Many moons ago, I owned a personal training gym.
It was small – just 500 square feet or so – and the rent was very expensive, but damnit I loved the place.
I also lost a lot of money running it (£12,000, or about two-thirds of my life savings at that point).
Yes, that’s right, my first “big” business venture was a total flop.
Why?
Several reasons:
I’ve already mentioned the rent which was killer. I also didn’t charge anywhere near enough for the level of service I provided, and that had the knock-on effect of attracting bottom-feeder clients who weren’t serious about doing the work. (Not all of my clients were terrible. Actually, I met a few gems who are friends to this day, including one guy who was one of my eight guests at my wedding).
My point?
I could have blamed my business failing on the landlord for charging me “too much” to rent the unit (they didn’t – it was an eminently fair contract), the clients refusing to pay decent rates, the “general public” for not responding to my marketing, and so on.
It certainly would have been easier, and I’d have probably felt better about it – at least in the short term.
However, that ain’t the way to go if you’re serious about success.
No siree.
The harsh truth is the only way to grow is to take responsibility for your failures.
In this instance, I chose to rent that unit even though there were cheaper ones nearby, I chose to charge low fees, and I chose to market my business by spewing the same tripe as every other personal trainer on the market.
Anyway, I talk more about this concept in Chapter Three of my book, Lift, which, if you’re reading this, you own a copy of. (If you’ve lost the download link, hit reply and I’ll fire it over to you because I’m feeling particularly generous today).
Righto, time to plug my wares:
Tomorrow (the 4th) is the deadline to subscribe to The Phil Tyreman Letter in time to receive January’s issue.
This issue is a “must read” for anyone who wants to finish this year in significantly better shape than they started it because it explains, in some considerable detail, how to plan a year’s worth of training.
Mine is a simple, three-step system you can use again and again to get reliable, predictable results.
Subscribers also get “virtually unlimited” access to me via email for any queries I’m qualified to answer. You can also use this service to have me do a full video critique of your exercise form, get your programme tweaked for best results (but I won’t write you one from scratch), or anything else I can reasonably assist you with over email.
There are some other exclusive bonuses, too. Like “first dibs” and substantial discounts on my books and certain unique services.
A subscription is £100 per month (£3.29/day) and you can cancel at any time and for any reason (or no reason). However, if this is your decision, you can’t re-subscribe again in the future because I’m only interested in serving those who are ready to commit to a solution.
All the info is here: