Momentum?
Sharp Home Gyms Episode 4
Let’s start this post with a discussion about time and motivation. This might sound crazy, but at the ripe age of 22, I’ve begun to contemplate mortality. I know there is plenty of life left to live– I’m super young in the grand scheme of things. The contemplation is less about impending death and more about wanting to maintain the sense of value I’ve received from the way my first 22 years have been spent. Thus far, I feel like I’ve made a lot of decisions that have paid off, so the question is, how do I keep it up?
That question may be what motivates me to pour time and effort into Sharp Home Gyms. Do I know if it will be successful? No, it could be a great idea with hidden fatal flaws. But not trying guarantees failure and losing out on 100% of any potential value that could be derived from the effort. I have the time, I’m having fun, so why not keep going and see what happens?
With that said, I want to share what has happened over the past two weeks. The first big thing was doing an installation of my own and documenting the process to share on social media accounts. Maddie and I received a pull-up bar as a wedding gift and hauled it back to Oklahoma. Huge thank you to the Cruikshank family for the gift!
It was at least 100ºF in the garage for the first ten days we were here, but I was eager to install it, so we didn’t wait for things to cool down. If you watch the installation content, you will see me get sweatier and sweatier towards the end of the job. I have the best wife ever for enduring the heat with me to get footage. Lucky is an understatement.
The job was a win-win in every way possible, especially because it reaffirmed my mission with this business idea. For my entire “training career,” if you will– the last 8 years or so, pull-ups have been the first movement to go untrained when I don’t have gym access. Now I can do them on Sundays when the gym is closed, on days when I don’t have time to make it to the gym, or anytime else I want. One piece of equipment drastically reduced a barrier to training.
From an installation demo perspective, this was a good one to document. We’ve all seen videos on the internet where door or wall-mounted pull-up bars send people crashing to the floor. Luckily, this one didn’t do that– it’s held into wall studs by eight 4-inch lag bolts. If that’s not confidence-inspiring, I don’t know what is.
The second change over the past few weeks has been my customer acquisition game. As simple as it would be to run perpetual Facebook ads fishing for leads, I don’t think it is the best strategy. For one, they are really expensive, and for two, every small business owner I’ve ever talked to says word of mouth is king. Especially with a niche, luxury service like mine (luxury in the sense that home gyms are not an essential service), it takes more trust than a Facebook ad can provide to secure a client– especially a first client. In other words, I need a real network, not just a social one.
Originally, real estate agents seemed like the best folks to network with for their connection to homeowners, and they might not be a bad idea, but personal trainers are a better option. Our missions are much the same: to help clients achieve their goals in health, fitness, and beyond. They do it by writing programs and coaching movements; I do it by building customized spaces that bring down the barriers to training. We have a lot in common and can at least connect over a passion for helping people.
Our shared missions also mean our businesses can help each other. Personal trainers tend to have high client turnover. People with trainers struggle to train consistently the same way as people without trainers do. Barriers like commutes to and discomforts in commercial gyms play a big role in that turnover. Home gyms are a solution to those barriers, so in theory, I can help them reduce turnover. Clients who have an easy-to-navigate home gym also may be able to transition to virtual training, which allows the trainer to take on more clients. One or both benefits of having a home gym make the trainer’s business more profitable.
So, how do you build a network of personal trainers as a college senior 1600 miles away from home? The Stillwater Community Group on Facebook. I can’t advertise my business there, but I can ask people for personal trainer recommendations from my personal page. One public post in the group yielded five recommendations. I immediately messaged two of them, met with one the next day, and talked to another on the phone a few days later. Gage and Bradey, if you’re listening, I appreciate you. They were both excited about my idea and said they would recommend me to anyone who may be interested.
Before writing this episode, I reached out to the other three trainers to set up similar meetings or calls. Because our missions align, and I want to create win-win situations for everyone, I will be offering clients referred by their personal trainer 10% off all services. I believe growing a network of personal trainers who can make exclusive offers is the most likely way to attract customers. It’s a word-of-mouth strategy, it’s high trust, and it helps everyone win.
It feels like I have momentum. Whether this use of time will turn into a successful business, who knows? Either way, I’m learning a lot and having fun doing it. Time will tell if this venture is as valuable as it feels.
Whether you’ve followed this series since Episode 1 or this is the first episode you’ve read, I want to say thank you. Thank you for spending your time reading these thoughts and ideas. Thank you to those of you who have sent me kind messages or taken an interest in what I’m doing. I don’t usually do this, but I want to ask a favor. Simply tell someone what I’m doing. You don’t have to send them a link or a post or anything like that, just tell them you know a guy who’s building home gyms.
I appreciate you.