Ok, so you have your level 1 Crossfit Certification, maybe even your level 2, you have gone through the affiliation process with Crossfit.com and you are totally stoked about opening a Crossfit gym.  Now what?

Maybe you have been in business for years but are looking for a better way to do things?

Maybe you have been lead to this page in a quest for excellence?

More likely…. you are exhausted and need a better way to run your business??

 

There are a lot of ways to skin that cat.  We are here to help you find the best way to run your affiliate.

Have a long look at the chart below.  This is essentially the skeleton for all Crossfit Gyms and the systems, content and expertise of each section will ultimately dictate the success of your box.

We have taken best practices from our box and hundreds of others to create an entirely new way to operate a Crossfit Gym or any gym for that matter.

It has never been done before because Crossfit has never been done before.

Crossfit is not a globo gym………it should not be run like Gold’s

Crossfit is not a martial arts studio……it should not have the same systems as a Karate School

Crossfit is not “Boot Camp”……..it should not operate or pay its people like a “Boot Camp”

The key to running a successful affiliate is in creating systems and providing opportunity for smart, self-starting individuals to succeed by way of the free market.

The problem is in the systems that run Crossfit Gyms today

Current Crossfit Business Models:

1)   One man band – some relief here and there

2)   Partners – mornings/evenings – relief staff

3)   Owner / Hourly wage coaches / micro manager systems based on a globo gym, martial arts school or boot camp

Here are the Dead Ends

A)  Opening a box – I love Crossfit, the program is great, this should be easy, the gym will run itself. Most Crossfit Gyms are opened as a hobby or part of a second job. This stoke for Crossfit and owning a gym is replaced within a year with “what do I do now?” The problem is that nearly all new Crossfit box owners instincts are 180 degrees wrong.  The approach to the market was not well thought out, bad agreements have been signed, they give the product away and don’t hone in on virtuosity.

B)   I am at 50 clients I need some sort of system here.  Most Crossfit Gyms implement an “onramp” system with a low barrier to entry…… this will become another future dead end.

C)   The Cf owners with a lot of personality and knowledge of human movement can typically get to 100 clients and have monthly revenues of $15-20k / month BUT the complaint we hear every day is, “my coaches all suck, they can’t bring anybody in and I have to manage the shit out of them”. – Back to the drawing board.

D)   I am at 150-200 clients and/or $40,000 a month and I am completely fucking burnt out.  I do not want to go into my own gym or talk to humans. – Back to the drawing board with the scotch bottle in hand.

 

The next step in the evolution of Crossfit Gyms

Using the “Road map” as our guide we can begin to ask questions, then through trial and error and data tracking we can uncover what works best on all aspects of the business.  Each one of these sections has best practices associated with them.

 

4) The Law Firm / Co-operative

• Free market rewards excellence
• Partners that work together
• Coaches earn a professional wage ($80-$100k/year) that competes with engineers, lawyers, accountants etc.
• Have the success of the coach be determined in large part by the free market. I.e. the coach has to become excellent in order to earn a professional wage.
• Have coaches work less than 35hours per week and take 4 weeks of paid vacation (50% pay) per year
• Have the coach’s wage be directly linked to the continued success of each client he/she is responsible for.
• The coach’s wage represents his her ability to find new clients, get referrals and retain existing clients.
• No want or need for coach to leave the company.  Make it so that there is no financial benefit for a coach to ever leave the collective.
• No Hourly wages
• No getting paid by the class or class attendance
• System rewards coaches helping each other, not competing for finite resources inside the gym
• Each coach has a specialty inside the Crossfit protocol to help other coaches and apprentices in each specific field.
• Coaches do less than 10 hours of classes per week
• Flex time – Coaches set their own schedule
• No Micro manager needed to fill schedules and tell coaches how to do their jobs
• Mentorship of apprentices to become totally self-sufficient coaches – assured mutual benefit of coach and apprentice.
• Coach has ability to buy shares in the company and retire on the value of these shares by selling to the next generation.
• Longevity and collection of knowledge.  Coaches work 25- 30 years in fitness industry and pass their knowledge on to next generation.
• Owner of business is not mired in the details of micro-managing the company.
• Owner never has to worry about scheduling coaches or having coaches miss classes etc.
• Owner of company is freed up to find new business opportunities in the community for their coaches.
• Vacation time for all.

Our business model looks similar to that of an engineering or law firm, but better in that coaches are rewarded by client success and not hourly wage, they have flex time and don’t have to work 60 hours a week to make partnership.

The systems works more like a co-operative with strong leadership.

They don’t get trapped working for twenty-five dollars an hour in a fitness facility, eventually forced to “find a real job” in order to afford a home and start a family. Instead, they work as entrepreneurs and independent contractors incentivized by the free market, with stock option to own a portion of the company.  For our coaches………the sky is the limit.

Systems and software to support our business model

MadLab Software Systems TM

We have been mentoring other Crossfit owners for a long time now.  Through our own experience and counseling hundreds of others on what works in a Crossfit affiliate and what doesn’t, we have poured over a lot of data.  This data has directed us toward some very clear best practices, which has led to a potent business model, supported by systems, and software that will:

Improve

• Retention, referrals, income per coach, income per square foot, morale and culture as well general fitness in the box
• Vacations for everyone…………..soothe some burnt out souls.

Reduce

• Injuries, client turnover, coach burnout, coach turnover
• Heartaches

Interestingly enough, what is devastating to a Crossfit Afilliate’s success is inherently counter intuitive to the green horn.  We see over and over again the same self sabotage new affiliate owners make that we made 3,5,8 years ago.  So much so that my wife is amazed when she over hears my conversations with affiliates on the phone.  “You say the same things all the time, is it really that simple?”

What is even more amazing are the “Dead Ends” that affiliates run into.  Each come from all over the world, are unique individuals with completely different personalities, experiences, markets and coaching styles and the phone calls I get break down every time to the same issues.

I have a lot of compassion for affiliate owners, I ran into every one of these dead ends. Each one burnt me out flat and the changes that were necessary to get over the hump nearly bankrupted me three or four times.  Luckily I had a strong core around me and got lucky!  I am happy we got through it together.  Thanks guys.

If you are at any one of these “Dead Ends” give us a shout

madlab@gmail.com

 

Options for Mentorship and access to MadLab Software Systems TM

1) 3 day Executive Diploma Program at Crossfit Vancouver – We spend two weekend days with you and go over every aspect of our business that has made us successful. We field questions all along the way and pry for solutions to your specific business issues. We also provide you with the systems and software to support our business model.

Cost: $1,500 usd

2) 1 on 1 phone consultations: We provide you with our systems and paperwork and talk on the phone to guide you in achieving the success of your business. We start off with weekly consultations then slowly we wean down to every two weeks, then every month and eventually every quarter and so forth until you have a firm handle on your business.

Cost: $2,500 usd for the initial set up and 6 (hour long) consultation sessions.

Give me a shout, if we vibe, we can figure out the rest

E-MAIL

GOOD LUCK!

Our next executive diploma business mentorship course is going to be held on June 8th, 9th and 10th, 2012.

E-mail us for more details about the weekend (info@crossfit.ca)

Our last Executive Diploma Program weekend was a huge success. We had affiliate owners fly in from California, Florida, Las Vegas and all over B.C., to learn our systems.

Here’s what course attendee, Joe Marsh, from CrossFit Las Vegas had to say about CrossFit Vancouver.

If you’re a CrossFitter, you’re probably taking fish oil. And if you’re a CrossFit coach, you’re probably always getting new clients to start taking fish oil to help with inflammation and soreness.

You’re pumping the product as it is, so why aren’t you benefitting from the sale?

Now you can.

At CrossFit Vancouver, we’ve been selling Epic Nutrients’ fish oil for more than a year, and we can barely keep up with the demand. We average $3,000 in revenue each month in our fish oil sales alone.

You, too, can set up a wholesale account with Epic Nutrients and increase your monthly revenue.

Contact Epic Nutrients about setting up a wholesale account (wholesale@epicnutrients.com)

Chris Harrison, owner of CrossFit Lions in North Vancouver, has also had great success selling Epic Nutrients’ Mighty Omega fish oil. Here’s what he has to say.

 

For more testimonials, information about the Epic Nutrients’ team, and information about Mighty Omega products and health benefits, check out the EPIC NUTRIENTS
site.

And visit the Epic Nutrients BLOG.