Latest / Gym Business Coach Podcast / Impact vs. Income

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Impact vs. Income · Gym Business Coach Podcast

0:08
[SPEAKER_01]: You are listening to the built-to-grow podcast delivering the knowledge in all things, fitness, business.
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[SPEAKER_01]: We help jimrollers win, hear your hosts, ten lions, and Randy Axton.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Welcome back to another episode of the Build to Real podcast.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We'll be host today, Randy.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Inkston joined by Mr. Zackolumbia, Mr. Mr. Mr. Zackolumbia.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Mr. Zackolumbia.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Mr. Zackolumbia.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We've got a good one for you guys today.
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[SPEAKER_03]: This is something that we talk about a lot with our gym owners.
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[SPEAKER_03]: In this industry, I think it's pretty safe to say that most of you got into this business because you want to create an impact because you have a desire to help others.
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[SPEAKER_03]: In fitness is the solution that you want to bring to the table.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, you care about it, the health and wellness of your community, and you decided, hey, let's go open up a business and let's go continue to serve that population and create that impact.
1:04
[SPEAKER_03]: But one of the things that we find is gym owners have an internal belief or a resistance around success when it comes to the business itself, whether it ever be wants to be successful I had imagined.
1:16
[SPEAKER_03]: There's this kind of internal dilemma or conflict when it comes to creating the impact in your community versus creating a level of success for yourself.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And we believe that they're not mutually exclusive.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You can absolutely have both of you should.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And we want to dive in today kind of just share some of the thoughts, the beliefs of Jim owner, some of the ways of thinking about the business a little bit differently so that you don't find yourself in a position where you feel like it's you versus your clients in any realm where your success can't take place because the ultimate goal is just creating that level of success for your client.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So
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[SPEAKER_03]: Anything you want to start with there, is that?
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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, yeah, so that leads to burn out.
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[SPEAKER_02]: There you go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: If you go back to younger you and you're getting into this, and you think about the impact that you want to have and you think about what the ideal day looks like and your day dreaming about your business and your gym.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I would, I would,
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[SPEAKER_02]: be hard pressed to imagine that what you envision looks exactly like, you know, what your day looks like today.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so you have to kind of reverse engineer that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You have to dissect it and analyze it and go, okay, well, you know, here was the dream that I had, and then here's what I'm currently doing, and
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[SPEAKER_02]: they don't align so what needs to change where did I go wrong you know and what we do is is very noble right I mean it's very noble where we save lives really I mean we've had so we've had a handful of clients have we don't make her heart attacks and they tell us like hey the doctor said the only reason I'm alive is because it's been coming here and it's like man that feels amazing so we can have that impact
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[SPEAKER_02]: But we shouldn't have it at the sacrifice of making money of living comfortably and being able to pay our bills.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so many Jim owner entrepreneurs out there they are making that sacrifice.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They're not paying themselves.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so I guess the question to kind of kick us off is like, what impact can you really make
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[SPEAKER_02]: If you're not serving yourself, there you go.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I would completely agree.
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[SPEAKER_03]: One of the ways I've always framed it is, with success for yourself, with the ability to pay your bills, with maybe the structure or the things that come along with that.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Eclarity, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Not having to stress every month about how you're going to cover the bills, how you're going to cover the expenses.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And we talk enough about the grass being at straws.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I take it path that a lot of Jim owners take just each month trying to just figure out a way to cover the expenses, but when you create that system of growth and that scalability in a true business that's run on systems where the people are running those systems in your business with the team, you can absolutely cast a wider net.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You can help more individuals.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, if I look at the Jim owners that we work with or that, you know, that we speak
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[SPEAKER_03]: If the gym owners on the training floor, there's typically a very limited number of clients in the gym total.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And that's 25 to maybe 40 clients that you're serving.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You hit the ceiling for the infrastructure that you have in place.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Correct, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and so if the goal is to help more people,
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[SPEAKER_03]: capital is a requirement in order to do so, you know, I mean, this gym we serve about 200 clients regularly, other gyms that we know, you know, 100 and a couple hundred clients plus.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It requires capital and newability in the systems and the staff structure in place in order to do that.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And so I guess a little bit of this podcast is a little bit of a challenge to you looking at the business, looking at the way you think and look at your business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And if creating an impact is the desire than a systemized business is a little requirement.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I think the bigger picture, the bigger question, is like, how do you measure impact?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you're the one delivering all of the training, and it's not by choice, it's to keep the business running, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: You're self-employed, you're tied to this operator, owner operator position.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You can work with, let's say max 50 clients, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's like pushing it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's probably closer to half of that, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: when when you show up and you're you're the one developing these deep relationships with these clients, you start to learn over time that those clients really don't care about you beyond like what you can do for them.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And it's just that's just the world we live in, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: So there's no yeah, it's it's transactional.
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[SPEAKER_02]: somebody comes in, they're in pain, they want your help, and you pour your heart and soul and because you're passionate about what you do, you want to make an impact, so you pour your heart and soul into this individual and they give up on you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: at a whim right like maybe they they look at their you know their finances and and they're like yeah you know I can either I can either keep going out to eat once a week you know on Friday nights or I can pay my trainer I'm just going to keep going out to eat once it you know and boom that's all that you really matter to them yeah that's the point and that
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[SPEAKER_02]: if you're in that like one to one scenario, eventually that's gonna lead to burnout.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's gonna lead to you being jaded because now you're starting that process over with somebody and you're going, man, what impact did I really make with that individual?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And there's gonna be enough of that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But if you were able to, instead of being the one that's creating that relationship with the individual, let's say that you had a team of, not a big team, four trainers, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And you're meeting with people and you're talking to them about your goals, their goals, and you're signing up, and your team is,
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[SPEAKER_02]: you know, delivering the majority of the training, and you're just signing people up and you're coaching your staff to be better and to make a bigger impact and you're multiplying it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And now you're thinking you're creating content and you're getting your message out there and you're impacting the community and you're going to events and you're volunteering and you're doing all of these things.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You create this entire ecosystem and you know, I think over the course
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[SPEAKER_02]: How long was 17 years that we've been in business?
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[SPEAKER_02]: We've probably trained five to six thousand people, right, individuals, and who knows how big of an impact we've had beyond that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But like, that's making an impact, oh, and by the way,
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[SPEAKER_02]: it was financially rewarding for everyone involved, not just the, you know, the, the, not just you, the owner of the business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So if our goal is to really impact the community, think about what it looks like from being the solepreneur to instruggling to really creating something that has influence and has a bigger reach,
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[SPEAKER_02]: and then also think about like, oh, is that I'm passionate about the training I love doing that?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Awesome, keep doing that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But when you have a free hour, go out on the training floor, man, and just jump in there, and teach something really cool, and amazing, or pour it out into your staff to have them make a bigger impact.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, that's where your energy should be spent.
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[SPEAKER_02]: if you want to stay passionate about this long term, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then not go be a failed Jim owner real estate agent, you know?
9:52
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and I mean, you bring up some good points.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, we know just over the years, I'm going to talk with Jim owner after Jim owner, thousands and thousands, there's a good portion of this industry that has a full-time job outside of their
10:07
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, to your point, you know, burnout takes place, resentment will come into place, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: You'll look at the business and it becomes, it almost becomes like you're just, it's the job, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: You're just doing it and you're doing it to pay the bills, but you slowly chip away at the,
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[SPEAKER_03]: like the emotional reason that you got into the place in the first place, you know?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Because at the end of the day, you could love what you do.
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[SPEAKER_03]: But if it doesn't provide you a means to an end or benefit along the way, it's natural that all that stuff is going to come into place.
10:38
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm assuming.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so often, Jim owners are really building their own prison, too, because they're so tied to the delivery and the operation that it's like,
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[SPEAKER_02]: their family suffers.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They're not present.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They can't show up for them.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They can't go on vacations.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They can't take a weekend trip.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They shoot in our industry.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like,
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[SPEAKER_02]: Most trainers that I know that are just trainers, don't even take holidays off, Christmas, maybe.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Some of them have like a Christmas day boot camp or whatever, they're working Thanksgiving morning.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Of course they're working Black Friday, like Fourth of July, like there's no such thing as like federal holidays in the fitness industry, maybe maybe, maybe Christmas.
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[SPEAKER_02]: if you go 364 days a year that you're open and you're working and you know like come on like that's not nobody regardless of how passionate you are about what you do nobody can do that without having a break
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[SPEAKER_02]: and without, if you do having resentment towards it, getting, getting burnt out, and then also not being able to show up at the level that you would want to, you know, you just end up going through the motions.
12:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah and you mentioned something that's really impactful there and I think it goes into alignment with like what is the reason that you decided to go probably as, you know, most Jim owners that we work with were a trainer at some point or a passion about, you know, the physical changes that they can impact in their community and then the next progression is opening up the gym.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Well you open a business for one reason and it's to create it, to turn a profit and create that lifestyle for yourself.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That's truly the reason that you get into the business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Have you asked yourself that question?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Did you just do it naturally because it was seemed like the path to be on?
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[SPEAKER_03]: But now that you're here, we did the last time I think you and I sat down, we did an episode and we talked about like, what change is over time, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Like the second, you become that business owner and you employ somebody else, the responsibility to become the leader and be able to teach and train.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Is a huge part of your job, massive gap, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: So, and I mean, we work with Jim owners that are,
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[SPEAKER_03]: are selling the training floor and have a team as well and you know have been sent it since probably before we started the podcast like my least favorite thing to hear from jim owners is my clients won't my client won't work with my trainer because they want to work with me personally that's a year you problem not a not a problem I I believe to that
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[SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, I believe that when I when I took over is the director here.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I went from coach and not bragging or anything, but I had been here the longest.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I you know, I went from the best coach to director and and I was like, I don't know how
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[SPEAKER_02]: the clients are going to respond when I stop training them.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And it's like, wow, what did he go?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because guess what happened?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Guess what happened?
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[SPEAKER_02]: I stopped training them slowly.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I just kind of like phased it out.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And nobody missed me.
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[SPEAKER_02]: No, I mean, maybe they missed me a little bit, but it did impact their their experience and the results that no, of course, not.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like,
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's one of the things with some of my private pro too is like I talk with all these gym gyms and they're like hey, we got our special way of doing things and our programming and all that stuff and then they get our programming they're like oh, this is basically exactly what we do and I'm like yeah, you know, a lot of times we think that that we have some, you know, magic potion that that just.
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[SPEAKER_03]: bigger impact there you go one of my favorite things when it comes to impact is ripples make waves right and it's really hard to do when you're the only guy if you're the only rock being thrown in the water and you're the only one that's that's capable of doing it you you're limited and you know there's another old saying that is like in order when you know something well enough one of the the ways of proving that is your ability to teach it to others and it as a business owner if you are it as the
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[SPEAKER_03]: the business owner that's on the training floor, unwilling to pass off your client to somebody else in your business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The Ole Miss is on you, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Like you said, your responsibility is bringing your team up to the level of your standards, not creating that linchpin in the business to where you're the only one that can deliver that standard and that everybody else is kind of a secondary check down.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That's the exact opposite of what you want to do and create in a business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It does come with its own challenges, though, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, leadership skills are not the same thing as taking, you know, going and getting your cert and understanding the mechanics of the body and creating the result.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It is a whole different side of the business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: But you took on that risk when you signed your personal guarantee and put your name in the business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: that is a requirement of the position that you've stepped into.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we'll look like if you're happy you want to train 30 clients for the rest of your life and stay at a certain level and like great.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like if that's what you want to do awesome.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, very few gym owners that we work with, and we talk to are continuing to want to do that, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, they hit a certain point where they can't even imagine going back to the training floor.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Or they step in for a staff member that's out, sick, vacation, whatever, and they train for four hours and they're like,
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[SPEAKER_02]: Exhausted right.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I can't believe I used to do this for 10 hours a day.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so like your your perspective does change over over time and and when it does then it's going to require a new skill set.
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[SPEAKER_02]: There you go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You know that you have to level up and and I think that you know you can the the same way that you can learn.
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[SPEAKER_02]: biomechanics.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You can learn how to program.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You can learn those things, but it's really difficult to coach those things to learn how to coach.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same thing with business, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Like you can learn the systems, you can learn how to read a PNL,
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's really hard to learn how to lead a team, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And to lead a company and have a vision and communicate that vision and all those things, big gap, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so again, it's not something that you're just going to flip the switch and do.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It requires development.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It requires, if you're smart, coaching, and mentorship, and things to help get you their faster and accelerate it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So you avoid a lot of the hiccups that along the way.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think that's good for today's episode.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, you know, our goal for you is like Zack said, not building yourself into a prison.
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[SPEAKER_03]: If you're looking at your business, what is your intention behind being the business owner?
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[SPEAKER_03]: What do you want?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Not only for your community and the impact that you want to create, but the lifestyle that it should be providing for you, your family, even your team, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Take, take us up back, look at the reason that you're doing this and understand that you can absolutely create a, and we would actually attest that you can create a greater impact.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The better you understand the business, the needs of the business can lead the business, develop your team, and so forth.
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[SPEAKER_03]: They're not mutually exclusive.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And so with that being said, I'll see you in the next episode.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Take care.
18:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, thanks for listening to another episode of the built-grilled podcast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you want more help growing your business, join our free Facebook group, Profit Accelerator, helping training Jim's grow to $30,000 a month and beyond.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We'd love to see you there, go check out the show notes for the link, and keep building something great, and we'll see you in the next episode.