I'm using quotes because as of now that thing still is not in existence. At least physically. The idea is still alive and well but I've run into more snags than I am happy about since I really pushed to get this going. Some were out of my control, others just poor planning/ judgement, and some just due to losing that drive that I used to have. So lets start sometime back around October...ish.
Long story short I had a somewhat ok location picked out in an existing facility. What it boiled down to was it was not a very good deal for my end and I ran out of money. Looking back I am glad I held off signing that lease when I did or I would've been locked down and screwed worse than I was already. So despite a generous investment from a friend I still was buried in bills, debt, and at the moment no job and no plan of escape. I basically 'left' my old training job and ran out of money fast. Not to mention having a potential partner completely bail out without so much an email saying 'hey, sorry, but Im out"....thanks, brah.
I can't say it was a total disaster as the land lords were at least sympathetic to my situation. I literally lost what I had trying to get that thing going but was clearly over my head in a hurry. They even tried to work something out by bringing a different group in to help set something up. Didn't happen. So by end of Fall I was moved out and most of my gear was back in the high school weight room or in the track shed. Much cheaper than a storage unit.
So at this point I'm pretty bummed. I luckily still had a few clients left at Lifeworks but was still broke, unmotivated, and at loss of what the actual fuck I was going to do now. I kept pretty bottled up about it too which in hindsight just did not help. Nor did getting texts and or calls from folks I havn't talked to in awhile saying something along the lines of "Hey! Congrats on the gym!" ...yea about that.
So, anyways, as luck would have it I found a job working for UPS. Even better it was the morning shift which typically has more hours and pays better. PLUS it was out of the way of coaching/ training. See, at this point, I was ready to walk away. Just drop everything, sell my gear, pay back what I could, and work off the rest and just say "this is enough". In all reality, and this is likely one of the rare times I am saying this, I was about to retired completely from the coaching/training/whatever life and just get some shit job I was good at. Most signs were leading to warehouse work. Pay ain't bad plus theres benefits and I'm on my feet lifting things while getting paid for it. I guess as fate would have it most jobs turned me down due to lack of experience. Along comes UPS saying 'yea, you'll do' and thats where Ive been since.
Over Winter really not much happened. Well nothing out of the ordinary. Indoor season started. Trained the high schoolers like usual. Get threatened at least 2 to 3 times that I'll be fired...again. Then outdoors starts. By now I finally have some credit cards paid off. Yes I said cards with an "S". What was weird is having a decent enough paying job now so I actually had money. Usually Im broke about this time of the year. Now Im just broke because Im paying crap off. But I digress.
A few new oppurtunities arose after my misfortune last year. I was approached about restarting the gym. At this point I made it clear the only chance in hell I had of making this happen was if I had some MAJOR finacial backing as I was in no hurry to make the same mistake again. Unfortunately for both parties involved this just wasn't happening any time soon. What was agreed on was maybe sometime near July. Which, ironically, as Im writing this I noticed today is the first. So you can probably guess how that particular situation is going. But fear not! Due to some decent financial planning on my part, not just blowing my entire track contract on bullshit like I usually do, and being single (hey, man, girlfriends get expensive) I was able to get some money put away for once. AND after a meeting last Friday I may have found the assistant coach I was looking for. Assuming he doesn't bail like the others. Apparently this is a scary business. Or is it just me?
To top that off I may have found a suitable location that could literally fulfill the niche market I am going after. Track, football, rugby, and small group fitness in a warehouse style gym. Even better is compared to the last location is that this place is 400s/ft bigger, 4' higher ceiling (16' total), has a bay door, small office, and is about 3 minutes from I-71. Oh yea, and its about $400/month less than the other place. Pretty sweet, right?
There are still some obstacles that need to be cleared;
1- MONEY. Im getting sick of saying this but if anyone sees this thats considered opening a small business take my advice- Stow away some serious cash first!
2- Field turf. Part of the niche is having the ability to train athletes in a turfed environment. Well that doesn't work too well when you don't have any. Unfortunately brand new green costs about 1200 for what Im looking at.
3- Clients. This is something that I feel I will always struggle with until I pick up some sales techniques or hire someone to do it for me. My dad was always the sales guy. Me? Not so much.
4- The city. This one Im not entirely worried about but it's definitely worth noting. In order to put a gym into a warehouse style building I would need to file a variance. Otherwise I have to move into a commercial zone which will NOT do. This is more frustrating due to the fee involved of $200. So there goes that new bar I wanted.
So that sums up the past 9 months or so in a nutshell concerning business matters. Giant pain in the ass that is for sure. But I keep telling myself I don't want to work a warehouse forever and training in a big gym or the school is starting to wear on me.
