.

And while I wasn’t an idiot and understood the concept behind paying quarterly self-employment taxes, for lack of a better term, I effed up.

Like, royally.

Needless to say it didn’t take long for me to learn my lesson, and to hire an accountant. I’ve had the same one since 2008 and my man-crush on him grows each year.

He tells me what I can and cannot write off[footnote]Books and DVDs related to fitness industry? Yes. A life-sized poster of Han Solo? Nope.[/footnote], and also tells me where to siphon my money in order to better prepare for unexpected events and to better prepare for retirement.

He’s the man.

So, get an accountant, preferably one who’s familiar with the fitness industry (which mine is). The money you spend on him/her will more than pay for itself.

3) Find YOUR Work-Life Balance

I’m at a cool stage in my career. CORE – my training studio in Boston – is exactly what I need it to be.

Many reading know the story, but as a quick refresher: I left CSP in the fall of 2015. After eight years it was just time to leave. No weirdness or animosity or knife fights ensued. Initially – from Nov 2015 through June 2016 – I was sub-leasing space/time at an already existing studio underneath a woman who owned it.

It was a perfect scenario as I had ZERO interest in owning or running my own gym. I think there’s this weird “thing” in the industry where we’re programmed to think the holy grail is to own a gym, and that you’ve MADE IT once that happens.

That’s a bunch of bullshit. Gym ownership is not for everyone.

I ended up paying an hourly rent and could train however many clients I wished any way I wished (semi-private). Plus, it was only a mile from my apartment. And I could blast techno. #winning

June 2016: Circumstances arose where the person I was sub-leasing under was not going to renew her lease. She asked if I’d want to take it over? My initial reaction:

via GIPHY

Long Story Short:

In running the numbers – overhead (rent, liability insurance, utilities), additional equipment cost, miscellaneous stuff like hiring painters, flooring, making of new logo and sign, black lights and disco balls (kidding) – it was going to be cheaper for me to take it over.

That is, assuming I could maintain my current clients (I did), have systems in place to “recruit” new clients (always a work in progress), and have 1-2 trainers sub-leasing under me to help with rent.

Also, I knew I didn’t want to be coaching 25, 30, 40 hours per week. I could change my mind, but I don’t have much interest in growing CORE to CSP levels. As of today all I need is a (badass) space to train my clients 15-20 hours per week, and an open schedule to still pursue my writing endeavors, distance coaching and travel schedule, working on some fitness products, and time to practice my light saber skills.

It was the right fit for me.

It’s different for everyone…but finding YOUR work-life balance is crucial. Not only for long-term success (whatever that means to you), but for sanity, overall level of happiness, and fulfillment too.

[NOTE: I’d head over to Eric Cressey’s site and do a search for “developing revenue streams” if I were you. It’s what will allow you to reduce your coaching volume and build on your total income if that’s something you’re interested in.]

4) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For Help

This is the part which served as the impetus of this post. I cancelled that initial meeting because, in many ways, I’m a one man show.

I write the programs and coach all my clients, I’m the one who writes all the blog posts (sans the guest posts, but even those take time to format), I’m the one who answers all the emails, interacts on social media, collects payments, schedules, and cleans the facility. And none of this takes into account the clusterfuck of fuckedness that goes into launching your first product (Ahem, Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint coming very, very soon), and other things such as podcast appearances, writing responsibilities for other sites, and you know, spending quality time with my wife.

Oh, and I’m expected to be jacked. So, there’s that too.

It’s only been recently I’ve asked for help. You can’t expect to do everything. Well, you can…it’s just the likelihood of you doing everything well – and without driving yourself crazy – is slim.

I hired a “virtual assistant,” Keeley, and she’s been a life-saver.

NOTE: Keeley is a real-live person. I just mostly interact with her via email.

She came recommended to me via another colleague, and the cool thing – and this is something for you, dear reader, to consider – is that I “pay” her with programs and coaching (and fist bumps).

It’s a trade-barter situation. She runs various administrative tasks for me and helps me stay more organized and less likely to light my face on fire, and I write her programs and help guide her towards deadlifting dominance.

Win-win.

5) Consider Your Toilet Paper

This tip from Sol Orwell, entrepreneurial master:

“As an entrepreneur, it is VERY important that you get the small details right. That’s what separates the haves from the have-nots.

As such, here’s a pro-tip on leadership: the toilet paper should roll down from the top, NOT the bottom.

You’re welcome.”

The seemingly trivial stuff matters. Not having a clean facility matters. Not dressing professionally matters. Not taking out the garbage matters. Replacing broken equipment matters. Playing Beyonce radio when your female clients demand it matters. Smiling (even when you’re having a bad day) matters.

BOOM.

September 29, 2016 Tony

Stuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 1/16/14

Before we begin I just wanted to share a funny exchange I had on Twitter yesterday. Some people crack me up.

So I posted a link to my blog post from yesterday – Exercises You Should Be Doing: Split Stance Trap RDL.

Literally all the Tweet said was “Exercises You Should Be Doing” followed by the link.

A few minutes later someone Tweets back with the comment, “Why? It’s a little over the top.”

To which I responded, “Uh, read the post and find out.”

And then they came back with, “ok.”

I just find it comical that someone would pass judgement on something without actually taking the time to read what the post was about in the first place. It’s akin to all the belly aching in Congress over the budget. They finally come to a compromise after three years and a government shut-down. It’s not perfect, but they decided to put their big-boy and big-girl pants on, stop acting like children, and come to a compromise.

Then I watch some interview with some ass-clown Congressman go on a tirade on how, “Well, I haven’t read the actual document, but based off of the reporting I’ve heard, it’s going to ruin America!”

W……..T……..F!?!?!??!

Like I said, people crack me up.

7 Ways to to Dominate the Pull-Up – Nick Tumminello

I’d argue that the pull-up is the best predictor of overall relative strength. I think I remember Joe DeFranco mentioning how he’s seen a correlation in some of his athletes and how well they’ll do in their 40-yd dash time.

Nevertheless, pull-ups are kind of a big deal and in this article Nick does a fantastic job offering some new ways to approach training them.

Expectation Management – Collin McHugh

Even for those who don’t make a living throwing a baseball 90+ MPH, this was a fantastic read on what it really takes to grind it through professional baseball season.

More importantly it serves as a needed wake-up call to many “entitled” young athletes who feel that just because they signed a professional contract that the world owes it to them to make it to the Big Leagues.

Slow clap to Collin for writing this article. Awesome, awesome stuff.

And lastly I wanted to share two videos with you between Kevin Kuzia and David Dellanave. The two of them had a heart-to-heart “chat” a few weeks ago about entrepreneurship which sparked the two of them to post up a few “riff” videos discussing their thoughts on the matter.

Giving a brief background: Kevin tends to play the “conservative” card, plays things safe, and doesn’t feel he takes too many risks when it comes to stepping outside is comfort zone; something I can relate with 100%.

On the flip side, David, is a risk taker and always has been.

I just found the discussion fascinating and I think both videos are worth a look.

The Entrepreneurship Dichotomy – Kevin Kuzia

And here is David’s fantastic advice (and beard).

Talkin’ Bout Entrepreneurship

January 16, 2014 Tony