The Plan
The year was 2017. As I mentioned in my previous blog, our business had outgrown our previous training location and we needed a change in environment. The time had come to make a move. And the move I decided to make was to call up an old friend of mine who owned his very own training facility and make him an offer to sublease part of his gym to our company. My friend and I sat down and worked out a contract that would work well for both his company and mine. I knew the move was going to be risky as so many of our clients had become accustomed to training with us at our previous location, however I was confident in my decision. Within less than a week, we had moved our company and all of our training equipment to our new location. Now we just had to wait and see if our clients would join us.
The Process
Moving a business to a new location is NOT an easy task to do. I had learned this when I was forced to change locations after the first gym I was training at suddenly closed down with no warning back in 2010. And even though every single client that I was working with at that time followed me to the new training facility, I wasn’t 100% certain that they would all follow us once again upon this second move.
But they did! In fact, two weeks after making the move to our current location, we sent out an email to all of our clients to find out as to which location they preferred. And to my surprise once again, the majority of our clients replied back telling us that they could care less as to where they were training, as long as they continued to train with us.
The Product
It’s taken me some time, however I’ve slowly come to the realization that we are not selling our clients on a particular gym. We are not selling our clients on a product. In fact, we aren’t selling our clients on anything at all. We are trying our best to provide an unbeatable service and a unique experience to every single client that walks through our gym doors. Yes, as a business it’s important to be profitable. But as Trainers who actually care about our clients, and want them to achieve their desired health and fitness goals, their success is what matters to us most.
The COVID-19 Comeback Plan
Like for many of you, Covid-19 has become a real pain in my ass. As a Business Owner, it can be frustrating at times to run and manage a small business through a global pandemic. The Coronaviruses currently dictate the terms of whether or not we are forced to close our doors. As the situation is constantly evolving, we have to adapt to the guidelines that are given to us by both the Health Ministry and WorkSafe BC, on a regular basis in order to continue to operate.
I can’t force all of our clients to return to the gym (although luckily I don’t have to as over 90% of our clients are back and training at full capacity again). I won’t lie and make statements claiming that our gym is COVID-Free and that’s it’s safe to exercise. There is still much to learn about the Coronaviruses and how they are so easily transmitted. Therefore it would be ignorant and irresponsible of me to make false claims just to help generate more business. And I refuse to give up on our company or to stop helping people continue to achieve their health and fitness goals, because a virus is trying to force me to.
So What’s My COVID-19 Comeback Plan?
Clean Gym? Cleaning Stations? Hand Sanitizers? Masks? Gloves? Social Distancing?
Ugh, I could easily send a generic letter explaining as to what we are doing to keep our gym “safe” during this time. I could also make a few copy & paste posts on our Social Media Platforms to make people feel more “comfortable” about returning to the gym.
But I don’t and I won’t. Truth be told all of our clients already know that we are doing our absolute best to keep our training environment as clean and safe as possible. They don’t need me to be constantly reassuring them of these actions. In my opinion there are no overreactions or underreactions to COVID-19. There are simply just reactions. And how each person chooses to react is their prerogative.
Loss of Business
Am I worried about losing my business during COVID-19? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t but I would also be lying if I said that I don’t think we will come out of COVID-19 stronger and more resilient than ever. Because I do believe this. In fact, I believe this pandemic to be just another obstacle that can eventually be turned into an opportunity for many who choose to remain strong and fight.
If you have a goal, don’t give up on it because the world is in shambles. Stay focused on what you want to achieve in life and learn to adapt to situations as they occur.
“I never lose. I either win or learn.”
– Nelson Mandela
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance